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HQ 965085




September 18, 2001

CLA-2 RR:CR:TE 965085 GGD

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 6307.90.9989

Mr. John Reich
Cataract Customhouse Brokerage, Incorporated 2094 Grand Island Boulevard
Grand Island, New York 14072

RE: Revocation of NY C88019; Lanyard of Heading 6307; Not Other Articles of Iron or Steel of Heading 7326

Dear Mr. Reich:

In New York Ruling Letter (NY) C88019, issued to you June 19, 1998, a lanyard of polypropylene with a steel clip was classified in subheading 7326.90.8585, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA), the provision for "Other articles of iron or steel: Other: Other: Other: Other, Other." We have reviewed NY C88019 and have found the ruling to be in error. Therefore, this ruling revokes NY C88019.

Pursuant to section 625(c), Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1625(c)), notice of the proposed revocation of NY C88019 was published on August 1, 2001, in the Customs Bulletin, Volume 35, Number 31.

FACTS:

In your request to Customs for the issuance of a binding ruling, the merchandise classified in NY C88019 was described as a jumbo lanyard, like a wide shoelace made of polypropylene. The "shoelace" portion was imprinted throughout with the phrase "ATTITUDE is everything!!!" A steel clip was attached to the lanyard and the complete article was said to be used as a key chain. According to the ruling, classification of the complete article was based on General Rule of Interpretation (GRI) 3(c), and the article was classified under heading 7326, the heading said to occur last in numerical order among those which equally merit consideration. No heading other than heading 7326, however, is mentioned in the ruling. Photographic copies of the sample at issue, and of
other lanyards in the importer's line, indicate that the steel clip is a "J" snap hook attached to a swivel. Snap hooks are general purpose hardware and are not principally used as key chains. The photographic evidence and the description comparing the lanyard to a "wide shoelace" indicate that the non-metal portions of the lanyard are composed of a textile fabric of woven, or possibly knit, polypropylene filament. (If Customs assumption in this regard is incorrect, please contact this office.)

ISSUE:

Whether the lanyard of polypropylene textile fabric and metal is properly classified under heading 7326, HTSUSA, or under heading 6307, 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.

Lanyards consisting of a loop or strap of textile material worn on the person to provide hands-free securing and suspension of a separate object, have been classified under headings 5609 and 6307, HTSUSA. Heading 5609, HTSUSA, covers "Articles of yarn, strip or the like of heading 5404 or 5405, twine, cordage, rope or cables, not elsewhere specified or included." Heading 6307, HTSUSA, covers "Other made up [textile] articles, including dress patterns." In Merriam-Webster's Deluxe Dictionary, Tenth Collegiate Edition (1998), "lanyard" is defined, in pertinent part, as: "2 a : a cord or strap to hold something (as a knife or a whistle) and usually worn around the neck." Since lanyards are designed "to hold something," it is implicit that they incorporate some component(s) of general purpose hardware (usually of metal, but occasionally of plastics or other materials) such as ferrules, bands, swivels, hooks, snaps, clips, clasps, etc. These items are used to form or reinforce the loop of textile material, and/or to attach the object to be held. As such, they are not considered articles separate from the lanyard.

Lanyards classified under headings 5609 and 6307, however, are distinguished from lanyards used solely or principally as clothing accessories (e.g., a cord worn to symbolize a military citation), which are classifiable under heading 6217, HTSUSA.

See Headquarters Ruling Letters (HQ) 951316, dated July 10, 1992, HQ 955811, dated May 19, 1994, NY 829181, dated May 2, 1988, NY 890142, dated August 11, 1993, NY B85585, dated June 6, 1997, NY E87781, dated October 13, 1999, and NY F86765, dated May 15, 2000. Imported merchandise which consists of a textile lanyard and an article separate from the lanyard that the lanyard is designed to suspend (e.g., a knife, whistle, compass, bottle opener, split ring, key chain, badge holder, etc.), are considered composite goods that generally are classified pursuant to the principles of General Rule of Interpretation (GRI) 3, often with a finding that the essential character of the complete good is imparted by the separate, suspended component. See NY A88092, dated October 8, 1996, NY D86756, dated February 3, 1999, NY E81587, dated May 13, 1999, and HQ 964170, dated June 5, 2001.

In this case, the lanyard is a composite good made up of different materials, i.e., the woven (or knit) textile fabric strap and the steel clip. The steel clip is not a separate, suspended component principally used as a key chain but is a component part of the lanyard itself, of a kind that is normally incorporated to create "a cord or strap to hold something...worn around the neck." We thus find that it is the textile strap component which imparts the good's essential character. The subject lanyard is properly classified as an other made up textile article under heading 6307, HTSUSA, not under heading 7326, as an other article of iron or steel.

HOLDING:

The lanyard composed of woven (or knit) textile fabric and metal is classified in subheading 6307.90.9989, HTSUSA, the provision for "Other made up [textile] articles, including dress patterns: Other: Other: Other, Other: Other." The general column one duty rate is 7 percent ad valorem.

NY C88019, issued June 19, 1998, is hereby revoked.

In accordance with 19 U.S.C. ยง 1625(c), this ruling will become effective 60 days after its publication in the Customs Bulletin.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director

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