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HQ 966818




March 9, 2004

CLA-2 RR:CR:TE 966818 TMF

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 8308.10.0000

Mr. Harrison Chen
The Jay Company
22 West 38th Street
New York, NY 10018

RE: New York Ruling Letter (NY) H88921; classification of hook and eye tape fasteners used for brassieres; Additional U.S. Rule of Interpretation 1(c)

Dear Mr. Chen:

Pursuant to your request dated February 26, 2002 for a binding tariff classification ruling of certain hook and eye fasteners, Customs and Border Protection issued New York Ruling Letter (NY) H88921, dated March 15, 2002. This ruling classified the goods in subheading 6212.90.0010, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated, which provides for brassieres, girdles, corsets, braces, suspenders, garters and similar articles and parts thereof, whether or not knitted or crocheted: other, of cotton or cotton and rubber or plastics.

Upon review, the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has determined that the merchandise was erroneously classified. This ruling letter sets forth the correct classification determination.

Pursuant to section 625(c), Tariff Act of 1930, 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 revocation of NY H88921 was published on February 4, 2004, in Vol. 38, No. 6 of the CUSTOMS BULLETIN. No comments were received in response to this notice.

FACTS:

The description of the hook and eye tape used for brassieres is taken directly from New York Ruling Letter (NY) H88921, dated March 15, 2002, which reads as follows:

The submitted sample consists of two strips of woven cotton fabric tape. On one piece metal hooks are sewn-on at one-inch intervals. On the other strip metal eyes are sewn-on at one-inch intervals. Your inquiry indicates that the item will be used for bras.

ISSUE: Whether the merchandise at issue is classifiable as parts of brassieres or similar articles of heading 6212, as parts of garments, other than those of heading 6212, under heading 6217, or as hooks and eyes of heading 8308, HTSUSA.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Merchandise is classifiable under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA) in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs). GRI 1 provides that classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative Section or Chapter Notes. When goods cannot be classified solely on the basis of GRI 1 and if the headings or notes do not require otherwise, the remaining GRIs 2 through 6 may be applied.

Additionally, the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (ENs) are the official interpretation of the Harmonized System at the international level. While neither legally binding nor dispositive, the ENs provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the HTSUS. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989).

Heading 8308, HTSUSA, provides eo nomine for, among other things, hooks and eyes. In this instance, the subject hook and eye tape will be used in the production of brassieres. The issue in this case is whether the subject articles in their condition as imported are classifiable in heading 6212, HTSUSA, which provides for various body supporting garments and parts thereof, or in heading 6217, HTSUSA, as parts of garments, other than those of heading 6212, or as hooks and eyes of a kind used in clothing of heading 8308, HTSUSA.

Heading 8308, HTSUSA, provides, in part, for hooks and eyes, eyelets and the like, of a kind used for clothing. Heading 6212, HTSUSA, provides, in part, for brassieres and parts thereof and heading 6217 provides, in part, for parts of garments other than those of heading 6212, such as parts of swimwear, exercise and dance garments. We refer to the Explanatory Note for 83.08 which states that heading 8308 includes hooks, eyes and eyelets for clothing. The EN also states that the articles referred to “may contain parts of leather, textiles, plastics, wood, horn, bone, ebonite, mother of pearl, ivory, imitation precious stones, etc., provided they retain the essential character of articles of base metal. They may also be ornamented by working of the metal.”

In this instance, three tariff provisions address the hook and eye materials at issue, but only one is appropriate for classifying the instant goods by application of Additional U.S. Rule of Interpretation 1(c), HTSUS, which states:

[I]n the absence of special language or context which otherwise requires—
a provision for parts of an article covers products solely or principally used as a part of such articles but a provision for “parts” or “parts and accessories” shall not prevail over a specific provision for such part or accessory

In the case at bar, heading 6212 provides for a variety of body supporting garments and parts thereof while heading 8308 provides eo nomine for hooks and eyes. In consideration of Rule 1(c) above, heading 6212, HTSUSA, which covers hooks and eyes that are used solely or principally as parts of body supporting garments, is not the most specific heading for classifying the instant goods. For the same reason, heading 6217 is not the most specific heading. Rather, heading 8308, HTSUSA, which provides for hooks and eyes (that may contain textile parts) used in any type of clothing, is the most specific for classifying the instant articles

By application of Additional U.S. Rule of Interpretation 1(c), HTSUS, heading 8308, HTSUSA, which provides eo nomine for hooks and eyes, is the most specific heading for classifying the instant articles. In this instance, the subject article is classifiable in 8308.10.0000, HTSUSA, which provides, in pertinent part, for hooks, eyes, and eyelets. See Headquarters Ruling Letter (HQ) 966246, dated October 18, 2003; NY F83301, dated March 20, 2000, and NY 832964, dated December 13, 1988.

HOLDING:

NY H88921, dated March 15, 2002, is hereby revoked. Based on the foregoing, the subject hook and eye tape is classifiable in subheading 8308.10.0000, HTSUSA, which provides, in pertinent part, for hooks, eyes, and eyelets, dutiable at the column one general rate of 1.1 cents/kilogram + 2.9 percent ad valorem.

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.

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

Sincerely,

Myles B. Harmon, Director
Commercial Rulings Division


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