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HQ 559712





July 11, 1996

MAR-2-05 RR:TC:SM 559712 DEC

CATEGORY: MARKING

Ms. Laurie Everill
J.C. Penney Purchasing Corporation
P.O. Box 10001
Dallas, Texas 75301-0001

RE: Country of origin marking of woman's pullover shirt, jeans, knit blouse, belts, earrings, and hairclips; 19 CFR 134.46; 19 CFR 134.47;
HRL 732412; C.S.D. 89-73; HRL 732486; HRL 733281; HRL 558741; T.D. 54640(6), 93 Treas. Dec. 301 (1958); T.D. 71-264(3)

Dear Ms. Everill:

This is in response to your letter dated January 16, 1996, requesting a country of origin marking ruling regarding the country of origin marking of a woman's pullover, woman's jeans, a knit blouse, a belt, a pair of earrings and a pair of hair clips. Samples of each of these articles were submitted with your request.

FACTS:

Sample 1 is a woman's pullover with a partial placket opening. It is marked "Assembled in Honduras of U.S. components" on the front of a fabric loop sewn in just below the label on the inside center back of the collar containing the J.C. Penney trademark with the words "The Original Arizona Jean Company." There is one other label on the garment, a paper label, tacked to the neck loop label with the words "Arizona henley" on the front. Around the garment is a paper band with the words "The Original Arizona Jean Company." The word "Arizona" is embroidered on the front right chest of the pullover.

Sample 2 is a pair of jeans. In the center back of the waistband is the trademark label with the words "The Original Arizona Jean Company." The trademark logo is also on the paper labels tacked to the garment on the back pocket and in the waistband. The buttons and rivets carry the trademark "Arizona Jean Co." The size and price label does not contain the trademark logo. The country of origin label with the marking "Made in Guatemala" is on the front of a loop label sewn to the inside front of the jeans, below the waistband.

Sample 3 is a knit blouse with a partial placket opening. A label bearing the trademark is sewn into the center back of the collar and appears on a paper hang tag tacked to the country of origin label. The size and price label does not contain the trademark logo. The country of origin label containing the words "Made in Philippines" is on the front of a loop label sewn in at the nape of the neck.

Sample 4 is a leather belt that contains the marking "Made in USA" and the complete trademark die sunk on the inside of the belt. The belt will be displayed with a plastic belt hook which will contain the entire trademark. You question whether the country of origin marking on the inside of the belt would satisfy the statutory requirements if the belt were to be of foreign origin.

The fifth samples include a pair of earrings and a pair of hair clips. Both of these articles will be placed on plastic display boards that will bear the complete trademark. The country of origin will be indicated on the back of the display board of both the earrings and the hair clips.

You state that "The Original Arizona Jean Company" and "Arizona Jean Company" are registered trademarks that belong to J.C. Penney. You have submitted copies of the registered trademarks as part of your submission.

ISSUE:

Whether the articles described above satisfy the country of origin marking requirements.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

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 imported into the U.S. shall be marked in a conspicuous place as legibly, indelibly, and permanently as the nature of the article will permit, in such a manner as to indicate to the ultimate purchaser in the U.S. the English name of the country of origin of the article. Congressional intent in enacting 19 U.S.C. 1304 was "that the ultimate purchaser should be able to know by an inspection of the marking on the imported goods the country of which the goods is the product. The evident purpose 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. Inc., 27 CCPA 297, 302, C.A.D. 104 (1940).

Part 134, Customs Regulations (19 CFR Part 134), implements the country of origin marking requirements and exceptions of 19 U.S.C. 1304. Customs has recognized
that the presence of a geographic location other than the country in which the article was produced on an imported article or its container may mislead the ultimate purchaser as to the true country of origin. Therefore, in cases where the name of a location in the U.S. or the name of any foreign country or locality other than the country or locality in which the article was manufactured or produced appears on an imported article or its container, section 134.46, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.46), provides that there shall appear, legibly and permanently, in close proximity to such words, letters, or name, and in at least a comparable size, the name of the country of origin preceded by "Made in", "Product of", or other words of similar meaning. Customs has ruled that in order to satisfy the close proximity requirement, the country of origin marking must appear on the same side(s) or surface(s) in which the name of the locality other than the country of origin appears. The purpose of this section is to prevent the possibility of misleading or deceiving the ultimate purchaser as to the actual origin of the imported good.

However, section 134.47, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.47), provides that when as part of a trademark or trade name or as part of a souvenir marking, the name of a location in the U.S. appears, the article shall be legibly, conspicuously, and permanently marked to indicate the name of the country of origin of the article preceded by "Made in", "Product of", or other similar words, in close proximity or in some other conspicuous location. In other words, if the question concerns a trade name or trademark, the country of origin marking needs only to meet the general standard of conspicuousness.

You contend in your submission that all of the sample merchandise that is a part of this ruling request are covered under the provisions of 19 CFR 134.47. We agree with your conclusion that all of the sample articles that contain references to registered trademark "The Original Arizona Jean Company" or the "Arizona Jean Company" either on the articles or on the tags that are tacked to the articles when they will be purchased trigger the 19 CFR 134.47 requirements as opposed to the more stringent requirements under 19 CFR 134.46. However, with respect to the other locality marking, the question of whether 19 CFR 134.46 is applicable still must be decided.

Sample 1 (woman's pullover) has the word "Arizona" embroidered on the front right chest of the garment. In addition, there is a label on the garment, a paper label, tacked to the neck loop label with the words "Arizona henley" on the front. Customs has held that in cases where the reference to a place other than the country of origin is made on an imported article, but such reference would not confuse the ultimate purchaser, the requirements of 19 CFR 134.46 are not triggered. In Headquarters Ruling Letter (HRL) 732412, dated August 29, 1989, Customs found that the placement of the word "Kansas" on different parts of imported jeans did not trigger the requirements of 19 CFR 134.46 because such marking was used as a symbol or decoration and would not reasonably be construed as indicating the country of origin of the article on which it appeared. See also C.S.D. 89-73 (February 2, 1989), in which Customs held that an imported man's pullover
shirt that prominently displayed the words "Christian Dior, 30 Avenue Montaigne, Paris 75008" across the back, did not invoke the application of 19 CFR 134.46 because the true country of origin of the article was indicated conspicuously on a label inside the neckband. In this case, the word "Arizona" embroidered on the front right chest does not trigger the special marking requirements of 19 CFR 134.46 because the word "Arizona" is used as a decoration of the shirt and such a reference on the shirt would not reasonably be construed to indicate the country of origin of the article. The country of origin is conspicuously placed in the center back of the collar.

However, in HRL 732486, dated September 5, 1989, a label, crest and hangtag containing the words "Riviera Line" were attached to imported garments. The hangtag contained a picture of a cruise ship in the center with two circles around the ship. Below the ship in large bold lettering was the phrase "RIVIERA LINE". The crest had a large script letter "R" in the center surrounded by a crest with the word "RIVIERA" below the letter "R". It was determined that while the crest was part of the design of the garment, the hangtag with the phrase "Riviera Line" triggered the special marking requirements of 19 CFR 134.46. Therefore, the hangtag had to contain the country of origin printed in a conspicuous manner and placed in close proximity to the phrase "Riviera Line".

The rationale in HRL 732486 was that a locality other than the country of origin is more likely to cause confusion when it appears on a hangtag attached to a garment because a hangtag is designed to attract the attention of the purchaser and generally contains information about the article. As such, a reference on the hangtag to a locality other than the country of origin of the article to which it is attached is potentially misleading with regard to the garment's country of origin. Similarly, in HRL 733281, dated August 3, 1990, garments contained the words "Bonjour International" in large lettering on the front and back and on a hangtag, along with the words "Milan", "Paris", and "New York" in smaller lettering on both sides of the hangtag. It was determined that since the hangtag contained several references to localities other than the country of origin of the garment to which it was attached and these references did not appear as part of a trade name, trademark, or souvenir marking, these references were potentially misleading; therefore, the special marking requirements of 19 CFR 134.46 were applicable.

In HRL 558741, dated January 4, 1995, Customs concluded that shorts containing a hangtag, a cardboard label, and a sticker referencing "Kalifornia" would be required under 19 CFR 134.46 to indicate the country of origin of the shorts on the same side of the panels (see HRL 732486) containing the "Kalifornia" reference. However, since the importer had applied for "Kalifornia" as a trademark, Customs allowed the more lenient requirements of 19 CFR 134.47 to apply rather than applying the 19 CFR 134.46 requirements.

The hangtag on the sample woman's pullover (Sample 1) in this case contains one reference to Arizona ("Arizona henley"). The hangtag sewn into the neck loop label which is clearly marked with the country of origin. While "Arizona henley" is not a trademark, the Arizona reference will not reasonably be construed as indicating the country of origin of the pullover. An ultimate purchaser who examines the hangtag anchored in the neck loop label will be drawn to the information on the fabric loop on which the country of origin information is clearly printed. Accordingly, the special marking requirements of 19 CFR 134.46 are not triggered in this instance.

In T.D. 54640(6), 93 Treas. Dec. 301 (1958), Customs determined that wearing apparel, such as shirts, blouses, coats, sweaters, etc., must be legibly and conspicuously marked with the name of the country of origin by means of a fabric label or label made from natural or synthetic film sewn or otherwise permanently affixed on the inside center of the neck midway between the shoulder seams or in that immediate area or otherwise permanently marked in that area in some other manner. The origin marking on the sewn-in fabric label on the front of the loop label satisfies the requirement of T.D. 54640(6) as well as the conspicuousness marking requirement set forth 19 CFR 134.47.

In the center back of the waistband of the pair of jeans (Sample 2) is the trademark label. The trademark logo is also on the paper labels tacked to the garment on the back pocket and in the waistband. The buttons and rivets carry the trademark "Arizona Jean Co." The size and price label does not contain the trademark logo. The country of origin label with the marking "Made in Guatemala" is on the front of a loop label sewn to the inside front of the jeans, below the waistband. T.D. 71-264(3) provides that

Trousers, slacks, jeans, and similar wearing apparel shall be marked to indicate the country of origin by means of a permanent label affixed in a conspicuous location on the garments, such as the inside of the waistband.

The origin marking on the sewn-in fabric label on the front of the loop label satisfies the marking requirement set forth in T.D. 71-264(3) and the conspicuousness requirement of 19 CFR 134.47.

The knit blouse (Sample 3), which has a label bearing the trademark sewn into the center back of the collar and on a paper hangtag tacked to the country of origin label, is marked with its country of origin on the front of a loop label sewn in at the nape of the neck. This marking of the knit blouse satisfies the conspicuousness requirement pursuant to section 134.47.

Sample 4 is a leather belt that contains the marking "Made in USA" and the complete trademark die sunk on the inside of the belt. The belt will be displayed with a
plastic belt hook which will contain the entire trademark. You question whether the country of origin marking on the inside of the belt would satisfy the statutory marking requirements if the belt were to be of foreign origin. Since the belt hook contains the trademark label, the 19 CFR 134.47 requirements will be applicable. If the belt is of foreign origin and marked with the words "Made in" or "Product of" preceding the country of origin die sunk on the inside of the belt, the marking would satisfy the 19 CFR 134.47 general standard of conspicuousness.

The pair of earrings and pair of hair clips (sample 5) are both packaged and marked with their country of origin in a similar manner. Each will be placed on plastic display boards that will bear the complete trademark. The country of origin will be indicated on the back of the display board of both the earrings and the hair clips with the words "Made in Korea." Since 19 CFR 134.47 will also apply to these articles, the country of origin must appear in a conspicuous location with the country of origin preceded by the words "Made in" or "Product of." The back of the display board is a conspicuous location which an ultimate purchaser may find easily. The marking with respect to the sample earrings and hairclips is acceptable.

HOLDING:

On the basis of the information and samples submitted, we find that the country of origin marking of the imported articles described above satisfies the marking requirements of 19 U.S.C. 1304 and 19 CFR Part 134.

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,

John Durant, Director
Tariff Classification Appeals

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