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HQ 959015




April 24, 2000

CLA-2 RR:CR:TE 959015 GGD

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 6307.90.9989

Robert L. Follick, Esquire
Follick & Bessich, P.C.
513 West Mount Pleasant Avenue, Suite 205 Livingston, New Jersey 07039

RE: Revocation of NY 818857; Suitcase Components; Not incomplete articles with essential character of complete or finished suitcases; GRI 2(a); Headings 4202 and 6307; Totes, Incorporated v. United States, 18 C.I.T. 919, 865 F. Supp. 867 (1994), aff’d 69 F.3d 495 (Fed. Cir. 1995)

Dear Mr. Follick:

In New York Ruling Letter (NY) 818857, issued to you February 16, 1996, on behalf of Seil Company, Ltd., of Korea, luggage components described as “the left and right sides of a vertical suitcase,” each imported in separate shipments, were classified in subheading 4202.12.8070, HTSUSA, textile category 670, the provision for “Trunks, suitcasesand similar containers: Trunks, suitcases: With outer surface of plastics or of textile materials: With outer surface of textile materials: Other, Other: Other: Of man-made fibers.” You subsequently requested reconsideration of that ruling. We have reviewed NY 818857 and have found it to be in error. Therefore, this ruling revokes NY 818857.

FACTS:

The samples at issue are the separately imported left and right sides of a vertical suitcase. The articles are described as having an outer surface composition of man-made textile materials. One of the sides is said to be complete with utility pockets.

ISSUE:

Whether the separately imported component part of a finished suitcase possesses the essential character of a complete or finished suitcase classifiable under heading 4202, HTSUSA.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Classification under the HTSUSA is made in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI). GRI 1 provides that the classification of goods shall be determined according to the terms of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relative Section or Chapter Notes. In the event that the goods cannot be classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, and if the headings and legal notes do not otherwise require, the remaining GRI may then be applied. The Explanatory Notes (EN) to the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, which represent the official interpretation of the tariff at the international level, facilitate classification under the HTSUSA by offering guidance in understanding the scope of the headings and GRI.

Heading 4202, HTSUSA, covers “Trunks, suitcases, vanity cases, attache cases, briefcases, school satchels, spectacle cases, binocular cases, camera cases, musical instrument cases, gun cases, holsters and similar containers; traveling bags, toiletry bags, knapsacks and backpacks, handbags, shopping bags, wallets, purses, map cases, cigarette cases, tobacco pouches, tool bags, sports bags, bottle cases, jewelry boxes, powder cases, cutlery cases and similar containers, of leather or of composition leather, of sheeting of plastics, of textile materials, of vulcanized fiber or of paperboard, or wholly or mainly covered with such materials or with paper.”

As noted above, classification is made in accordance with the GRI and the terms of the headings with the guidance of the EN to understand the scope of the headings and GRI. Since the left or right half of a suitcase, standing alone, is not a named exemplar of heading 4202, nor similar to any of the complete, fully functional containers named therein, the article cannot be classified pursuant to GRI 1 alone, i.e., according to the terms of the heading. We therefore look to GRI 2(a), which states:

Any reference in a heading to an article shall be taken to include a reference to that article incomplete or unfinished, provided that, as entered, the incomplete or unfinished article has the essential character of the complete or finished article. It shall also include a reference to that article complete or finished (or falling to be classified as complete or finished by virtue of this rule), entered unassembled or disassembled.

EN (I) and (VI), to GRI 2(a), are particularly helpful in understanding the scope of GRI 2(a) as it applies to the imported merchandise. The EN contain the following guidance:

(I) The first part of Rule 2(a) extends the scope of any heading which refers to a particular article to cover not only the complete article but also that article incomplete or unfinished, provided that, as presented, it has the essential character of the complete or finished article.

(VI) This Rule also applies to incomplete or unfinished articles presented unassembled or disassembled provided that they are to be treated as complete or finished articles by virtue of the first part of this Rule.

Since each of the imported components is one half of a suitcase, each is an incomplete article. Therefore, the first part of GRI 2(a) is the part of the rule that is most pertinent to the facts of this case. One half of a suitcase may be classified under heading 4202, HTSUSA, if it is found that the incomplete article, as presented, has the essential character of the complete or finished article.

In determining whether the left side or right side of a suitcase possesses the essential character of a complete or finished suitcase, we look to the judicial guidance provided in Totes, Incorporated v. United States, 18 C.I.T. 919, 865 F. Supp. 867 (1994), aff’d 69 F.3d 495 (Fed. Cir. 1995). In Totes, the Court of International Trade (CIT) held that the essential characteristics and purposes of the heading 4202 exemplars are to organize, store, protect and carry various items. Unlike suitcases and all of the other exemplars enumerated in heading 4202, HTSUSA, neither of the separately imported components under consideration here is able to organize, store, protect, or carry items.

In HQ 956538, issued November 29, 1994 (before the CIT’s holding in the Totes case had been affirmed by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit), this office discussed the first part of GRI 2(a), and found that the front panel assembly for a
suitcase did not possess the essential character of the complete article. We construed the term “essential character” to mean “the attribute which strongly marks or serves to distinguish what an article is; that which is indispensable to the structure, core or condition of the article.” We found that the front panel was no more important to the finished article than the absent walls and rear panel. The front panel assembly was classified in subheading 6307.90.9989, HTSUSA.

In HQ 958773, issued July 29, 1996, we considered the classification of incomplete or unfinished cases that would be fitted, after importation, to hold compact discs (CDs). The protestant had claimed that the merchandise should be classified in subheading 6307.90.9989, HTSUSA, because the cases were imported without the CD-holding, plastic inserts (that would be affixed after importation), and therefore did not have the essential character of finished CD cases. We noted that, despite the absence of the special inserts, the cases, as imported, were designed and dedicated to function as carrying cases that provided a secure, foam-padded, three-dimensional enclosure to completely envelope any items carried. Although the plastic CD-holding inserts would, after importation, provide an organizational aspect to the cases, we found that the articles, as entered, constituted fully functional containers capable of providing storage, protection, and portability. The CD cases, although incomplete, unfinished, and not named exemplars of heading 4202, were found to possess the essential characteristics common to the containers of heading 4202, and were therefore classified in subheading 4202.92.9025, HTSUSA.

We find that, unlike the cases of HQ 958773, neither of the separately imported components of the vertical suitcase forms an enclosure that is able to organize, store, protect, or carry items. Neither of the incomplete articles, as entered, possesses the essential character of the complete or finished article.

In light of the above analysis and precedent, we find that neither the left nor right sides of a vertical suitcase, as entered, possesses the essential character of a complete or finished suitcase. Each of the separately imported suitcase components is a part, and is classified in subheading 6307.90.9989, HTSUSA.

HOLDING:

Each of the imported components, identified as the left and right sides of a vertical suitcase, is classified in subheading 6307.90.9989, HTSUSA, the provision for “Other made up articles, including dress patterns: Other: Other: Other, Other: Other.” The general column one duty rate is 7 percent ad valorem.

NY 818857, issued February 16, 1996 is hereby revoked.

Sincerely,


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