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HQ 965125





March 5, 2002

CLA-2 RR:CR:GC: 965125 DBS

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 6810.99.00

Mr. Rolando E. Portal
ABC Distributing, Inc.
6301 East 10th Avenue
Hialeah, FL 33013

RE: NY G89939 revoked; glass plate on a snowman figurine base.

Dear Mr. Portal:

This is in reference to your letter of June 19, 2001, requesting reconsideration of NY Ruling Letter G89939. In G89939, issued to you April 13, 2001, the Director, National Commodity Specialist Division, New York, classified a “Snowman Table Server” from China in subheading 7013.99.50, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for decorative glassware of a kind used for table, kitchen, toilet, office, indoor decoration or similar purposes. We have reconsidered the classification of this articles and now believe NY G89939 to be incorrect.

Pursuant to section 625(c), Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1625(c)), as amended by section 623 of Title VI (Customs Modernization) of the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, Pub. L. 103-182, 107 Stat. 2057, 2186 (1993), notice of the proposed modification of the above identified ruling was published on January 23, 2002, in the Customs Bulletin, Volume 36, Number 4. No comments were received in response to the notice.

FACTS:

A color advertisement of the article and a sample were submitted. The subject article is comprised of a glass slab with worked edges, measuring approximately 25.0 cm in diameter, sitting atop an agglomerated stone figurine of a snowman with a bird on its shoulder. The Customs laboratory determined that the figurine was composed of approximately 43% plastic resin and 57% calcium carbonate (Lab Report # NO20011393). A submission by the importer confirmed that the calcium carbonate was derived from real stone. The figurine base measures approximately 24.0 cm high and 18.0 cm at its widest. The head of the bird and the raised arm of the snowman are slightly flattened and protective pads are placed on them to accommodate the glass piece.

The New York Customs office determined that the subject article was a set put up for retail sale, and as such was classified under subheading 7013.99.50, HTSUS, providing for glassware of a kind used for table, kitchen, toilet, office, indoor decoration or similar purposes, other than that of heading 7010 or 7018, valued between $0.30 and $3. You contend that the subject article is a composite good and should be classified under subheading 7013.99.80, HTSUS, providing for glassware valued between $3 and $5. The essential character of the article was not challenged.

ISSUE:

What is the proper classification of the Snowman Table Server?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Classification under the HTSUS is made in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs). GRI 1 provides that articles are to be classified by the terms of the headings and relative Section and Chapter Notes. For an article to be classified in a particular heading, the heading must describe the article, and not be excluded therefrom by any legal note. In the event that goods cannot be classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, and if the headings and legal notes do not otherwise require, the remaining GRIs may then be applied.

In understanding the language of the HTSUS, the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (ENs) may be utilized. ENs, though not dispositive or legally binding, provide commentary on the scope of each heading of the HTSUS, and are the official interpretation of the Harmonized System at the international level. Customs believes the ENs should always be consulted. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989).

The HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows:

Articles of cement, or concrete or of artificial stone, whether or not reinforced:
Other articles:

6810.99.00 Other

7006.00 Glass of heading 7003, 7004, 7005, bent, edge-worked, engraved, drilled, enameled or otherwise worked, but not framed or fitted with other materials:
Other:

7006.00.40 Other

Glassware of a kind used for table, kitchen, toilet, office, indoor decoration or similar purposes (other than that of heading 7010 or 7018): Other glassware:

7013.99 Other:
Other:
Other

Valued over $0.30 but not over $3 each

Valued over $3 each:
Cut or engraved:
Valued over $3 but not over $5 each

In NY G89939, dated April 13, 2001, the Director, National Commodity Specialist Division, New York, classified the snowman table server according to the standards used to classify glass articles on metal stands. We have reconsidered that ruling and now believe that applying those standards to the subject snowman table server was misplaced. Glass articles with metal stands are not analogous to the subject good. With glass articles with metal stands, the glass is usually the larger component, has greater consumer appeal and is more important to the function of the article. See Informed Compliance Publication on Decorative Glassware, issued August, 2001; see also Lamps, Lighting and Candle Holders, issued March 1998 and New Decisions on Candle Holders v. Decorative Glass Articles, issued February, 2000. With respect specifically to table/kitchen glassware with metal racks, stands or bases, articles are classified by the glass component because the glass makes up the body of the article. See Informed Compliance Publication on Table and Kitchen Glassware, issued March, 2000. None of these is true of the snowman table server.

Here, the snowman base exceeds the glass component in size, weight and bulk. The snowman base provides the consumer appeal; the item is in fact advertised to “add wintry charm.” The decorative nature of the merchandise outweighs the utilitarian value provided by the glass because the primary purpose of purchasing such an item is for decoration. As such, the snowman makes up the body of the article. Accordingly, the glass component is not classifiable as being of a kind of glassware of heading 7013, HTSUS, as originally classified. Rather, it is worked glass of a kind classifiable in heading 7006, HTSUS.

EN 70.06 states, in pertinent part, that the heading includes: “Glass with worked edges (ground, polished, rounded, notched, chamfered, beveled, profiled, etc.), thus acquiring the character of articles such as slabs for table tops. . . .” Chapter Note 3 to Chapter 70 states that “The products referred to in heading 7006 remain classified in that heading whether or not they have the character of articles. The glass component of the subject item is a flat slab of glass, round in shape, with ground and slightly rounded edges. Imported with the base, it has the character of a small table-top. Thus, the glass component is clearly an article of heading 7006, HTSUS.

Further, it is noted that the EN also states that glass plates for articles of furniture are classified with the articles of furniture if imported at the same time, whether or not assembled, and are intended for incorporation therein. However, the subject article as a whole is not furniture. The ENs to Chapter 94, the chapter for furniture, define “furniture” to mean “any ‘movable’ articles . . . which have the essential characteristic that they are constructed for placing on the floor or ground, and which are used, mainly with a utilitarian purpose . . . .” This table server was not designed to be placed on the floor or ground, but rather on a raised surface (i.e., a table, counter, etc.). Nor is its purpose mainly utilitarian. The main purpose of the snowman table server is decorative, its utility is secondary. Therefore, the glass, though having the character of a table-top, is not furniture.

The snowman component is made of calcium carbonate, derived from stone, and reinforced with plastic resin. This material, known as agglomerated stone or artificial stone, is provided for in heading 6810, HTSUS. EN 68.10 states that the heading includes, inter alia, goods such as statues, statuettes and animal figurines, and ornamental goods. The snowman component is an article of heading 6810, HTSUS, which provides for articles of cement, concrete and artificial stone, whether or not reinforced.

The good is described in part only by heading 6810 and 7006, HTSUS. Thus it is properly classified according to GRI 3(b). EN (IX) to GRI 3(b) states that, “composite goods made up of different components shall be taken to mean not only those in which the components are attached to each other to form a practically inseparable whole but also those with separable components, provided these components are adapted one to the other and are mutually complementary and that together they form a whole which would not normally be offered for sale in separate parts.” We are satisfied that the snowman table server satisfies the requirements of a composite good that is in part agglomerated stone of heading 6810, HTSUS, and in part a piece of glass with worked edges of heading 7006, HTSUS. Although not attached to the glass, the snowman base would not normally be offered for sale separately, as its arm is raised to hold up the glass slab, and protective pads secure the glass to the snowman base. Similarly, the glass slab is cut to size to complement the snowman base.

As the item is a composite good, we must now determine which component imparts the essential character. EN VIII to GRI 3(b) explains that "[t]he factor which determines essential character will vary as between different kinds of goods. It may, for example, be determined by the nature of the material or component, its bulk, quantity, weight or value, or by the role of the constituent material in relation to the use of the goods."

As discussed above, the bulk, weight and decorative nature of the snowman base exceeds the utility provided by the glass component. The snowman base provides the article with its essential character. Accordingly, the snowman table server is classifiable under heading 6810, HTSUS, as other articles of artificial stone, whether or not reinforced.

HOLDING:

The Snowman Table Server is classified in subheading 6810.99.00, HTSUS, which provides for, “articles of cement, of concrete or of artificial stone, whether or not reinforced: other articles: other.”

EFFECT ON OTHER RULINGS:

NY G89939, dated April 13, 2001, is hereby revoked. In accordance with 19 U.S.C 1625(c), this ruling will become effective 60 days after its publication in the Customs Bulletin.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division

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