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HQ 088946


MAY 23, 1991

CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 088946 JMH

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 182.46

District Director
U.S. Customs Service
J.K.F. Airport
Building 178
Jamaica, NY 11430

RE: Protest and Request for Further Review ("PFR") 1001-9- 004427, dated August 17, 1989 and PFR 1001-9-004646, dated August 30, 1989; thin soy sauce; flavored soy sauce

Dear Sir:

This is in response to Protest and Request for Further Review ("PFR") 1001-9-004427, dated August 17, 1989 and PFR 1001-9-004646, dated August 30, 1989, which concern certain mushroom flavored soy sauce imported from China. Our response follows.

FACTS:

The article in question is mushroom flavored soy sauce imported from China. The soy sauce contains water, extract of soybeans, wheat flour, sugar and salt. Additionally, the soy sauce contains one kilo of mushroom flavor per one metric ton of soy sauce.

The importer entered the mushroom flavored soy sauce in item 182.45, Tariff Schedules of the United States ("TSUS"), as "Sauces...Thin soy..." Your office classified the soy sauce in item 182.46, TSUS, as "Sauces...Other..." It is from this classification that the protest arises.

ISSUE:

Whether the mushroom flavored soy sauce is properly classified in item 182.45, TSUS, as "...thin soy sauce...", or in item 182.46, TSUS, as "...other..."

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Classification under the TSUS is governed by the General Interpretative Rules ("GIRs") of the TSUS. GIR 10(c) requires that the provision which most specifically describes products is the preferred provision.

The mushroom flavored soy sauce is a thin sauce. However, thin soy sauce is "a dark brown liquid with a salty taste and a meaty flavor." See Snyder and Kwon, Soybean Utilization, p. 238, (Von Nostrand Reinhold Company). The mushroom sauce in question is "mushroom flavored", and thus, does not have the taste of typical soy sauce. The flavored soy sauce is "other than" thin soy sauce. Therefore, the mushroom flavored soy sauce is properly classified in item 182.46, as "...Other..."

The importer contends that since the mushroom flavored soy sauce is classified as soy sauce under the current Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated ("HTSUSA"), then it should be classified assoy sauce under the TSUS. The HTSUSA and the TSUS provisions do not use the same language. Since the provisions are different the HTSUSA classification is not binding on the TSUS classification. The interpretation of an older law, such as the TSUS, is not usually determined by the language of a more recent law, such as the HTSUSA.

HOLDING:

The mushroom flavored soy sauce is "other than" thin sauce soy sauce. The appropriate classification for the mushroom flavored soy sauce is in item 182.46, as "Sauces...Other..."

The protest should be denied in full. A copy of this decision should be attached to the Form 19 Notice of Action for the protest.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division


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