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HQ 964538




November 19, 2001

CLA-2 RR:CR:TE 964538 jsj

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 6307.90.9989
4202.92.3031

Ms. Laura Hager
ABX Logistics
Import Department
714 S. Isis Avenue
Suite A
Inglewood, California 90301

RE: Golf Bag Parts; Subheadings 6307.90.9989 and 4202.92.3031, HTSUSA; Separate shipments.

Dear Ms. Hager:

The purpose of this correspondence is to respond to your request on the behalf of Ergonomix Sport, Inc. for a binding classification ruling of the merchandise described as a “flat golf bag” and “related parts.”

This ruling is being issued subsequent to the following: (1) A review of your submission received by the Customs Service on July 27, 2000; (2) A review of the correspondence of Mr. Stephen J. Perrin, President of Ergonomix Sport, dated July 7, 2000; and (3) An examination of the samples.

The Customs Service is advised by ABX Logistics that all of the textile fabric is made in Taiwan and that the textile components of the golf bag are sewn in China. Final assembly of the golf bags, which will include the attachment of a plastic top, plastic bottom, plastic flap and a stand, will be undertaken in the United States.

Customs has been advised that the textile aspects of the “flat golf bag” will be “arriving in separate container[s]” from the plastic and other components. Ergonomix Sport Correspondence (July 7, 2000). The Customs Service, for the purposes of this ruling, understands the importer’s statement to mean that the articles will be imported in separate shipments. If the textile components and the plastic and other components are shipped in separate containers, but arrive in the same shipment, the classification ruling provided in this letter would be different.

See infra. note 4.

FACTS

The sample article in issue, identified as a “flat golf bag,” is the body of a golf bag made of man-made textile material. The “flat golf bag” lacks a plastic top, plastic bottom, plastic flap and a stand, all of which will be a part of and accompany a finished golf bag. The “flat golf bag,” as assembled at the time of importation, is entirely sewn, including all pockets, zippers, “D” rings, handles, “O” rings, snaps, as well as all other aspects of the golf bag panel.

The other samples, the “related parts,” as described by the importer, include: a rain/travel hood, a shoulder strap, a full-length middle divider, fur padding F/dividers, hook and loop fastener material and webbing material. The rain/travel hood is composed of a man-made textile material coated or covered on the interior with plastic. It has metal snaps on the bottom and a center zipper. The shoulder strap is composed of man-made textile material and is designed to carry the completed golf bag on both of the golfer’s shoulders. It has plastic clips that enable the straps to be adjusted.

The remaining “related parts” are composed of man-made textile material and have plastic and/or hook and loop fasteners. The full-length textile middle divider is tubular-shaped, has a plastic base attached with elastic straps, and hook and loop fasteners at the top. The other parts include a circular length of man-made textile material with individual flaps of loop fasteners, a thirty-six (36) inch length of hook fastener material measuring one inch wide and two approximately four inch by four inch squares composed of man-made textile material with one inch tongues, each with strips of hook and loop fastener material.

ISSUES

What is the classification, pursuant to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated, of the above-described “flat golf bag” and “related parts” when imported in shipments separate from the plastic top, plastic bottom, plastic flap and the stand ?

LAW AND ANALYSIS

The federal agency responsible for initially interpreting and applying the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA) is the U.S. Customs Service. See 19 U.S.C. 1500 (West 1999) (providing that the Customs Service is responsible for fixing the final appraisement, classification and amount of duty to be paid); See also Joint Explanatory Statement of the Committee of Conference, H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 100-576, at 549 (1988) reprinted in 1988 U.S. Code Cong. and Adm. News 1547, 1582 [hereinafter Joint Explanatory Statement]. The Customs Service, in accordance with its legislative mandate, classifies imported merchandise pursuant to the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI) and the Additional U.S. Rules of Interpretation. See 19 U.S. C. 1202 (West 1999); See generally, What Every Member of The Trade Community Should Know About: Tariff Classification, an Informed Compliance Publication of the Customs Service available on the World Wide Web site of the Customs Service at www.customs.gov, search “Importing & Exporting” and then “U.S. Customs Informed Compliance Publications.”

General Rule of Interpretation 1 provides, in part, that classification decisions are to be “determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes.” General Rule of Interpretation 1. General Rule of Interpretation 1 further states that merchandise which can not be classified in accordance with the dictates of GRI 1 should be classified pursuant to the other General Rules of Interpretation, provided the HTSUSA chapter headings or notes do not require otherwise. According to the Explanatory Notes (EN), the phrase in GRI 1, “provided such headings or notes do not otherwise require,” is intended to “make it quite clear that the terms of the headings and any relative Section or Chapter Notes are paramount.” General Rules for the Interpretation of the Harmonized System, Rule 1, Explanatory Note (V).

The Explanatory Notes constitute the official interpretation of the Harmonized System at the international level. See Joint Explanatory Statement supra note 2, at 549. The Explanatory Notes, although neither legally binding nor dispositive of classification issues, do provide commentary on the scope of each heading of the HTSUS. The EN’s are generally indicative of the proper interpretation of the headings. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127-28 (Aug. 23, 1989); Lonza, Inc. v. United States, 46 F. 3rd 1098, 1109 (Fed. Cir. 1995).

Commencing classification of the articles that comprise the “flat golf bag” and the “related parts” in accordance with the dictates of GRI 1, the Customs Service examined the headings of the HTSUSA. Customs review of the headings of the HTSUSA did not establish any heading that described all of the merchandise in issue when considered as a single item.

Customs specifically notes that the merchandise will not be imported in completed condition. Customs further notes, for the purposes of this ruling, that the “flat golf bag” and “related parts” will be imported in shipments separate from the plastic top, plastic bottom, plastic flap and the stand. See Altman & Co. v. United States, 13 Ct. Cust. Appls. 315 (1925) (providing that separately packaged parts of the same merchandise arriving on the same shipment should be considered a single entry and classified together); See also James G. Wiley v. United States, 56 Cust. Ct. 331 (1966) (providing that arrival of different aircraft constitute both physically and commercially separate importations, and that entries of merchandise from different vessels could not be merged for the purposes of appraisement or classification). Customs, absent a provision in the tariff schedule to the contrary, is required to classify merchandise in the condition in which it is imported. See Sarne Handbags Corp. v. United States, 100 F. Supp. 1126, (C.I.T. 2000); Heartland By-Products, Inc. v. United States, 74 F. Supp. 1324, 1341 (C.I.T. 1999) citing Worthington v. Robbins, 139 U.S. 337, 341 (1891). If the “flat golf bag” and the “related parts” were to be shipped in separate containers, but arrived together on the same ship, the classification would be different. See id. Altman & Co.

The Customs Service, having determined that all of the articles under consideration in this ruling letter cannot cumulatively, as a single item, be classified pursuant to GRI 1, examined GRI 2. General Rule of Interpretation 2 is divided into two subparagraphs, GRI 2 (a) and GRI 2 (b). General Rule of Interpretation 2 (a) provides that any reference in an HTSUSA heading to an article “shall be taken to include a reference to that article incomplete or unfinished.” GRI 2 (a) requires, however, that the incomplete or unfinished article have the “essential character” of the complete or finished article.

The issue to be addressed is whether the “flat golf bag” and the “related parts” to be imported by Ergonomix Sport have the “essential character” of completed or finished products and should, therefore, be classified pursuant to GRI 2(a) as if they were goods in their completed or finished state. The General Rules of Interpretation do not define the phrase “essential character.” Its meaning may, however, be understood from an examination of the Explanatory Notes to GRI 2 (a).

The EN’s to GRI 2 (a) draw a distinction between a “blank” which possesses the essential character of an article and a “semi-manufacture[d]” item that does not have the essential character of an article. A “blank,” as defined in the EN, is an article “not ready for direct use, having the approximate shape or outline of the finished article or part.” The EN continues stating that a “blank” is an article “which can only be used, other than in exceptional cases, for completion into the finished article or part.”

A plastic bottle preform is offered in the EN as an example of a blank. Bottle preforms of plastic are “intermediate products having tubular shape, with one closed end and one open end threaded to secure a screw type closure, the portion below the threaded end being intended to be expanded to a desired size and shape.”

“Semi-manufactures” are items that do not yet have the essential shape or character of the finished articles. Examples of semi-manufactures set forth in the EN’s are: “bars, discs, tubes, etc.” Semi-manufactures are specifically not regarded as “blanks.”

An examination of the instant “flat golf bag” and “related parts,” in the condition in which they will be imported, reveals semi-manufactured items rather than blanks. The articles do not have the essential character of a sports bag.

Completed golf bags are classified in heading 4202, HTSUSA. Heading 4202, HTSUSA, provides for the classification of:

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. (Emphasis added.).

Additional U.S. Note 1 of Chapter 42 provides a definition for the phrase “sports bags.” The expression “travel, sports and similar bags” means “goodsof a kind designed for carrying clothing and other personal effects during travel, including backpacks and shopping bags of this heading, but does not include binocular cases, camera cases, musical instrument cases, bottle cases and similar containers.” Chapter 42, HTSUSA, Additional U.S. Note 1.

An examination of the instant “flat golf bag” and “related parts,” in the condition in which they will be imported, reveals articles that do not yet have the essential character of goods of a kind designed for carrying clothing and other personal effects during travel. The articles specifically lack the capability to function as a container. Since they do not have the essential character of “sports bags” of heading 4202, HTSUSA, the Customs Service cannot classify them as GRI 2(a) incomplete or unfinished articles.

The “flat golf bag” and the “related parts” are individually classified pursuant to GRI 1 in heading 6307, HTSUSA. The articles are further classified in subheading 6307.90.9989, HTSUSA. Subheading 6307.90.9989, HTSUSA, provides for:

Other made up articles, including dress patterns:

Other:

Other:
Other;

Other:
6307.90.9989 Other.

Should the “flat golf bags” and the “related parts” be imported together with the plastic top, plastic bottom, plastic flap and the stand, either in the same or separate containers, but in the same shipment, all of the merchandise would be classified pursuant to GRI 2(a) as unassembled sports bags. Complete or finished golf bags with outer surfaces of man-made textile materials are classified in heading 4202, HTSUSA, and are further classified at the subheading level in subheading 4202.92.3031, HTSUSA. Subheading 4202.92.3031, HTSUSA, provides for the classification of sports bags with an outer surface of textile materials of man-made fibers.

HOLDING

The “flat golf bag” and the “related parts” when imported in shipments separate from the plastic top, plastic bottom, plastic flap and the stand are classified in subheading 6307.90.9989, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated.

The General Column 1 Rate of Duty for subheading 6307.90.9989, HTSUSA, is seven (7) percent, ad valorem.

If the “flat golf bag” and the “related parts” are imported with the plastic top, plastic bottom, plastic flap and the stand in separate containers, but as part of a single shipment for Customs purposes, they would be classified in subheading 4202.92.3031, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated.

The General Column 1 Rate of Duty of subheading 4202.92.3031, HTSUSA, is eighteen and three-tenths (18.3) percent, ad valorem.

The textile quota category for merchandise classified in subheading 4202.92.3031, HTSUSA, is category 670.

It is recommended that Ergonomix Sport contact its local Customs Service office prior to the importation of this merchandise to determine the current status of any restraints or requirements due to the changeable nature of the statistical annotation, the ninth and tenth digits of the HTSUSA, and the restraint (quota/visa) categories applicable to textile merchandise.

The designated textile and apparel category may be subdivided into parts. If subdivided, the quota and visa requirements applicable to the merchandise may be affected. It is recommended that Ergonomix Sport review, close to the time of shipment, the Status Report On Current Import Quotas (Restraint Levels), since part categories are the result of international bilateral agreements and subject to frequent change. The Status Report is an internal issuance of the U.S. Customs Service and is available for inspection at local Customs Service offices.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division

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