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HQ H005625




November 28, 2007

CLA-2: OT:RR:CTF:TCM H005625 KSH

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 4202.21.6000, 4202.21.9000

Port Director
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Port of Jacksonville
2831 Talleyrand Avenue
Jacksonville, FL 32206

RE: Application for Further Review of Protest 1803-06-100018

Dear Port Director:

This is in reply to your correspondence forwarding Application for Further Review of Protest (AFR) 1803-06-100018, filed by McGuire Woods, LLP, on behalf of its client Coach Services Inc. The protest is against Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) classification and liquidation of two entries of “wristlets” under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA). There is no dispute that the merchandise is classified in heading 4202, HTSUSA, which provides for “Trunks, suitcases, vanity cases, attache cases, briefcases, school satchels, spectacle cases, binocular cases, camera cases, musical instrument cases, gun cases, holsters and similar containers; traveling bags, insulated food or beverage bags, toiletry bags, knapsacks and backpacks, handbags, shopping bags, wallets, purses, map cases, cigarette cases, tobacco pouches, tool bags, sports bags, bottle cases, jewelry boxes, powder cases, cutlery cases and similar containers, of leather or of composition leather, of sheeting of plastics, of textile materials, of vulcanized fiber or of paperboard, or wholly or mainly covered with such materials or with paper.”

On May 24, 2004 and September 21, 2004, protestant entered the merchandise subject to this protest in subheading 4202.91.0030, HTSUSA, which provides for “travel, sports and similar bags.” The merchandise was liquidated on May 12, 2006 in subheading 4202.21.6000, HTSUSA, which provides for “handbags, whether or not with shoulder strap, including those without handle: with outer surface of leather, of composition leather or of patent leather: other: valued not over $20 each” and 4202.21.9000, HTSUSA, which provides for “handbags, whether or not with shoulder strap, including those without handle: with outer surface of leather, of composition leather or of patent leather: other: valued over $20 each.”

On July 21, 2006, protestant filed a protest and application for further review against the classification and liquidation of the merchandise in subheadings 4202.21.60 and 4202.21.90, HTSUSA. Protestant’s AFR request was approved on November 28, 2006. The protest was timely filed pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 1514(c)(3) and 19 C.F.R. 174.12(e)(1).

In support of protestant’s application for further review, protestant alleges that the protest involves questions of fact and law, which have not been ruled upon by CBP or by the courts and that the decision is inconsistent with court decisions and Headquarters Ruling Letters (HQ) 957632, dated March 24, 1995; 953774, dated August 2, 1993; 967048, dated July 13, 2004; 964193, dated April 9, 2001 and 960470, dated April 14, 1998. See 19 C.F.R. 174.24(a) and (b). Further review is warranted pursuant to 19 CFR §§174.24(a) and 174.25.

FACTS:

The merchandise at issue is thirty styles of wristlets. The wristlets at issue are small flat bags that measure not more than 7.25 inches in length by 4.125 inches in height. They have an outer surface of leather, a permanently attached wrist strap, a plain non-compartmentalized lined interior and a zippered or magnetic closure.

ISSUE:

Whether the wristlets are classified in subheading 4202.21, HTSUSA, as handbags or in subheading 4202.91, HTSUSA, as travel, sports or similar bags.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Classification of goods under the HTSUS is governed by the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI). GRI 1 provides that classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relative section or chapter notes. In the event that the goods cannot be classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, and if the headings and legal notes do not otherwise require, the remaining GRI may then be applied.

The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (EN), constitute the official interpretation of the Harmonized System at the international level. While neither legally binding nor dispositive, the EN provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the HTSUSA and are generally indicative of the proper interpretation of the headings. It is CBP’s practice to follow, whenever possible, the terms of the ENs when interpreting the HTSUSA. See T.D. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989).

The issue CBP must address is which characteristics cause a bag to be a handbag, pocketbook, shoulder bag or clutch bag of subheading 4202.21, HTSUSA, as opposed to bags which are considered to be articles other than a handbag of subheading 4202.91, HTSUSA.

Subheadings 4202.21 through 4202.29, HTSUSA, provide for handbags. The term "handbag" is not defined in the nomenclature. The term "handbag" has been defined in lexicographic sources as follows:

Essential Terms of Fashion: A Collection of Definitions, Charlotte M. Calasibetta, Fairchild Publications, 1986: Accessory carried primarily by women and girls to hold such items as money, credit cards, and cosmetics.

The Fashion Dictionary, Mary Brooks Picken, Funk and Wagnalls, 1973: Soft or rigid bag carried in hand or on arm. Size, shape, handle, etc., depend on fashion. Used by women as container for money and pocket -sized accessories.

Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, G & C Merriam Co., 1977: 1. [T]raveling bag; 2. [A] woman's bag held in the hand or hung from a shoulder strap and used for carrying small personal articles and money.

Webster's New World Dictionary, Third College Edition, Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1988: A bag, usually of leather or cloth, held in the hand or hung by a strap from the arm or shoulder and used, by women, to carry money, keys, and personal effects.

A review of the above-cited definitions of "handbag" reveals that each lexicographic source describes a bag used by women that is designed to carry money, credit cards, keys, and small or pocket-sized personal effects (e.g., a hairbrush, cosmetics, etc.). Moreover, in light of the aforementioned definitions, handbags of subheading 4202.21, HTSUSA, are manufactured to be carried in the hand, over the shoulder, on the arm and intended to be used to transport some small personal effects.

Protestant argues that the physical characteristics of the wristlets are incompatible with classification as handbags or wallets as they are too small to be classified as handbags, lack the ability to carry three-dimensional articles and do not have interior compartments as handbags do. Moreover, protestant argues that the bags are not wallets since they have no interior fittings to hold currency, photos or credit cards.

Protestant cites to a General Notice on The Classification of Wallets on a String, 29 Cust. Bull. & Decs. 25, dated June 21, 1995 and Headquarters Ruling Letters (HQ) 957632, dated March 24, 1995; 953774, dated August 2, 1993, 967048, dated July 13, 2004, 964193, dated April 9, 2001 and 960470, dated April 14, 1998. In the General Notice, the aforementioned rulings cited by the protestant and numerous additional rulings, CBP has stated that wallets and flat cases must fit in a handbag or pocket and may be fitted to hold credit cards, money and coins while handbags are a carry-all container for various personal effects such as a hairbrush, cosmetics and keys but is not fitted to contain credit cards, money and coins. Protestant maintains that inasmuch as the bags at issue are smaller than the handbags at issue in the General Notice, lack the capacity to hold several three-dimensional articles and lack interior compartments, the wristlets cannot be classified as handbags or flatgoods. Protestant argues that CBP’s definition of handbags has been consistently set forth as noted supra.

We note none of these definitions set forth a dimensional requirement for classification as a handbag. Rather, rulings in which classification of a handbag has been at issue have been determined on a case by case basis and often may cite dimensions of similar bags as a guideline but certainly not a rule by which classification is to be determined. To the contrary, small handbags identified as evening bags have been consistently classified as handbags. See NY E83190, dated June 30, 1999; NY C86640, dated May 12, 1998 and; HQ 967129, dated August 10, 2004.

In HQ 967048, we determined that envelope-style clutch containers that incorporated gussets which, when opened, could accommodate 3-dimensional personal effects not normally associated with a wallet were not classified as handbags because the ability to hold personal effects other than small, narrow items such as coins or flat items such as paper currency or credit cards when closed was very limited. We noted:

The gussets mainly permit the user to expand the compartment to view, insert, and/or remove contents, but they do not appear to be designed to help organize or store 3-dimensional personal effects when the compartment is closed. In fact, the gussets are not functional when the compartment is zipped. Although a few small 3 dimensional items can be stuffed into the compartment and the zipper forced shut, the result is a container with a distended and awkward appearance. Prolonged storage of small 3 -dimensional items would likely disfigure the outer surface of the models.

Unlike the flat goods of HQ 967048, the instant wristlets can accommodate three- dimensional articles over an extended period of time without becoming distended or distorted.

Subheading 4202.91, HTSUSA, provides in part for travel, sports and similar bags. Additional U.S. Note 1 to chapter 42, HTSUSA, states:

For the purposes of heading 4202, the expression "travel, sports and similar bags" means goods, other than those falling in subheadings 4202.11 through 4202.39, of a kind designed for carrying clothing and other personal effects during travel, including backpacks and shopping bags of this heading, but does not include binocular cases, camera cases, musical instrument cases, bottle cases and similar containers.

In HQ 951534, issued August 4, 1992, we observed that Additional U.S. Note 1 to Chapter 42 describes all travel bags designed for carrying personal effects during travel. CBP noted that “cosmetics cases are designed to transport ‘personal effects’ (i.e., cosmetics and various toiletry or hygiene articles, ‘during travel’ (i.e., from one location to another.)” It was further stated “[e]ssentially, the purpose of a cosmetic case is to organize personal effects and to provide a single site for the transport of these effects.”

In HQ 956666, issued May 30, 1995, we affirmed HQ 951534 and concluded that, since the term "travel" refers both to overnight trips and shorter distances relating to an individual's day-to-day business, the provision for travel bags describes all articles answering to the description of a cosmetic or toiletry bag.

In this instance the subject wristlets are not similar in function to the cosmetic cases of HQ 956666 or HQ 951534 in that the wristlets are not designed to organize personal effects during travel. They are, however, designed to be carried in the hand and to carry small articles normally carried by a woman in a handbag or pocket such as credit cards, currency, keys, a compact, lipstick or a pen, etc. As such, the wristlets are handbags classified in subheading 4202.21, HTSUSA.

HOLDING:

Protest number 1803-06-100018 is denied. By application of GRI 1, the wristlets are classified in heading 4202, HTSUSA. They are provided for in subheading 4202.21.6000, HTSUSA, which provides for “Trunks, suitcases, vanity cases, attache cases, briefcases, school satchels, spectacle cases, binocular cases, camera cases, musical instrument cases, gun cases, holsters and similar containers; traveling bags, insulated food or beverage bags, toiletry bags, knapsacks and backpacks, handbags, shopping bags, wallets, purses, map cases, cigarette cases, tobacco pouches, tool bags, sports bags, bottle cases, jewelry boxes, powder cases, cutlery cases and similar containers, of leather or of composition leather, of sheeting of plastics, of textile materials, of vulcanized fiber or of paperboard, or wholly or mainly covered with such materials or with paper: Handbags, whether or not with shoulder strap, including those without handle: With outer surface of leather, of composition leather or of patent leather: Other: Valued not over $20 each” and in subheading 4202.21.9000, HTSUSA, which provides for “Trunks, suitcases, vanity cases, attache cases, briefcases, school satchels, spectacle cases, binocular cases, camera cases, musical instrument cases, gun cases, holsters and similar containers; traveling bags, insulated food or beverage bags, toiletry bags, knapsacks and backpacks, handbags, shopping bags, wallets, purses, map cases, cigarette cases, tobacco pouches, tool bags, sports bags, bottle cases, jewelry boxes, powder cases, cutlery cases and similar containers, of leather or of composition leather, of sheeting of plastics, of textile materials, of vulcanized fiber or of paperboard, or wholly or mainly covered with such materials or with paper: Handbags, whether or not with shoulder strap, including those without handle: With outer surface of leather, of composition leather or of patent leather: Other: Valued over $20 each.” The rates of duty at the time of entry were 10% and 9% ad valorem, respectively.

Duty rates are provided for your convenience and are subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and accompanying duty rates are provided on the internet at www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/.

In accordance with the Protest/Petition Processing Handbook, (CIS HB, January 2002, pp 18 and 21), you are to mail this decision, together with the Customs Form 19, to the protestant no later than 60 days from the date of this letter. Any reliquidation of the entry in accordance with the decision must be accomplished prior to mailing the decision. Sixty days from the date of the decision Regulations and Rulings of the Office of International Trade will make the decision available to CBP personnel, and to the public on the CBP Home Page on the World Wide Web at www.cbp.gov, by means of the Freedom of Information Act, and other methods of public distribution.

Sincerely,

Myles B. Harmon, Director
Commercial and Trade Facilitation Division

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