United States International Trade Commision Rulings And Harmonized Tariff Schedule
faqs.org  Rulings By Number  Rulings By Category  Tariff Numbers
faqs.org > Rulings and Tariffs Home > Rulings By Number > 1993 HQ Rulings > HQ 0953314 - HQ 0953539 > HQ 0953374

Previous Ruling Next Ruling



HQ 953374


May 27, 1993

CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 953374 RFA

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 7013.39.10

Michael A. Johnson, Esq.
Sonnenberg, Anderson, O'Donnell & Rodriguez 200 South Wacker Drive
33rd Floor
Chicago, IL 60606

RE: Glass Lids or Closures for Pots and Pans; 7010.90.20; ejusdem generis; eo nomine; GRI 2(a); HQ 951721; HQ 088020; HQ 087779; NY 875195, affirmed

Dear Mr. O'Donnell:

This is in response to your letter of February 4, 1993, on behalf of Commercial Aluminum Cookware Company, requesting reconsideration of NY 875195 (October 23, 1992), which concerned the classification of glass lids under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).

FACTS:

The subject merchandise are specially tempered glass lids or closures with a stainless steel ring and two holes in the lid where a wooden handle will be attached after importation. The lids would then be packaged with pots and pans.

ISSUE:

Whether the glass lids are classifiable as kitchen/cooking glassware or as other glass closures under the HTSUS?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Classification of merchandise under the HTSUS is in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's), taken in order. GRI 1 provides that classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes.

In NY 875195 (October 23, 1992), the glass lids were determined to be classified as kitchen/cooking glassware under subheading 7013.39.10, HTSUS, which provides as follows:

7013.39.10 Glassware of a kind used for table, kitchen, toilet, office, indoor decoration or similar purposes. . .: [g]lassware of a kind used for . . .kitchen purposes. . .: [o]ther:
[p]ressed and toughened (specially tempered) . . .

Goods classifiable under this provision have a general, column one rate of duty of 12.5 percent ad valorem.

You state that the glass lids for pots should be classified under subheading 7010.90.20, HTSUS, which provides as follows:

7010.90.20 Carboys, bottles, flasks, jars, pots, vials, ampoules and other containers, of glass, of a kind used for the conveyance or packing of goods; preserving jars of glass; stoppers, lids and other closures of glass: [o]ther: [c]losures imported separately; containers (with or without their closures) of a kind used for the conveyance or packing of perfume or other toilet preparations. . .:[p]roduced by automatic machine. . .

Goods classifiable under this provision have a general, column one rate of duty of 3.7 percent ad valorem.

Heading 7010, HTSUS, specifically provides for certain glassware containers used for the conveyance or packing of goods. You state that heading 7010, HTSUS, provides for all glass closures because it is an eo nomine provision which specifically lists other closures of glass. However, the doctrine of ejusdem generis is a useful aid in interpreting the construction of statutes and tariff laws of the United States. The Court of International Trade (CIT) has stated that the canon of construction ejusdem generis, which means literally, of the same class or kind, teaches that "where particular words of description are followed by general terms, the latter will be regarded as referring to things of a like class with those particularly described." Nissho-Iwai American Corp. v. United States (Nissho), 10 CIT 154, 156 (1986). Heading 7010, HTSUS, consists of particular words (i.e., carboy, flasks, jars, ampoules, etc.) followed by general terms (i.e., stoppers, lids and other closures of glass). Therefore, this heading requires an ejusdem generis method of construction.

The CIT further stated that "[a]s applicable to customs classification cases, ejusdem generis requires that the imported merchandise possess the essential characteristics or purposes that unite the articles enumerated eo nomine in order to be classified under the general terms." Nissho, p. 157. The subject glass lids are not ejusdem generis with the articles described within heading 7010, HTSUS. The general terms of stoppers, lids and other glass closures refer to the type of closures which fit the specific enumeration of containers (i.e., flasks, jars, ampoules, etc.) which are commonly used commercially for the conveyance or packing of goods. The subject glass lids are not the type of lids to be used with glass containers for the conveyance of goods. Instead, the glass lids are specifically designed to be used as kitchen/cooking glassware.

You indicate that the language of heading 7010, HTSUS, simply refers to "closures" and not "closures for containers of this heading". However, subheadings 7010.90.20 and 7010.90.30, HTSUS, do not simply describe "closures" but "closures imported separately". The clear interpretation of this construction is that the drafters intended by the use of the word "separately" to provide for the closures which are imported separately from the containers covered in heading 7010, HTSUS.

The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (EN) constitute the Customs Cooperation Council's official interpretation of the HTSUS. While not legally binding, the ENs provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the HTSUS and are generally indicative of the proper interpretation of these headings. You state that EN 70.10, pages 933-934, provides for all types of closures based in part on the following provision:

[c]losures of any material, presented with the containers for which they are intended, remain classified in this heading. (emphasis in original)

[t]he heading also covers stoppers and other closures, of glass, whether made of ordinary glass or of lead crystal, and whether or not ground, cut, sand-blasted, etched or engraved, or decorated. It further includes certain glass balls for stoppering bottles; these balls are cut from glass slabs and mechanically worked after being shaped into balls.

Examination of the EN in its entirety shows that the drafters intended to include the closures for the type of containers provided for in heading 7010, HTSUS. The closures described in the EN are the type that will be used for containers which will be used only for the conveyance or packing of goods. EN 70.10 states that the heading does not include other glass containers being domestic glassware (heading 70.13), but not containers used primarily for the commercial conveyance or packing of goods. We have previously interpreted heading 7010, HTSUS, to cover only the type of goods specifically provided for in the EN. See HQ 951721 (January 8, 1993); HQ 088020 (January 14, 1991); HQ 087779 (December 27, 1990). Therefore, we find that the stoppers, lids and other closures of glass refers only to the type of closures which belong to the containers described in heading 7010, HTSUS.

You also state that the EN 70.13, pages 936-936a, do not list glass lids anywhere and that if the drafters of the tariff schedule had intended for the subject merchandise to be classified under heading 7013, HTSUS, they would have done so by specifically providing for it in the ENs. Examination of EN 70.13 shows that the list of kitchen glassware was not intended to be all-inclusive, but to provide examples of the type of merchandise which belongs to that class. Therefore, we find that heading 7013, HTSUS, was drafted to provide for all types of kitchen/cooking glassware, including the subject glass lids.

At the time of importation, the glass lids are entered in an unfinished condition, requiring further assembly of a wooden handle. GRI 2(a) provides that "any reference in a heading to an article shall be taken to include a reference to that article incomplete or unfinished, provided that, as presented, the incomplete or unfinished article has the essential character of the complete or finished article." Based upon GRI 2(a), we find that the unfinished glass lids have the essential character of specially tempered kitchen glassware, classifiable under subheading 7013.39.10, HTSUS.

HOLDING:

For the foregoing reasons, we find that the glass lids for pots and pans are classifiable under subheading 7013.39.10, HTSUS, which provides for kitchen glassware pressed and toughened (specially tempered). The general, column one rate of duty is 12.5 percent ad valorem.

NY 875195, dated October 23, 1992, is affirmed.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division

Previous Ruling Next Ruling

See also: