United States International Trade Commision Rulings And Harmonized Tariff Schedule
faqs.org  Rulings By Number  Rulings By Category  Tariff Numbers
faqs.org > Rulings and Tariffs Home > Rulings By Number > 2002 HQ Rulings > HQ 562176 - HQ 562385 > HQ 562205

Previous Ruling Next Ruling
HQ 562205




March 26, 2002

MAR-2 RR:CR:SM 562205 KSG

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 9820.11.06

Shannon Summit
CJ International, Inc.
405 MacLean Avenue
Suite 1
Louisville KY 40209-1725

RE: U.S.-Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act; men's shirts; subheading 9820.11.06; 19 CFR 10.224

Dear Ms. Summit:

This is in response to your letter received on August 6, 2001, on behalf of The Apparel Group, requesting a binding ruling on the eligibility of certain men’s shirts for duty-free treatment under the United States-Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (“CBTPA”). You submitted a sample shirt for our examination.

FACTS:

The Apparel Group intends to import men’s shirts made from 60% cotton/40% polyester woven fabric. You state that the fabric, yarn, fusible interlining, and thread are made in the U.S. The fabric will be cut and assembled with the thread and interlining into shirts in Nicaragua or Guatemala. The shirts will be imported directly from Nicaragua or Guatemala to the ports of New Orleans, Norfolk or Charleston and will travel in-bond to the Port of Louisville where entry will be made. You also submitted a sample certificate of origin and other documentation from the shirt producer in Guatemala, the U.S. fabric producer (stating that it also is the U.S. yarn supplier from which the fabric is woven), the U.S. producer of the interlining and the U.S. thread producer. There is also an affidavit from the shirt manufacturer stating that it will retain the required documents for a period of 5 years and that such documents will be available to Customs upon request.

You propose to mark the shirts "Assembled in ____" or "Assembled in _____ of U.S. components."

ISSUES:

Whether the shirts, manufactured as described above, are eligible for duty-free treatment under the CBTPA.

Whether the proposed country of origin marking satisfies the requirements of 19 U.S.C. 1304.

Whether the sample certificate of origin and documentation satisfies the requirements of the CBTPA.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

1. Eligibility for CBTPA treatment

Title II of the Trade and Development Act of 2000, (Pub. L. 106-200, 114 Stat. 251), concerns trade benefits for the Caribbean Basin and is referred to as the United States-Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act ("CBTPA"). Section 211 of the CBTPA amended section 213(b) of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA) (19 U.S.C. 2703(b)) to provide expanded trade benefits during a “transition period” to designated countries in the Caribbean Basin.

Section 211 of the CBTPA eliminates tariffs and quantitative restrictions on specific textile and apparel articles and extends North American Free Trade Agreement duty treatment standards to non-textile articles that previously were ineligible for preferential treatment under the CBERA. “Transition period” is defined in 19 U.S.C. 2703(b)(5)(D) as meaning, with respect to a designated CBTPA country, the period that begins on October 1, 2000, and ends on the earlier of September 30, 2008, or the date on which a free trade agreement enters into force with respect to the U.S. and the CBTPA country.

Presidential Proclamation 7351, dated October 2, 2000, published in the Federal Register on October 4, 2000 (65 Fed. Reg. 59329), implemented the CBTPA by designating the eligible CBTPA countries and amending Chapter 98, HTSUS (including the creation of new subchapter XX) to facilitate the entry of the specific textile and apparel articles eligible for preferential treatment under the CBTPA.

The enhanced trade benefits provided by the CBTPA are available to eligible articles imported directly from a country (1) that is designated as a CBTPA beneficiary country and (2) which the U.S. Trade Representative (“USTR”) has determined has implemented and follows, or is making substantial progress toward implementing and following certain customs procedures that allow U.S. Customs to verify the origin of the articles. Guatemala and Nicaragua are designated as CBTPA beneficiary countries (see Presidential Proclamation 7351, dated October 2, 2000, 65 Fed. Reg. 59329) and have satisfied the second criterion (see 65 Fed. Reg. 60236, dated October 10, 2000).

In addition, Interim Customs Regulations to implement the trade benefit provisions of section 211 of the CBTPA were published in the Federal Register as T.D. 00-68 on October 5, 2000 (65 Fed. Reg. 59650). The T.D. invited public comments to be submitted on the Interim Regulations by December 4, 2000. It is noted that the issues raised in this ruling letter is outside the scope of the comments received.

Subheading 9820.11.06, HTSUS, provides for the duty-free entry of:

Apparel articles cut in one or more such countries from fabrics wholly formed in the United States from yarns wholly formed in the United States (including fabrics not formed from yarns, if such fabrics are classifiable in heading 5602 or 5603 and are wholly formed in the United States), if such articles are assembled in one or more such countries with thread formed in the United States.

The facts presented in this case indicate that the imported men’s shirts are cut and assembled in Guatemala or Nicaragua from fabrics wholly formed in the U.S. from yarns wholly formed in the U.S., interlining formed in the U.S. and thread formed in the U.S. The shirts are imported directly into the customs territory of the U.S. Accordingly, based on the facts presented, the shirts are eligible for duty-free treatment under subheading 9820.11.06, HTSUS.

2. Country of origin marking

Section 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1304), provides that unless excepted, every article of foreign origin imported into the U.S. shall be marked in a conspicuous place as legibly, indelibly, and permanently as the nature of the article (or its container) will permit, in such a manner as to indicate to the ultimate purchaser in the U.S. the English name of the country of origin of the article.

Part 134, Customs Regulations (19 CFR Part 134), implements the country of origin marking requirements of 19 U.S.C. 1304. Section 134.43(e), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.43(e)), provides:

Where an article is produced as a result of an assembly operation and the country of origin of such article is determined under this chapter to be the country in which the article was finally assembled, such article may be marked, as appropriate, in a manner such as the following:

(1) Assembled in (country of final assembly); (2) Assembled in (country of final assembly) from components of (name of country or countries of origin of all components); or (3) Made in, or product of (country of final assembly).

Pursuant to 19 CFR 134.43(e), the marking “Assembled in _____” and the marking "Assembled in ______ from U.S. components" are both acceptable provided that the shirts are determined to originate in the country that appears in the blank. Based on the facts presented in this case, either marking proposed in this case would satisfy the requirements of 19 U.S.C. 1304.

3. Certificate of origin requirements

The certificate of origin requirements for goods imported pursuant to the CBTPA are set forth in 19 CFR 10.224. The sample you provided followed the format provided in 19 CFR 10.224(b).

Proper preparation of the certificate of origin is explained in 19 CFR 10.224(c), which provides as follows:

(c) Preparation of Certificate. The following rules will apply for purposes of completing the Certificate of Origin set forth in paragraph (b) of this section:

(1) Blocks 1 through 5 pertain only to the final article exported to the United States for which preferential treatment may be claimed;

(2) Block 1 should state the legal name and address (including country) of the exporter;

(3) Block 2 should state the legal name and address (including country) of the producer. If there is more than one producer, attach a list stating the legal name and address (including country) of all additional producers. If this information is confidential, it is acceptable to state "available to Customs upon request" in block 2. If the producer and the exporter are the same, state "same" in block 2;

(4) Block 3 should state the legal name and address (including country) of the importer;

(5) Block 4 should provide a full description of each article. The description should be sufficient to relate it to the invoice description and to the description of the article in the international Harmonized System. Include the invoice number as shown on the commercial invoice or, if the invoice number is not known, include another unique reference number such as the shipping order number;

(6) In block 5, insert the letter that designates the preference group which applies to the article according to the description contained in the CFR provision cited on the Certificate for that group;

(7) Blocks 6 through 10 must be completed only when the block in question calls for information that is relevant to the preference group identified in block 5;

(8) Block 6 should state the legal name and address (including country) of the fabric producer;

(9) Block 7 should state the legal name and address (including country) of the yarn producer;

(10) Block 8 should state the legal name and address (including country) of the thread producer;

(11) Block 9 should state the name of the folklore article or should state that the article is handloomed or handmade;

(12) Block 10, which should be completed only when preference group "G" is inserted in block 5, should state the name of the fabric or yarn that is not formed in the United States or a CBTPA beneficiary country or that is not available in commercial quantities in the United States;

(13) Block 16a should reflect the date on which the Certificate was completed and signed;

(14) Block 16b should be completed if the Certificate is intended to cover multiple shipments of identical articles as described in block 4 that are imported into the United States during a specified period of up to one year (see sec. 10.226(b)(4)(ii)). The "from" date is the date on which the Certificate became applicable to the article covered by the blanket Certificate (this date may be prior to the date reflected in block 16a). The "to" date is the date on which the blanket period expires; and

(15) The Certificate may be printed and reproduced locally. If more space is needed to complete the Certificate, attach a continuation sheet.

We note that in block 4 of the sample certificate of origin, the invoice number was not provided as required by 19 CFR 10.224(c)(5). Aside from the invoice requirement, the sample certificate of origin form was filled out as required by 19 CFR 10.224.

You also submitted supporting documentation including affidavits from the fabric producer which also indicate that it is the producer of the yarn from which the fabric is woven, the manufacturer of the interlining, the thread producer, a costing sheet, and an affidavit from the shirt manufacturer stating that it will retain all records and backup documentation for 5 years.

The provisions of 19 CFR 10.227(b)(1) provide as follows:

In order to make a claim for preferential treatment under section 10.225, the importer:

(1) Must have records that explain how the importer came to the conclusion that the textile or textile article qualifies for preferential treatment. Those records must include documents that support a claim that the article in question qualifies for preferential treatment because it is specifically described in one of the provisions under section 10.223(a). If the importer is claiming that the article incorporates fabric or yarn that was wholly formed in the United States, the importer must have records that identify the U.S. producer of the fabric or yarn. A properly completed Certificate of Origin in the form set forth in section 10.224(b) is a record that would serve these purposes.

The sample supporting documentation submitted in this case appears to satisfy the requirements for the certificate of origin set forth in 19 CFR 10.224 and for supporting documentation for the certificate of origin set forth in 19 CFR 10.227(b)(1). However, Customs may request additional documentation if deemed necessary in a particular case.

HOLDING:

Based on the information provided, the men’s shirts, manufactured as described in this case, are eligible for duty free/quota free treatment under subheading 9820.11.06, HTSUS, provided they are imported directly into the customs territory of the U.S. from a CBTPA beneficiary country.

Based on the facts presented in this case, the phrase "Assembled in Guatemala," or "Assembled in Guatemala of U.S. components" for goods from Guatemala would be acceptable for country of origin marking purposes.

The sample supporting documentation submitted in this case appears to satisfy the requirements for the certificate of origin set forth in 19 CFR 10.224 and for the supporting documentation for the certificate of origin set forth in 19 CFR 10.227(b)(1). However, Customs may request additional documentation if deemed necessary in a particular case.

A copy of this ruling letter should be attached to the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is entered. If the documents have been filed without a copy, this ruling should be brought to the attention of the Customs officer handling the transaction.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division

Previous Ruling Next Ruling

See also: