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NY A89393

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December 6, 1996

MAR-2-82:RR:NC:1:119 A89393

CATEGORY: MARKING VALUATION

Mr. Frank Spadaro
Spadaro International Services
156-15 146th Avenue
Jamaica, NY 11434-4260

RE: The Country of Origin Marking of dental and surgical instruments from Germany and Pakistan

Dear Mr. Spadaro:

In your letter dated November 6, 1996 you requested a country of origin marking ruling. You also requested valuation information for some of the prospective transactions. The request is being made on behalf of Clinimed, Inc., 103 Bishop Place, West Hempstead, NY 11552.

The articles to be imported are dental and surgical hand instruments to be partly manufactured in the United States, Germany or Pakistan. The importer is considering four different manufacturing plans insofar as the choice of countries where the various steps in the manufacturing process are to take place. For each of the four plans, you have asked us to rule on the country of origin for marking purposes. In addition, for plan no. 3 and 4 you ask what entered value is to be used and whether some transportation costs are to be included.

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.

In addition, Section 134.43(a) of the Customs Regulations requires that certain articles such as dental and surgical instruments and parts thereof be marked by means of die stamping, cast-in-mold lettering, etching, engraving, or by affixing metal plates to the article.

In plan no. 1, steel of German origin would be forged, milled and assembled in Germany, sent to Pakistan for smooth finishing and polishing and then shipped to the United States. The country of origin for marking purposes would be Germany.

In plan no. 2, steel of German origin would be forged in Germany and sent to Pakistan for milling, assembly, smooth finishing and polishing and then shipped to the United States. The country of origin for marking purposes would be Pakistan.

In plan no. 3, steel of U.S. origin would be forged, milled and assembled in the United States, shipped to Pakistan for smooth finishing and polishing and then returned to the United States. The country of origin would be the United States, however, the product could not be marked "U.S.A." or "Made in U.S.A." without the specific authorization of the Federal Trade Commission which has strict restrictions on the marking of a product with "U.S.A." or "Made in U.S.A." if that product is partly manufactured in a foreign country.

In plan no. 4, steel of U.S. origin is forged in the United States, sent to Pakistan for milling, assembly, smooth finishing and polishing, and then shipped to the United States. The country of origin for marking purposes would be Pakistan.

For plans no. 3 and 4, the work performed in Pakistan would not be considered repairs or alterations but part of the manufacturing process. Therefore there would be no deduction for the material of U.S. origin used in the finished product. The instruments would be assessed duty in full. The entered value should include all costs including that of transporting the unfinished product to Pakistan.

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.

If you have any questions pertaining to this matter, please contact National Import Specialist Jacques Preston of this office at (212) 466-5488.

Sincerely,

Roger J. Silvestri
Director

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