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NY K84008





March 24, 2004
CLA-2-21:RR:NC:2:228 K84008

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 2106.90.5870

Ms. Shirley Coffield
Coffieldlaw
666 Eleventh Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20001

RE: The tariff classification and country of origin marking of a gelatin dessert powder from Costa Rica or Nicaragua

Dear Ms. Coffield:

In your letters dated March 4, 2004 and March 23, 2004, on behalf of Streamline Foods, Inc., West Bloomfield, MI, you requested a tariff classification and country of origin marking ruling.

The product is described as a complete, ready to use gelatin dessert powder, in six different flavors, composed of sugar, gelatin, and a flavored premix consisting of flavor, color, preservatives, salt, and sodium citrate. The sugar content will range from 86.3 percent to 88.5 percent, by weight. The gelatin, in all flavors, will be 7.5 percent, and the premix will vary from 4 percent to 6.2 percent. The product will be imported in 50-, 100-, or 2000-pound containers, and repackaged in the United States into retail and food service size containers.

The sugar will be a product of Costa Rica or Nicaragua, the gelatin will be a good of the United States, Brazil, Argentina, or Costa Rica, and the flavored premix will be a product of the United States or an as yet undetermined other country. Blending of the three basic ingredients will occur in Costa Rica or Nicaragua.

The applicable subheading for the gelatin dessert powder will be 2106.90.5870, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for food preparations not elsewhere specified or includedotherof gelatinothercontaining sugar derived from sugar cane or sugar beets. The rate of duty will be 4.8 percent ad valorem.

Articles classifiable under subheading 2106.90.5870, HTS, which are products of Costa Rica or Nicaragua, are entitled to duty free treatment under the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA), upon compliance with all applicable regulations.

The marking statute, section 304, Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1304), provides that, unless excepted, every article of foreign origin (or its container) 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, in this case the country where the blending occurs, Costa Rica or Nicaragua.

Part 134, Customs Regulations (19 CFR Part 134), implements the country of origin marking requirements and exceptions of 19 U.S.C. 1304. Section 134.41(b), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.41(b)), mandates that the ultimate purchaser in the U.S. must be able to find the marking easily and read it without strain. Section 134.1(d), defines the ultimate purchaser as generally the last person in the U.S. who will receive the article in the form in which it was imported. In this case, the ultimate purchasers of the gelatin dessert powder are the retail consumers and food service establishments.

An article is excepted from marking under 19 U.S.C. 1304 (a)(3)(D) and section 134.32(d), Customs regulations (19 CFR 134.32(d)), if the marking of a container of such article will reasonably indicate the origin of such article. However, since the gelatin dessert powders are not imported in their marked retail or food service containers, whether the subject articles are excepted from individual marking under 19 CFR 134.32(d) is for the port director to decide. In this regard section 134.34, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.34), provides that an exception may be authorized at the discretion of the port director under 19 CFR 134.32(d) for imported articles which are to be repacked after release from Customs custody under the following conditions: (1) The containers in which the articles are repacked will indicate the origin of the articles to an ultimate purchaser in the U.S.; (2) The importer arranges for supervision of the marking of the containers by Customs officers at the importer's expense or secures such verification, as may be necessary, by certification and the submission of a sample or otherwise, of the marking prior to the liquidation of the entry.

In this case, assuming that the port director is satisfied that the imported gelatin dessert powders will be repacked in the manner described above, and that the other conditions set forth in 19 CFR 134.34 are met, the port director may authorize an exception under 19 CFR 134.32(d), in which case marking of the imported gelatin dessert powders will not be required.

This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 CFR Part 177).

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 Stanley Hopard at 646-733-3029.

Sincerely,

Robert B. Swierupski
Director,

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