NY B86732 - COUNTRY OF ORIGIN MARKING OF IMPORTED NAME TAG LANYARDS - United States International Trade Commision Rulings

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NY B86732

July 16, 1997

MAR-2 RR:NC:TA:352 B86732

CATEGORY: MARKING

Mr. Steven C. Meyer
O'Neill & Whitaker. Inc.
30 Vesey Street, 8th floor
New York, NY 10007

RE: COUNTRY OF ORIGIN MARKING OF IMPORTED NAME TAG LANYARDS

Dear Mr. Meyer:

This is in response to your letter dated June 18, 1997, on behalf of your client Lumar International Enterprises, Inc., requesting a ruling on whether the proposed method of marking the container in which the name tag lanyards are imported with the country of origin in lieu of marking the article itself is an acceptable country of origin marking for the imported name tag lanyards. A marked sample container was not submitted with your letter for review.

The name tag lanyards will be imported in clear poly bags containing twenty lanyards each. Each poly bag will be stamp with the country of origin (TAIWAN) and the poly bags will be packed 100 bags to a carton. The outer carton will also be marked with the country of origin. The individual lanyards will not be marked with the country of origin. Your correspondence indicates that these products will be imported for sale to Blockbuster Video Corporation. The lanyards will be issued to Blockbuster employees to hold their official name tags. The lanyards are intended solely for the use of Blockbuster employees and will never be sold to any party and will be used exclusively within the work place.

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.

Part 134, Customs Regulations (19 CFR Part 134), implements the country of origin marking requirements and exceptions of 19 U.S.C. 1304. Section 134.41(b), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.41(b)), mandates that the ultimate purchaser in the U.S. must be able to find the marking easily and read it without strain. Section 134.1(d), defines the ultimate purchaser as generally the last person in the U.S. who will receive the article in the form in which it was imported. If an imported article is to be sold at retail in its imported form, the purchaser at retail is the ultimate purchaser. In this case the lanyards are never sold at retail. In a series of rulings Customs' Headquarters has found various plants, hospitals or corporate entities were the ultimate purchaser for the purposes of Section 134.1(d), when purchasing certain articles to be given to employees for use in the performance of their job. For example, in HQ 730840 of January 12, 1988, Headquarters ruled that a hospital was the ultimate purchaser of surgical gloves which were distributed to hospital employees. Similar decisions ruled that various corporate entities or businesses were the ultimate purchaser for a wide variety of items that were distributed by that business to employees such as disposable shoe covers, head covers and gowns, identification bracelets, work coveralls and industrial gloves. Note HQ rulings 715640, 730945, 734304, 732793 and 723745. Therefore, based on the precedent above the ultimate purchaser of the name tag lanyards is the corporation who purchased the product.

An article is excepted from marking under 19 U.S.C. 1304 (a)(3)(D) and section 134.32(d), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.32(d)), if the marking of a container of such article will reasonably indicate the origin of such article. Accordingly, if Customs is satisfied that the article will remain in its container until it reaches the ultimate purchaser and if the ultimate purchaser can tell the country of origin of the lanyards by viewing the container in which it is packaged, the individual lanyard would be excepted from marking under this provision.

The lanyards which are imported in containers that are marked in the manner described above, are excepted from marking under 19 U.S.C. 1304 (a)(3)(D) and 19 CFR 134.32(d). Accordingly, marking the container in which the lanyards are imported and sold to the ultimate purchaser in lieu of marking the article itself is an acceptable country of origin marking for the imported lanyards provided the port director is satisfied that the article will remain in the marked container until it reaches the ultimate purchaser.

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 Alan Tytelman at 212-466-5896.

Sincerely,

Paul K. Schwartz
Chief, Textile and Apparel Branch

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