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NY L84284




May 13, 2005

CLA2-RR:NC:TA:349 L84284

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

Ms. Bev Quinn
Sweet Kyla Inc.
330 Trillium Drive
Kitchener, Ontario
Canada N2E 2K6

RE: Classification, status under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and country of origin determination for an infant’s bedding set; 19 CFR 102.21(c)(2); tariff shift; 19 CFR 102.21(c)(5); last country where an important assembly or manufacturing process occurred; 19 CFR 102.21(d); sets; Article 509

Dear Ms. Quinn:

This is in reply to your letter dated April 14, 2005, requesting a classification and country of origin determination for an infant’s crib set which will be imported into the United States.

FACTS:

The subject merchandise, Product number 4-Q2033 Rhyme Thyme, is a four-piece crib set. It consists of comforter (blanket), bumper pad, fitted sheet and a dust ruffle. The item referred to as the comforter is made from three fabric layers. The face side has a large center panel made from a 100 percent cotton woven fabric printed with a nursery rhyme design. It is bordered with a light green 100 percent cotton jacquard woven fabric referred to as Matelaise. The back is made from 80 percent cotton and 20 percent polyester knit pile fabric and the inner layer consists of a napped 100 percent cotton woven fabric. A corded piping made with the Nursery print fabric is inserted in the edge seams. Stitching in the shape of a large oval goes through the three layers. Although referred to as a comforter, this item is not stuffed. As it is designed for protection against the cold, it will be classified as a blanket.

The bumper pads are made from the “matelaise” fabric with a strip of the Nursery print fabric inserted along one side. They are stuffed with a polyester batting. Fabric tie strings and edge bindings are made from the printed fabric. The fitted sheet is made from 100 percent cotton knit fabric and it is fully elasticized. The dust ruffle or bed skirt consists of a 65 percent polyester and 35 percent cotton woven fabric platform section and a skirt. The skirt is made from strips of the printed and the “matelaise” fabric. It is sewn to four sides of the platform section and has a 13.5-inch drop. The manufacturing operations for the crib set are as follows:

SPAIN:
-“matelaise” fabric is woven and finished. -fabric is shipped to Canada.

UNITED KINGDOM:
-nursery print fabric is woven and finished. -fabric is shipped to Canada.

TAIWAN:
-cotton fabric is woven and napped.
-fabric is shipped to Canada.

INDONESIA, CHINA OR TAIWAN:
-65/35 polyester and cotton fabric is woven and finished. -fabric is shipped to Canada.

CANADA:
-80/20 pile fabric is knit, dyed and finished. -cotton sheet fabric is knit, dyed and finished. -polyester batting is formed.
-fabrics are cut to size and shape.
-components are assembled and sewn forming the comforter/blanket, bumpers, dust ruffle and fitted sheet.
-comforter/blanket, bumper pads, dust ruffle and fitted sheet are packaged as a retail set and shipped.

ISSUE:

What are the classification, eligibility under NAFTA and country of origin for the subject merchandise?

CLASSIFICATION:

The infant’s bedding set meets the qualifications of “goods put up in sets for retail sale”. The components of the set consist of different articles which are, prima facie, classifiable in different headings. They are put up together to carry out the specific activity of furnishing a crib and they are packaged for sale directly to users without repacking. It is our opinion that the comforter/blanket is the component that gives this set its essential character.

The applicable subheading for the Rhyme Thyme crib set will be 6301.30.0010, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA), which provides for blankets and traveling rugs: blankets (other than electric blankets) and traveling rugs, of cotton woven. The general rate of duty will be 8.4 percent ad valorem.

Although classified as a set, the individual components are subject to textile category designations as if they were classified separately. Accordingly, the comforter/blanket and dust ruffle fall within textile category designation 369. The knit sheet falls within textile category designation 362 while the bumper pads would have been classified under a subheading that is not assigned a textile category number. Quota and visa status are the result of international agreements that are subject to frequent renegotiations and changes. To obtain the most current information as to whether quota and visa requirements apply to this merchandise, we suggest that you check, close to the time of shipment, the “Textile Status Report for Absolute Quotas” available at our web site at www.cbp.gov. In addition, you will find current information on textile import quotas, textile safeguard actions and related issues at the web site of the Office of Textiles and Apparel, at otexa.ita.doc.gov.

NAFTA ELIGIBILITY:

The infant’s bedding set undergoes processing operations in Canada which is a country provided for under the North American Free Trade Agreement. These products will be eligible for the NAFTA preference if they qualify to be marked as a good of Canada and if they are wholly obtained or produced in the NAFTA territories or transformed in Canada so that the non-originating materials undergo a change in tariff classification described in subdivision (t) to General Note 12, HTSUSA. All of the components of the set, not just the item that imparts the essential character to the set, must meet the terms of General Note 12(b). For heading 6301, HTSUSA, the appropriate subdivision (t) rule states that:

A change to headings 6301 through 6302 from any other chapter, except from headings 5106 through 5113, 5204 through 5212, 5307 through 5308 or 5310 through 5311, chapters 54 through 55, or headings 5801 through 5802 or 6001 through 6006, provided that the good is both cut (or knit to shape) and sewn or otherwise assembled in the territory of one of more of the NAFTA parties.

When imported into Canada, the cotton fabrics from Spain, the United Kingdom and Taiwan are classifiable under headings 5208 or 5209, HTSUSA, depending on the weight of the fabric. The polyester and cotton blend fabric from China, Indonesia or Taiwan is classifiable under headings 5513 or 5514, HTSUSA, depending on the weight of the fabric. As fabrics of heading 5208, 5209, 5513 and 5514 HTSUSA, are excepted from meeting the tariff change to heading 6301, HTSUSA, the non-originating materials from Spain, the United Kingdom, Taiwan China and Indonesia do not undergo the requisite change in tariff classification. If the producer of the set, following the “self-produced materials” rule set forth in the Appendix to Part 181 of the Customs Regulations (19 CFR Part 181), were to take the option of identifying the components of the set (the “self-produced materials”) as non-originating, the components would not undergo the requisite change in tariff classification as they are classifiable within Chapter 63. Although the fitted sheet could be a wholly originating good if the cotton fibers were grown in Canada, the other components of the set are not eligible. Accordingly, as all of the components are not eligible, the infant’s bedding set is not eligible for the NAFTA preference.

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN - LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Section 334 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (codified at 19 U.S.C. 3592), enacted on December 8, 1994, provided rules of origin for textiles and apparel entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on and after July 1, 1996. Section 102.21, Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 102.21), published September 5, 1995, in the Federal Register, implements Section 334 (60 FR 46188). Section 334 of the URAA was amended by section 405 of the Trade and Development Act of 2000, enacted on May 18, 2000, and accordingly, section 102.21 was amended (68 Fed. Reg. 8711). Thus, the country of origin of a textile or apparel product shall be determined by the sequential application of the general rules set forth in paragraphs (c)(1) through (5) of Section 102.21.

Section 102.21(d) addresses the treatment of sets for country of origin purposes. Section 102.21(d) provides the following:

Where a good classifiable in the HTSUS as a set includes one or more components that are textile or apparel products and a single country of origin for all of the components of the set cannot be determined under paragraph (c) of this section, the country of origin of each component of the set that is a textile or apparel product shall be determined separately under paragraph (c) of this section.

The classification of the subject bedding set, as per an essential character determination, is based on the comforter/blanket, however, per the terms of Section 102.21(d), one must determine whether or not a single country of origin exists for the entire set.

Paragraph (c)(1) states that "The country of origin of a textile or apparel product is the single country, territory, or insular possession in which the good was wholly obtained or produced." The submission did not specify where the cotton fibers used to make the fitted sheet originated. Without that information it cannot be determined if the sheet is wholly obtained or produced in a single country. As the subject merchandise is not wholly obtained or produced in a single country, territory or insular possession, paragraph (c)(1) of Section 102.21 is inapplicable.

Paragraph (c)(2) states that "Where the country of origin of a textile or apparel product cannot be determined under paragraph (c)(1) of this section, the country of origin of the good is the single country, territory, or insular possession in which each of the foreign materials incorporated in that good underwent an applicable change in tariff classification, and/or met any other requirement, specified for the good in paragraph (e) of this section:"

Paragraph (e) in pertinent part states that "The following rules shall apply for purposes of determining the country of origin of a textile or apparel product under paragraph (c)(2) of this section":

HTSUS Tariff shift and/or other requirements

6301-6306 Except for goods of heading 6302 through 6304 provided for in paragraph (e)(2) of this section, the country of origin of a good classifiable under heading 6301 through 6306 is the country, territory, or insular possession in which the fabric comprising the good was formed by a fabric making process.

6307.90 The country of origin of a good classifiable under subheading 6307.90 is the country, territory, or insular possession in which the fabric comprising the good was formed by a fabric making process.

Subheadings 6302.10 and 6303.91 are not included in the paragraph (e)(2) exception to the above tariff shift rule. As the fabrics comprising the comforter/blanket, dust ruffle and bumper pads are formed in more than one country, Section 102.21(c)(2) is inapplicable for those items. The fabric comprising the fitted sheet was formed in a single country. As per the terms of the tariff shift requirement, the country of origin of the fitted sheet is Canada.

Section 102.21(c)(3) states that, "Where the country of origin of a textile or apparel product cannot be determined under paragraph (c)(1) or (2) of this section":

(i) If the good was knit to shape, the country of origin of the good is the single country, territory, or insular possession in which the good was knit; or

(ii) Except for goods of heading 5609, 5807, 5811, 6213, 6214, 6301 through 6306, and 6308, and subheadings 6209.20.5040, 6307.10, 6307.90, and 9404.90, if the good was not knit to shape and the good was wholly assembled in a single country, territory, or insular possession, the country of origin of the good is the country, territory, or insular possession in which the good was wholly assembled.

As the comforter/blanket, dust ruffle and bumper pads are not knit to shape and headings 6301 and 6303 and subheading 6307.90, HTSUSA, are excepted from provision (ii), Section 102.21 (c)(3) is inapplicable.

Section 102.21 (c)(4) states, "Where the country of origin of a textile or apparel product cannot be determined under paragraph (c)(1), (2) or (3) of this section, the country of origin of the good is the single country, territory or insular possession in which the most important assembly or manufacturing process occurred". In the case of the subject merchandise, the most important manufacturing process occurs at the time of fabric making. Basing the country of origin determination on the fabric making process as opposed to the assembly process carries out the clear intent of Section 334 as expressed in Section 334(b)(2) and Part 102.21(c)(3)(ii). The fabrics that make up the comforter/blanket, dust ruffle and bumper pads are sourced in more than one country. As no one fabric is more important than the other, a single country of origin determination cannot be made based on Section 102.21(c)(4).

Paragraph (c)(5) states that "Where the country of origin of a textile or apparel product cannot be determined under paragraph (c)(1), (2), (3) or (4) of this section, the country of origin of the good is the last country, territory or insular possession in which an important assembly or manufacturing process occurred". Accordingly, in the case of the subject comforter/blanket, dust ruffle and bumper pads, country of origin is conferred by the last country in which an important assembly or manufacturing process occurred, that is, Canada.

HOLDING:

The country of origin of the Rhyme Thyme crib set is Canada. The set is not eligible for the NAFTA preferential rate.

The holding set forth above applies only to the specific factual situation and merchandise identified in the ruling request. This position is clearly set forth in section 19 CFR 181.100(a)(2). This section states that a ruling letter, either directly, by reference, or by implication, is accurate and complete in every material respect.

This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 181 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 181). Should it be subsequently determined that the information furnished is not complete and does not comply with 19 CFR 181.100(a)(2), the ruling will be subject to modification or revocation. In the event there is a change in the facts previously furnished, this may affect the determination of country of origin. Accordingly, if there is any change in the facts submitted to Customs, it is recommended that a new ruling request be submitted.

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 John Hansen at 646-733-3043.

Should you wish to request an administrative review of this ruling, submit a copy of this ruling and all relevant facts and arguments within 30 days of the date of this letter, to the Director, Commercial Rulings Division, Headquarters, U.S. Customs Service, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20229.

Sincerely,

Robert B. Swierupski
Director,

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