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HQ 956603

July 27, 1994

CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 956603 DWS

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 8211.10.00; 8213

Mr. William J. Maloney
Rode & Qualey
295 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10017

RE: Cutlery Set; Scissors; Storage Block; GRIs 1 and 3; Explanatory Note 82.11; NY 890930; Heading 8213

Dear Mr. Maloney:

This is in response to your letters of May 17 and June 16, 1994, to the Area Director of Customs, New York Seaport, and of July 13, 1994, to this office, on behalf of Venture Stores, concerning the classification of a cutlery set, with or without scissors, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).

FACTS:

The merchandise consists of the following: six 4 1/2 inch steak knives, 3 inch parer knife, 5 1/4 inch utility knife, 6 inch boner knife, 8 inch bread knife, 8 inch chef knife, 7 1/2 inch butcher's knife, scissors, and a hardwood storage block for the knives and the scissors. All of the knives have stainless steel blades and wood handles. The scissors has a plastic handle. In the alternative, the merchandise consists of all of the above items except for the scissors, which will be imported separately.

ISSUE:

Whether the merchandise is classifiable under subheading 8211.10.00, HTSUS, as sets of assorted articles, including knives.

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 is determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes.

Subheading 8211.10.00, HTSUS, provides for: "[k]nives with cutting blades, serrated or not (including pruning knives), other than knives of heading 8208, and blades and other base metal parts thereof." The general, column one duty rate for goods classifiable in this provision is the rate of duty applicable to that article in the set subject to the highest rate of duty.

Heading 8213, HTSUS, provides for: "[s]cissors, tailors' shears and similar shears, and blades and other base metal parts thereof."

You claim that the cutlery set cannot be classifiable under subheading 8211.10.00, HTSUS, by authority of GRI 1 because of the presence of the scissors, which are classifiable under heading 8213, HTSUS. GRI 3 is cited, which states that:

[w]hen, by application of rule 2(b) or for any other reason, goods are, prima facie, classifiable under two or more headings, classification shall be effected as follows:

(a) The heading which provides the most specific description shall be preferred to headings providing a more general description. However, when two or more headings each refer to a part only of the materials or substances contained in mixed or composite goods or to part only of the items in a set put up for retail sale, those headings are to be regarded as equally specific in relation to those goods, even if one of them gives a more complete or precise description of the goods.

(b) Mixtures, composite goods consisting of different materials or made up of different components, and goods put up in sets for retail sale, which cannot be classified by reference to 3(a), shall be classified as if they consisted of the material or component which gives them their essential character, insofar as this criterion is applicable.

(c) When goods cannot be classified by reference to 3(a) or 3(b), they shall be classified under the heading which occurs last in numerical order among those which equally merit consideration.

It is our position that GRI 3 should not be consulted in this case. In understanding the language of the HTSUS, the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes may be utilized. The Explanatory Notes, although not dispositive or legally binding, provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the HTSUS, and are generally indicative of the proper interpretation of these headings. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989).In part, Explanatory Note 82.11 (p. 1113) states:

[s]ubheading Explanatory Note.

Subheading 8211.10

The scope of subheading 8211.10 is limited to sets of different knives or sets of assorted articles in which the knives predominate in number over the other articles.

The subject merchandise is a set of assorted articles (knives, scissors, and storage block) in which the knives predominate in number over the other articles.

It is claimed that this interpretation expands the terms of heading 8211, HTSUS. We disagree. Heading 8211, HTSUS, is the provision where knives are classifiable. As long as knives predominate in numbers over the other articles of the set, under GRI 1, the terms of heading 8211, HTSUS, have been met. It is our position that the intent of the drafters of both the HTSUS and the Explanatory Notes was for sets such as the subject cutlery set to be classifiable under heading 8211, HTSUS. See NY 890930, dated October 28, 1993, for a ruling on similar merchandise.

Therefore, by authority of GRI 1, the cutlery set is classifiable under subheading 8211.10.00, HTSUS.

The same reasoning is applicable to the merchandise without the scissors; the cutlery set is still a set. Therefore, by authority of GRI 1, the cutlery set is classifiable under subheading 8211.10.00, HTSUS.

The scissors, imported separately, are classifiable under heading, 8213, HTSUS, the specific subheading classification dependent upon the value of the scissors.

HOLDING:

By authority of GRI 1, the cutlery sets, with or without the scissors, are classifiable under subheading 8211.10.00, HTSUS, as sets of assorted articles, including knives.

The scissors, imported separately, are classifiable under heading, 8213, HTSUS, the specific subheading classification dependent upon the value of the scissors.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director

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