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NY 805469




December 28, 1994

CLA-2-49:S:N:N8:234 805469

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 4911.10.0080

Mr. John W. Hause
Bondy Productions
625 Mount Auburn Street
Cambridge, MA 02138-4555

RE: The tariff classification of printed advertising novelties ("Jumping Cubes") from Poland.

Dear Mr. Hause:

In your letter dated December 20, 1994, you requested a tariff classification ruling.

Samples were submitted and will be retained for reference. Each is a 5" x 5" x 3/8" paperboard box, designed to be sent through the mail, containing two compressed paperboard cubes which expand and are ejected when the box is opened. One of the cubes is printed with an advertising message, while the other, apparently intended only to help eject the other, is blank. You explain that the compressed cubes have rubber bands inside them, the tension of which propels the cubes out of the packet (box) when opened by the recipient. This accounts for their (registered trademark) name, "The Jumping Cubes."

Your firm will import these items and sell them to organizations and companies in the United States for their use in direct mail programs and offers. The printing will be customized to fit the needs of individual customers. You indicate that companies utilizing "Jumping Cubes" can expect to enjoy a higher than usual response rate (leads, inquiries, sales, trials, redemptions, etc.) due to the high-impact, three-dimensional presentation, as compared with flat printed paper in an envelope.

Although this merchandise is somewhat different and more elaborate than what is ordinarily regarded as "printed matter," we find that its printed content is what determines its essential nature and use.

Accordingly, the applicable subheading for the custom printed "Jumping Cubes" will be 4911.10.0080, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for other (than certain enumerated) printed trade advertising material, commercial catalogs and the like. The rate of duty will be free.

We note that all components of the samples are marked "Made in Poland," but not on the same side or surface as your firm's address, which also appears in two places. When imported, only the mailing packet (5" x 5" box holding the cubes) is required to be marked with the country of origin, but if, like the samples, it bears a U.S. address, the "Made in Poland" marking must appear, in lettering of at least a comparable size, on the same side or surface displaying that address. The cubes themselves need not be marked unless there are references to U.S. addresses on them, in which case any such references must also be accompanied by "Made in Poland," on the same surface(s) or side(s). These marking requirements are necessitated by Section 134.46 of the Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.46), the intent of which is to prevent misleading or confusing the recipient as to the actual origin of the item.

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

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