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NY L85515





July 6, 2005

CLA-2-16:RR:NC:2:228 L85515

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 1902.30.0040

Mr. Lars-Erik A. Hjelm
Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP
1333 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036-1564

RE: The tariff classification of meal kits from India.

Dear Mr. Hjelm:

In your letter dated June 6, 2005, on behalf of Choice Canning Co., you requested a tariff classification ruling.

Ingredients breakdowns for five products were submitted with your letter. Item B, Mediterranean Style Meal—Shrimp Pasta Primavera Style Vegetables Dressed With Light Tomato and Garlic Sauce consists of 35.40 percent precooked pasta, 29.10 percent mixed vegetables, 18.80 percent sauce in pellet form, and 16.70 percent shrimp. Item C, Mediterranean Style Meal—Shrimp, Pasta, Mediterranean Style Vegetables Tossed with Hearty Tomato & Basil Sauce consists of 35.40 percent precooked pasta, 29.20 percent mixed vegetables, 18.70 percent sauce in pellet form, and 16.70 percent shrimp. The frozen meal kits are put up in packages containing 1.5 lbs., net weight, for retail sale.

The applicable subheading for Item B, Mediterranean Style Meal—Shrimp, Pasta Primavera Style Vegetables Dressed With Light Tomato and Garlic Sauce, and Item C, Mediterranean Style Meal—Shrimp, Pasta Mediterranean Style Vegetables Tossed with Hearty Tomato & Basil Sauce will be 1902.30.0040, HTS, which provides for pasta, whether or not cooked or stuffed (with meat or other substances) or otherwise prepared, such as spaghetti, macaroni, noodles, lasagna, gnocchi, ravioli, cannelloniother pastaotherfrozen. The rate of duty will be 6.4 percent ad valorem.

Articles classifiable under subheading 1902.30.0040, HTS, which are products of India may be entitled to duty free treatment under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) upon compliance with all applicable regulations. The GSP is subject to modification and periodic suspension, which may affect the status of your transaction at the time of entry for consumption or withdrawal from warehouse. To obtain current information on GSP, check our Web site at www.cbp.gov and search for the term "GSP".

This merchandise is subject to The Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 (The Bioterrorism Act), which is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Information on the Bioterrorism Act can be obtained by calling FDA at telephone number (301) 575-0156, or at the Web site www.fda.gov/oc/bioterrorism/bioact.html.

Your inquiry does not provide enough information for us to issue a classification ruling on Item A, Mediterranean Style Meal—Mixed Seafood, Basmati Rice, and Vegetables Blended With a Flavorful Paella Sauce, item D, Asian Style Meal—Shrimp, Basmati Rice, Vegetables Flavored with an Asian Garlic Soy Sauce, or item E, Asian Style Meal—Shrimp, Asian Style Vegetables with a Chinese Oyster Sauce. Your request for a classification ruling should include the additional information indicated below:

Does the weight of the Basmati rice (12 oz.) include the weight of the sauces? Have the meal components (i.e. rice, vegetables, seafood ingredients been cooked prior to freezing and packaging? Are the meal components separately packaged in individual plastic bags, which are then combined and packaged in another plastic bag, which is placed in a master carton (9 complete meals per carton)? Or are some meal components mixed together (e.g., vegetable mix & shrimp, or vegetables and sauce pellets) before packaging? How are the plastic bags for the complete meals sealed (e.g., heat seal, with ties, etc.) Are the bags water-tight, or are they airtight? Are the bags holding the complete meals marked or labeled in any way, --for example, are these meals marked with country of origin, with nutritional labeling, with an ingredients statement, with directions for preparation of the meal, etc? If not, will the U.S. customer repackage the meal for sale to the retail consumer? If the complete meals will be repackaged, what will be the form of the repackaging—for example, will the meal bags be repacked into paperboard boxes with retail labeling or in another format?

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 Stanley Hopard at 646-733-3029.

Sincerely,

Robert B. Swierupski
Director,

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