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NY D89750




April 5, 1999

MAR-2 RR:NC:1:112 D89750

CATEGORY: MARKING

Ms. Donna Borgerding
AMP Incorporated
P.O. Box 3608
Harrisburg, PA 17105-3608

RE: THE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN MARKING OF INSULATED ELECTRIC CABLE

Dear Ms. Borgerding:

This is in response to your letter dated March 10, 1999 requesting a ruling on whether the proposed marking is acceptable for an insulated electric cable, referred to as a PC Card Cable. A marked sample was 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 to the ultimate purchaser in the U.S. the English name of the country of origin of the article.

As indicated by the sample, the PC Card Cable contains a connector at each end. There is a label attached to one of the connectors that contains various information, including “Assembled in China”. With respect to the conformance of this marking to the requirements of 19 U.S.C. 1304, there are several issues that must be considered. The first involves a determination as to whether China can be considered the country of origin based upon the assembly operations that were performed there. Your request does not contain sufficient information to make that determination. However, regardless of the actual country of origin, we do not believe that the proposed marking is acceptable since, in our opinion, it is not sufficiently conspicuous. As provided in Section 134.41(b), Customs Regulations, the country of origin marking is considered conspicuous if the ultimate purchaser in the U.S. is able to find the marking easily and read it without strain. In this respect, we believe that a larger sized lettering must be used to designate the country of origin.

You have also inquired as to the acceptability of the country of origin marking which you are proposing for future shipments wherein the PC Card Cable will be packaged with a PCMCIA card in Taiwan. Since these two products will be packaged together by shrink wrapping, the individual country of origin marking of each component will not be visible. You have proposed affixing accessory labels to the back of the packaging which indicate that the PC Card Cable is made in China and that the PCMCIA card is made in Taiwan. In our opinion, the proposed marking regarding the country of origin of the PCMCIA card , as described above, is conspicuous, legible and permanent and satisfies the marking requirements of 19 U.S.C. 1304 and 19 CFR Part 134 and is an acceptable country of origin marking. While the physical aspect of the marking regarding the country of origin of the PC Card Cable is acceptable, we reiterate our position that there is insufficient information to determine the actual country of origin for this item.

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 David Curran at 212-637-7049.

Sincerely,

Robert B. Swierupski
Director,

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