NY C80806 - COUNTRY OF ORIGIN MARKING OF IMPORTED THIN FIBERBOARD SHEETS; ARTICLE 509 - United States International Trade Commision Rulings

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NY C80806

November 14, 1997

MAR-2 RR:NC:2:230 C80806

CATEGORY: MARKING

Mr. Greg J. Grasher
Norman G. Jensen, Inc.
P.O. Box 3789
Blaine, WA 98231-3789

RE: COUNTRY OF ORIGIN MARKING OF IMPORTED THIN FIBERBOARD SHEETS; ARTICLE 509

Dear Mr. Grasher:

This is in response to your letter dated October 7, 1997, on behalf of your client West Fraser Mills Ltd., requesting a ruling on whether the requirement for individual country of origin marking of thin fiberboard sheets may excepted under sections 134.32 (a) or (b) of the Customs Regulations. A sample was not submitted with your letter for review.

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 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.

The country of origin marking requirements for a "good of a NAFTA country" are also determined in accordance with Annex 311 of the North American Free Trade Agreement ("NAFTA"), as implemented by section 207 of the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (Pub. L. 103-182, 107 Stat 2057) (December 8, 1993) and the appropriate Customs Regulations. The Marking Rules used for determining whether a good is a good of a NAFTA country are contained in Part 102, Customs Regulations. The marking requirements of these goods are set forth in Part 134, Customs Regulations.

Section 134.45(a)(2) of the regulations, provides that "a good of a NAFTA country may be marked with the name of the
country of origin in English, French or Spanish. Section 134.1(g) of the regulations, defines a "good of a NAFTA country" as an article for which the country of origin is Canada, Mexico or the United States as determined under the NAFTA Marking Rules.

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) of the regulations, provides that the ultimate purchaser of a good of a NAFTA country is the last person in the United States who purchases the good 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.

Section 134.32(a), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.32(a)), provides that articles which are incapable of being marked may be excepted from the marking requirements of Part 134.

Section 134.32(b), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.32(b)), provides that articles that cannot be marked prior to shipment to the United states without injury may be excepted from the marking requirements of Part 134.

When articles are excepted from marking under either of the above two sections, the outermost container or holder in which the articles ordinarily reach the ultimate purchaser must be marked to indicate the country of origin of the articles. (Section 134.22(a), Customs Regulations)

As stated in your client's letter, fiberboard of a thickness of 3/8 inch to 3/4 inch is generally marked along the edge of the board. However, thinner fiberboard of a thickness of 2.6 mm to 8 mm is too thin to be marked in this manner. In addition, it is stated that marking the top or bottom faces would damage the board by rendering it unsuitable for subsequent surface treatments such as paints or laminates. Finally, it is noted that putting a sticker on each sheet would considerably increase the thickness of each unit of about 250 sheets at one point so as to possibly warp all the fiberboards.

According to your client's letter, the fiberboard is sold to distributors who stock the product and resell to various manufacturers in the furniture and cabinet business, who use the thinboard for furniture backs, drawer bottoms and sides, laminations and decorative panels. The distributors apparently do not resell the fiberboard in the imported 198 to 270 piece steel banded units which are marked with an outer label marked "Made in Canada." Unless each individual fiberboard sheet is
marked, the ultimate purchaser will not know the country of origin.

Fiberboard sheets too thin to be marked on the edge are capable of being marked on the back of the board. In most cases, from the applications stated above, the backs of the boards are not further finished. Marking the backs of the boards would not result in injury to the boards prior to import into the United States. Consequently, the marking exceptions under sections 134.32(a) and 134.32(b), Customs Regulations, do not apply under these circumstances.

To satisfy the requirements of the marking statute, each fiberboard sheet must be individually marked with the country of origin either on the edge of the board or on the back of the board.

This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 181 of the Customs Regulations (19 CFR Part 181).

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,

Robert B. Swierupski

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