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NY A87690



September 26, 1996

MAR-2 RR:NC:MA:117 A87690

CATEGORY: MARKING

Mr. Deven Sharma
United Pipe and Foundry, Inc.
P.O. Box 219
Howell, NJ 07731

RE: COUNTRY OF ORIGIN MARKING OF IMPORTED IRON FLANGES

Dear Mr. Sharma:

This is in response to your letter dated September 12, 1996 requesting a ruling on the country of origin marking requirements for pipe, tube or pipe fittings of iron or steel. A marked sample was not submitted with your letter for review.

The products to be imported are cast ductile iron flanges which are made in accordance with ASTM Spec A 536, the Standard Specification for Ductile Iron Castings. The flanges will be threaded onto pipes and assembled with various other components into fire hydrants. Drawings of the flanges and the finished fire hydrants were submitted with your request. You state that the flanges lose their identity in relation to the complete hydrant and ask whether it would be sufficient to mark only the crates in which the flanges are shipped with the country of origin. Alternatively, you ask whether you can put stickers that say "CHINA" on the cast flanges.

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 to the ultimate purchaser in the U.S. the English name of the country of origin of the article.

19 U.S.C. 1304(c)(1), requires that all pipe (iron, steel, stainless steel), tube and pipe fittings (steel, stainless steel, chrome-moly steel or cast or malleable iron) shall be marked to indicate the proper country of origin by one of five methods, die stamping, cast-in-mold lettering, etching, engraving, or continuous paint stenciling.

19 U.S.C. 1304(c)(2), provides that if, because of the nature of an article, it is technically or commercially infeasible to mark by one of the five prescribed methods, the article may be marked by an equally permanent method of marking or in the case of small diameter pipe, tube or pipe fittings, by tagging the containers or bundles.

Your proposed methods of marking the imported flanges, as described above, do not satisfy the marking requirements of 19 U.S.C. 1304(c)(1) and are not acceptable country of origin markings for the imported flanges. These flanges must be individually marked by one of the five methods prescribed in 19 U.S.C. 1304(c)(1). Marking by one of these five methods should not present any problems since other markings, such as part code number, vendor logo and monogram, will be cast or stamped into the flanges.

This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 CFR Part 177).

A copy of the ruling or the control number indicated above should be provided with the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If you have any questions regarding the ruling, contact National Import Specialist Paula Ilardi at 212-466-5476.

Sincerely,

Roger J. Silvestri
Director

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