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NY L84482




May 26, 2005

CLA-2-70:RR:NC1:126: L84482

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.:7013.29.1000

Ms. Cathy Bonadonna
Bed, Bath & Beyond
650 Liberty Avenue
Union, NJ 07083

RE: The tariff classification of eight drinking glasses in a wooden box with a glass lid from China

Dear Ms. Bonadonna:

In your letter, dated April 27, 2005, you requested a tariff classification ruling regarding a product consisting of eight shot glasses stored in a wooden box with a glass lid.

A sample of the merchandise was submitted with your ruling request. In accordance with your request, this sample will be returned to you.

Your letter indicates that the unit value of each glass is eight cents.

Four of the glasses are painted with a red band with an “O” in the center. The remaining four glasses are painted with a black band with an “X” in the center. The glass lid is decorated with frosted squares that form a tic-tac-toe grid. The drinking glasses may be used as playing pieces on the glass lid to play the game of tic-tac-toe.

The wooden box has sections to store each drinking glass. The glass lid serves as a cover for the wooden storage box.

In your letter you acknowledge that this merchandise should be classified under the provision for drinking glasses in subheading 7013.29.1000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS). However, you also inquired regarding the possible application of the provision for board games and parts thereof in subheading 9405.90.6000, HTS.

The merchandise covered by your ruling request is not classifiable as games or parts of games in subheading 9405.90.600, HTS. The essential character of the drinking glasses and the box with a lid is imparted by the drinking glasses. The game aspect of the product is an ancillary feature incorporated into the article itself.

The product does not include a game component that is physically separate from the drinking glasses and the storage box with lid. The drinking glasses themselves can function as pieces in a game; however, this does not alter their nature as drinking glasses. The game “board” is not a separate article but simply the lid for the storage box. Although the product can be used as a game, this merchandise essentially consists of drinking glasses in a storage article with a lid. The merchandise is classifiable as drinking glasses, not as a game or a part of a game.

In your letter you cited Ruling I84766, dated August 26, 2002. That ruling discussed drinking glasses and a glass chessboard. The ruling classified the drinking glasses as drinking glasses in subheading 7013.29.1000 and the game board as a part of a game in subheading 9405.90.6000. However, the products covered by ruling I84766 are distinguishable from the merchandise covered by your ruling request.

The articles addressed in ruling I84766 included drinking glasses and a game board that was physically separate from the glasses. Therefore, the glasses and the board were classified separately. However, the merchandise described in your letter includes drinking glasses and the storage box (with lid) for the drinking glasses. The glasses fit perfectly into the box. In this instance, the game board is simply a lid for the storage box, not a separate article. Therefore, the items covered by your ruling request – drinking glasses and a storage box with lid – are classifiable together as drinking glasses under a single classification, based on the essential character of the merchandise.

The applicable subheading for the shot glasses in a wooden box with lid will be 7013.29.1000, HTS, which provides for drinking glasses: other: other: valued not over thirty cents each. The rate of duty will be 28.5 percent ad valorem.

This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 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 Jacob Bunin at 646-733-3027.

Sincerely,

Robert B. Swierupski
Director,

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