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NY H80617




June 28, 2001

CLA-2-03:RR:NC:2:231 H80617

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 0305.41.0000

Mr. Raul Fernández-Arche
Ahumados Noruegos (USA), Inc.
7299 and 7297 NW 12th Street
Miami, FL 33126

RE: The tariff classification and status under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) of smoked salmon from Mexico; Article 509

Dear Mr. Fernández-Arche:

In your letter, dated May 1, 2001, you have requested a ruling on the status of smoked salmon from Mexico under the NAFTA.

Your parent company, Ahumados Noruegos S.A. de C.V., Mexico, imports into Mexico frozen, gutted, head on and/or head off, whole Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) from Norway. Your parent company smokes the salmon, repacks it, and exports it to the United States. You ask whether salmon that originates in Norway and is smoked in Mexico is eligible for NAFTA preferential treatment.

The applicable subheading for smoked salmon will be 0305.41.0000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for fish, dried, salted or in brine; smoked fish, whether or not cooked before or during the smoking process; flours, meals and pellets of fish, fit for human consumption, smoked fish, including fillets, Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka, Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, Oncorhynchus keta, Oncorhynchus tschawytscha, Oncorhynchus kisutch, Oncorhynchus masou and Oncorhynchus rhodurus), Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and Danube salmon (Hucho hucho). The rate of duty will be 5 percent ad valorem.

Regarding the issue of NAFTA origination, the criterion for origination is a chapter shift. General Note 12(t)/3 states, “A change to headings 0301 through 0307 from any other chapter.” The non-originating Norwegian salmon does not meet the tariff shift criterion articulated in General Note 12(t)/3 (requiring a change to headings 0301 to 0309 from any other chapter), and therefore, it is ineligible for duty free entry as a NAFTA product.

The smoked salmon does not qualify for preferential treatment under the NAFTA because one or more of the non-originating materials used in the production of the goods will not undergo the change in tariff classification required by General Note 12(t)/3. Accordingly, the smoked salmon is considered to be of Norwegian origin.

This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 181 of the Customs Regulations (19 CFR 181).

This ruling is binding only as to the party to whom it is issued and may be relied on only by that party.

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 Thomas Brady at 212-637-7064.

Sincerely,

Robert B. Swierupski
Director,

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