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NY B82487




March 6, 1997

CLA-2-46:RR:NC:SP:230 B82487

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 4601.91.2000

Ms. Laura Denny
CBT International, Inc.
110 West Ocean Blvd. (Suite 728)
Long Beach, CA 90802

RE: The tariff classification of bamboo fencing from China.

Dear Ms. Denny:

In your letter dated February 19, 1997, on behalf of Lewis Hyman, Inc. (Carson, CA), you requested a tariff classification ruling.

Samples of two kinds of bamboo fencing were submitted and will be retained for reference. Both are composed of numerous flat bamboo strips which have been placed side by side, i.e., assembled into a parallel series and bound by rows of wire placed at six-inch intervals. Both versions will measure 6 feet by 15 feet as imported.

The strips of style # 0430615 are made of the "inside peel" of the bamboo and are, individually, about 1 1/2 cm in width and 1 mm in thickness. The individual strips of style # 0420615 also have roughly those same dimensions but are made of the "outside peel" of the bamboo.

While you acknowledge that the strips of style # 0430615 should be considered "plaiting materials" for purposes of Chapter 46, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), you maintain that those of style # 0420615 are insufficiently flexible for such consideration. You therefore suggest that style # 0420615 is properly classifiable as a wood product in HTS Chapter 44, which, as you point out, includes certain articles of bamboo and other materials of a woody nature (as indicated by Note 6 of that Chapter).

We disagree. After careful examination of the samples, we find that the strips of both styles are sufficiently thin and flexible to be considered plaiting materials. Consequently, both kinds of fencing are within the purview of Chapter 46, HTS.

Accordingly, the applicable subheading for the style # 0430615 and 0420615 fencing will be 4601.91.2000, HTS, which provides for other (than certain enumerated) plaiting materials, plaits and similar products of plaiting materials, bound together in parallel strands or woven, in sheet form, whether or not being finished articles...: of vegetable materials: of one or more of the materials bamboo, rattan, willow or wood. The rate of duty will be 6.6%.

This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 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 Paul Garretto at 212-466-5779.

Sincerely,

Gwenn Klein Kirschner

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