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NY G80010




July 28, 2000

CLA-2-82:RR:NC:1:118 G80010

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 8205.51.3060

Ms. Pilar Dorfman
E. Besler & Company
P.O. Box 66361
Chicago, IL 60666-0361

RE: The tariff classification of a 7-piece plant care kit from China.

Dear Mr. Dorfman:

In your letter dated July 12, 2000, on behalf of your client, LTD Commodities, Inc., Bannockburn, IL, you requested a tariff classification ruling. Your submitted sample will be returned to you as requested.

You have described your submitted sample, item# 534046-8IPN, as a 7-piece plant care kit. As per our telephone conversation, it will be sold in a cardboard box. It contains the following:

Branch and twig pruner (7 ¼” x 2 1/8”) - made of metal with a plastic handle and a 5 ¾” rubber strap and a locking switch to hook blades closed for storage and safety. Leaf and flower snipper (6 ¼” x 1 ½”) - made of metal with a plastic handle and a locking clip. Spade (7 ¼” x 1 ¾”) - with wooden handle and stainless steel blade. Trowel (7” x 1”) - with wooden handle and stainless steel blade. Aerator (6 1/8”) - with stainless steel tines. Mister (6 ½” x 3” dia.) - made of glass with a metal/plastic handle and pump. Canvas tote (8 ½” x 6 ¼” x 5 ½”) - made of 100% cotton with 7 exterior pockets to store string, labels, seeds, etc.

We believe that the 7-piece plant care kit meets the explanatory note definition of “goods put up in sets for retail sale.” First, the kit consists of at least two different articles, which are, prima facie, classifiable in two different headings. Secondly, the items are put up together to carry out the specific activity of gardening and the items will be used together or in conjunction with one another. Lastly, the articles are put up in a manner suitable for sale directly to users without repacking. We thus believe that the plant care kit qualifies as a set of GRI 3(b); and we must then determine which item imparts the essential character to the set.

The kit includes five hand tools for working in the garden. They include a pruner, snipper, spade, trowel, aerator and a mister. We find that all of the items are equally important within the set and that there is no single significant feature that distinguishes one from the other. Thus, we cannot ascertain which item in this set imparts the essential character. Accordingly, GRI 3(c) states that when goods cannot be classified by reference to 3(a) or 3(b), they shall be classified under the heading, which occurs last in numerical order among those which equally merit consideration. The gardening tools would fall last in the tariff under chapter 82. It is however, used for gardening in the household.

The applicable subheading for the 7-piece plant care kit with its pocketed cotton canvas tote carry case and the Mister is classifiable based upon the spade, trowel and aerator, under subheading 8205.51.3060, HTS, which provides for household tools and parts thereof: of iron or steel: other: other (including parts). The duty rate will be 3.7% ad valorem.

The cotton tool bag is classifiable in 4202.92.6091, HTS. Whether or not imported as part of a set, the tool bag is subject to quota and visa restrictions if a product of China. Goods classifiable in tariff 4202.92.6091, HTS, require the designation of category number 369.

This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177).

A copy of this 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 Kathy Campanelli at 212-637-7025.

Sincerely,

Robert B. Swierupski
Director

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