NY 806608 - Country of origin marking of imported lottery tickets; Article 509; NAFTA marking rules; ultimate purchaser. - United States International Trade Commision Rulings

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NY 806608

February 15, 1995

MAR-2-49:S:N8:234 806608

CATEGORY: MARKING

Mr. Alan Dewar
George H. Young & Co. Ltd.
809-167 Lombard Avenue
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 3H8
Canada

RE: Country of origin marking of imported lottery tickets; Article 509; NAFTA marking rules; ultimate purchaser.

Dear Mr. Dewar:

This is in response to your letter dated January 13, 1995, on behalf of your client Pollard Banknote Limited, requesting a ruling on whether marking a container in which lottery tickets produced by your client are imported with the country of origin, in lieu of marking the tickets themselves, is an acceptable country of origin marking for the imported tickets.

A strip of five (5) sample lottery tickets was submitted for consideration, which will be retained for reference. They are overprinted "No Value, Specimen". Each ticket measures 4 1/2" x 7/8", and is of paperboard of 0.215 mm thickness.

The tickets are of the "scratch-off" kind. The lottery is titled "Harvest Gold" and is issued by the British Columbia Lottery Corporation and intended to be sold for $1.00 per ticket. Each ticket affords the retail buyer two chances to win prizes; one chance to win "up to $10,000" and a second chance to win "up to $500".

There is no country of origin marking printed on the sample tickets.

The marking statute, section 304, Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1304), provides that, unless excepted, every article of foreign origin (or its container) imported into the U.S. shall be marked in a conspicuous place as legibly, indelibly and permanently as the nature of the article (or its container) will permit, in such a manner as to indicate the ultimate purchaser in the U.S. the English name of the country of origin of the article. Part 134, Customs Regulations (19 CFR Part 134) implements the country of origin marking requirements and exceptions of 19 U.S.C. 1304.

The country of origin marking requirements for a "good of a NAFTA country" are also determined in accordance with Annex 311 of the North American Free Trade Agreement ("NAFTA"), as implemented by section 207 of the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (Pub. L. 103-182, 107 Stat 2057) (December 8, 1993) and the interim amendments to the Customs Regulations published as T.D. 94-4 (59 Fed. Reg. 109, January 3, 1994) with corrections (59 Fed. Reg. 5082, February 3, 1994) and T.D. 94-1 (59 Fed. Reg. 69460, December 30, 1993). These interim amendments took effect on January 1, 1994 to coincide with the effective date of the NAFTA. The Marking Rules used for determining whether a good is a good of a NAFTA country are contained in T.D. 94-4 (adding a new Part 102, Customs Regulations). The marking requirements of these goods are set forth in T.D. 94-1 (interim amendments to various provisions of Part 134, Customs Regulations).

Section 134.45(a)(2) of the interim regulations, provides that "a good of a NAFTA country may be marked with the name of the country of origin in English, French or Spanish. Section 134.1(g) of the interim regulations, defines a "good of a NAFTA country" as an article for which the country of origin is Canada, Mexico or the United States as determined under the NAFTA Marking Rules.

Part 134, Customs Regulations (19 CFR Part 134), implements the country of origin marking requirements and exceptions of 19 U.S.C. 1304. Section 134.41(b), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.41(b)), mandates that the ultimate purchaser in the U.S. must be able to find the marking easily and read it without strain. Section 134.1(d) of the interim regulations, provides that the ultimate purchaser of a good of a NAFTA country is the last person in the United States who purchases the good in the form in which it was imported. If an imported article is to be sold at retail in its imported form, the purchaser at retail is the ultimate purchaser.

It is our view that the lottery tickets under consideration are to be sold at retail in their imported form. Accordingly the purchaser at retail, who will buy one or several tickets, must be informed by country of origin marking on the ticket that it was produced in Canada. Marking of shipping containers, as you propose, will not accomplish the purpose of our statute, in this situation.

This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 181 of the Customs Regulations (19 CFR Part 181).

A copy of this ruling letter should be attached to the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is entered. 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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