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NY 888321





August 13, 1993

MAR-2-39:S:N:N6:221 888321

CATEGORY: MARKING

Mr. Walter Warren
Panalpina, Inc.
34 Exchange Place
Harborside Financial Center
Jersey City, NJ 07311-3991

RE: The country of origin marking requirements of plastic parts for liquid dispensers from Spain.

Dear Mr. Warren:

In your letter received in this office on July 16, 1993, on behalf of Bel-Art Products, you requested a country of origin marking ruling.

Parts for liquid dispensers will be imported separately and then assembled in the United States. Samples of the parts and the complete dispenser were submitted with your letter. The eight parts that make up the dispenser are said to be used only with the dispenser and are not interchangeable with any other product. The body of the dispenser is marked "Made in Spain." The marking remains conspicuous and legible when the dispenser is assembled. The parts, however, are not marked. You enquire whether the parts must be marked, or whether marking the plastic bags in which the parts will be imported is adequate.

Section 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1304), provides that every article of foreign origin (or its container) imported into the United States shall be marked in a conspicuous place as legibly, indelibly, and permanently as the nature of the article (or container) will permit, in such a manner as to indicate to an ultimate purchaser in the U.S. the English name of the country of origin of the article.

The primary purpose of the country of origin marking statute is to "mark the goods so that at the time of purchase the ultimate purchaser may, by knowing where the goods were produced, be able to buy or refuse to buy them, if such marking should influence his will." United States v. Friedlaender & Co., 27 C.C.P.A. 297, 302, C.A.D. 104 (1940).

The ultimate purchaser is the last person in the United States who will receive the article in the form in which it was imported. The company that will assemble the parts is the last to receive the parts in their condition as imported. Therefore, it is not necessary to individually mark the parts with the country of origin, provided that the bags in which the parts are packaged are marked, and the parts reach the assembler in the marked bags. The ultimate purchaser of the completed article is the consumer who receives the assembled dispenser. Marking on the dispenser body, as per your sample, is adequate to indicate the country of origin to the final consumer of the assembled product.

This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Section 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177).

A copy of this ruling letter should be attached to the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If the documents have been filed without a copy, this ruling should be brought to the attention of the Customs officer handling the transaction.

Sincerely,

Jean F. Maguire
Area Director

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