NY B82700 - COUNTRY OF ORIGIN MARKING OF IMPORTED TENTS. - United States International Trade Commision Rulings

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NY B82700

April 2, 1997

MAR-2 RR:NC:TA:352 B82700

CATEGORY: MARKING

Mr. Bruce Holen
THAW Corporation
8300 Military Road South
P.O. Box 80746
Seattle, Washington 98108

RE: COUNTRY OF ORIGIN MARKING OF IMPORTED TENTS.

Dear Mr. Holen:

This is in response to your letter dated January 6, 1997 requesting a ruling on whether the proposed marking "Made in Korea, Assembled in China" is an acceptable country of origin marking for imported tents since the marking "Assembled in China" appears on the article which is a country or locality other than the actual country of origin of the article. A marked sample was not submitted with your letter for review.

Your correspondence indicates that the tents were determined to be of Korean origin under Section 334 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA) as implemented by Section 102.21 of the Customs Regulations. Since a substantial amount of processing was performed in China including assembly by sewing and it is your policy to fully disclose as accurately as possible the complete facts about the products you market, you have requested that we rule on the acceptability of labeling the tents with the marking "Made in Korea, Assembled in China". Unfortunately, this marking would not be acceptable.

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.

Section 134.46, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.46), requires that in any case in which the words "United States," or "American," the letters "U.S.A.," any variation of such words or letters, or the name of any city or locality in the United States, or the name of any foreign country or locality other than the country or locality in which the article was manufactured or produced, appears 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.

A United States Customs Service General Notice, titled use of "Made in" and "Assembled in" in one country of origin statement, issued by ORR alerted the public to the amendment of 19 CFR 134.43 (e). The effect of this amendment was the conclusion that the terms "Made in" and "Assembled in" "are always words of similar meaning, and it will no longer be acceptable to use "Made in", "Product of", or words of similar meaning, along with the words "Assembled in" in a single country of origin statement on articles of foreign origin imported into the United States." In addition, the statement notes in conformance with the new wording of Section 134.43 (e) that:

...The country of origin indicator,
"Assembled in", may be used for the marking of imported articles only when the country of origin of that article is determined to be the country in which the article was finally assembled.

In the situation before us for consideration, presuming that the country of origin has been determined to be Korea in conformance with Section 102.21 CR, then the goods may not be marked either "Assembled in China" or "Made in Korea, Assembled in China".

Based on the above discussion the term "Assembled in" is a term similar to "Product of" or "Made in" and may only be used if it specifies a product whose origin has been determined under Section 334 of URAA to be the country of assembly. Further, since the goods before us for consideration have a country of origin of Korea and the goods were assembled in China, the goods are in violation of Section 134.46 if they are marked "Made in Korea, Assembled in China" since this statement appears to confer two countries of origin which is prima facie confusing and contrary to law and regulation. However, if you seek to identify that China was involved in the production of these goods it is our opinion that statements such as "Made in Korea, Further Processed in China" or "Made in Korea, Finished in China" would meet the requirements of Section 134.46 of the CR.

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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