HQ 73416 - The country origin of marking of books, title page, close proximity; 19 CFR 134.41, 19 CFR 134.46, HQ 731663 clarified - United States International Trade Commision Rulings

United States International Trade Commision Rulings And Harmonized Tariff Schedule

faqs.org Rulings By Number Rulings By Category Tariff Numbers

faqs.org > Rulings and Tariffs Home > Rulings By Number > 1996 HQ Rulings > HQ 559736 - HQ 734506 > HQ 73416

Previous Ruling Next Ruling
HQ 73416

September 23, 1991

MAR-2-05 CO:R:C:V 734164 RSD

CATEGORY: MARKING

Area Director of Customs
New York Seaport
6 World Trade Center
New York, New York 10048-0945

RE: The country origin of marking of books, title page, close proximity; 19 CFR 134.41, 19 CFR 134.46, HQ 731663 clarified

Dear Sir:

This is in response to your memorandum dated May 1, 1991, requesting internal advice on the country of origin marking requirements for books.

FACTS:

Your memorandum indicates that there is a lack of uniformity in the enforcement of the country of origin marking requirements for books among the various ports. In particular, you request clarification on the marking requirements when a U.S. address appears on a book in a place that is not in close proximity to the country of origin marking. For example, a book printed in a foreign country will often have a U.S. address on the back cover, but the country of origin marking will only appear on the title page.

You point out that in HQ 731663, Customs stated that:

Because retail purchasers could reasonably expect to find all the pertinent publication, printing and copyright information related to a book on either the front or back of the title page and could therefore, look at the title page if they were confused by information appearing elsewhere, an importer satisfies 19 CFR 134.46 if the country of origin is placed on the front or back of the title page and otherwise complies with the requirements of 19 CFR 134.46

In the holding of HQ 731663 Customs states "if there is a foreign reference to a country other than the country of origin on the title page of a book, 19 CFR 134.46 is satisfied if the country of origin appears on the front or back of the title page." You interpret this ruling to mean that when a reference to a place name other than the country of origin appears anywhere on the book, the close proximity requirement of 19 CFR 134.46 is satisfied if the country of origin marking is on the title page. However, this view is not uniformly held by Customs officers in the field. Like any other article, many Customs officials believe that in order to satisfy the close proximity requirement of 19 CFR 134.46, the country of origin must appear near the U.S. address or the place reference in question.

ISSUE:

Does placing the country of origin marking on the title page of books automatically satisfy the close proximity requirements of 19 CFR 134.46?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Section 304 of the 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 (or container) 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., 27 C.C.P.A. 297 at 302.

Part 134, Customs Regulations (19 CFR Part 134), implements the country of origin marking requirements and exceptions of 19 U.S.C. 1304. As provided in section 134.41, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.41), the country of origin marking is considered to be conspicuous if the ultimate purchaser in the U.S. is able to find the marking easily and read it without strain.

In addition, section 134.46, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.46), requires that when the name of any city or locality in the U.S., or the name of any foreign country or locality other than the name of the country or locality in which the article was manufactured or produced, appear on an imported article or its container, 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 generally appear on the same side(s) or surface(s) in which the name of the locality other than the country of origin appears (HQ 708994, dated April 24, 1978). The purpose of 19 CFR 134.46 is to prevent the possibility of misleading or deceiving the ultimate purchaser as to the origin of the imported article.

In accordance with our previous ruling on books cited above, we reiterate that either the front or back of the title page of a book is a conspicuous location to put the country of origin marking, which would satisfy the requirements of 19 CFR 134.41. Other locations may also satisfy the conspicuousness requirement so long as the marking is easy to find. However, HQ 731663 did not modify Customs' basic position on the close proximity requirement of 19 CFR 134.46, i.e., that if the requirements of 19 CFR 134.46 are triggered by a reference to a place on an article or its container, then the country of origin marking must also appear near to the place reference. We can find no reason to treat books differently than other articles.

As indicated above, in the holding of HQ 731663, it was stated that "if there is a foreign reference to a country other than the country of origin on the title page of a book, 19 CFR 134.46 is satisfied if the country of origin appears on the front or back of the title page (emphasis added)." The intent of this ruling was to indicate that the close proximity requirement of 19 CFR 134.46 would be satisfied even if the country of origin marking was on front of the title page when a U.S. address was on the back of the title page or vice versa. This was based on the observation that the purchaser who looked at the title page would likely view both the front and back of the title page for all the pertinent information. However, simply putting the country of origin marking on the title page does not satisfy the close proximity requirement, if a U.S. or other reference to a place other than the country of origin appears in another location of the book. In other words, if the place reference is on the back cover of a book, then to satisfy the close proximity requirement of 19 CFR 134.46 the country of origin marking must also be on the back cover.

We recognize that there has been a great deal of confusion regarding the country of origin marking of books and that different ports may have enforced the country of origin marking law differently. We also realize that book makers and publishers may have been under the impression that the country of origin marking requirements would be satisfied as long as they put the country of origin marking on the title page. Accordingly, in order to allow the industry time to make any adjustments necessary to comply, we will delay the effective date of this ruling until six (6) months from date of publication of this ruling in the Customs Bulletin. During the interim period, Customs will allow imported books to be marked with the country of origin solely on either the front or back of the title page. After the effective date of this ruling, if an imported book contains a reference to a locality or country which triggers the requirements of 19 CFR 134.46, the country of origin marking must be on the same side or surface as the reference that triggers 19 CFR 134.46 in a comparable size and preceded by "Made in," "Product of," "Printed in," or other words of similar meaning. However, if the place reference appears on the front or back of the title page, the country of origin may appear either on the front or back not necessarily on the same side. Of course, the presence of a place name which appears as part of the text will not trigger the requirements of 19 CFR 134.46.

HOLDING:

The conspicuous location requirement of 19 CFR 134.41 is satisfied if the country of origin marking appears on the title page or in some other conspicuous location. Except as noted below if the requirements of 19 CFR 134.46 are triggered by the presence of a place name other than the country of origin, the country of origin marking must be on the same side or surface of the book as the triggering language. Placing the country of origin marking on the title page does not satisfy the close proximity requirement of 19 CFR 134.46, if the place reference appears elsewhere in the book. However, if the language which triggers 19 CFR 134.46 is on the title page, the country of origin marking will be in close proximity if it appears on the front or back of the title page. HQ 731663 is clarified accordingly.

In order to give the book and publishing industry an opportunity to make any adjustments necessary to comply with this ruling, the effective date of this ruling will be delayed until six (6) months from date of its publication in the Customs Bulletin.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director

Previous Ruling Next Ruling