HQ 110692: Designation of steel wire lumber slings as instruments ofinternational traffic

Native CBP ruling rendition. Applicability is fact-specific; modification/revocation relationships and original publisher date are retained. Publisher sentinel year0001 means unknown date, not a historical legal adoption.

                            HQ 110692

                         January 5, 1990




BOR-7-07-CO:R:P:C  110692 KVS

CATEGORY:  Carriers

Mr. T.W. Maguire
Seaborn Marine Services (B.C.), Inc.
7867 Express Street
Suite 205
Burnaby, British Columbia
CANADA  V5A 1S7

Re:  Designation of steel wire lumber slings as instruments of
international traffic

Dear Mr. Maguire:

     This is in response to your letter of December 1, 1989, in
which you request that we designate certain steel wire lumber
slings as instruments of international traffic.

FACTS:

     You state that your company services and disperses steel
wire slings used for transporting lumber to an American client,
who actually owns the slings.

     You describe the slings as consisting of 6 main strands,
each composed of 24 or 26 individual strands of steel wire.
These six main strands are then twisted around a core of either
hemp or fiber material.  The sling is formed when two loose ends
are "swagged" or joined together by an aluminum sleeve.  These
sleeves are permanently marked with the manufacturer's name, the
date of manufacture, and safe work load.  It is asserted that the
slings have a life expectancy of at least 10 years.

     You state that following service and inspection by your
firm, the lumber slings are transported to U.S. ports by
container.  Upon arrival, they are discharged from the containers
and used in pairs to load ships with packages of lumber.  You
state that the slings will remain around the packages of lumber
during the voyage and will be used to discharge the lumber from
the vessel.  The slings will then be removed from the lumber
packages and shipped back to your company for servicing.

                               -2-

ISSUE:

     Whether steel wire slings which are used to lade and unlade
lumber from vessels may be designated as instruments of
international traffic within the meaning of 19 U.S.C. 1322(a) and
section 10.41a of the Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.41a).

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     Section 322(a), Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C.
1322(a)), provides that "[v]ehicles and other instruments of
international traffic, of any class specified by the Secretary of
the Treasury, shall be excepted from the application of the
customs laws to such extent and subject to such terms and
conditions as may be prescribed in regulations or instructions of
the Secretary of the Treasury."

     The Customs Regulations issued under the authority of
section 322(a) are contained in section 10.41a (19 CFR 10.41a).
Section 10.41a(a)(1) specifically designates lift vans, cargo
vans, shipping tanks, skids, pallets, caul boards, and cores for
textile fabrics as instruments of international traffic.

     Section 10.41a(a)(1) also authorizes the Commissioner of
Customs to designate other items as instruments of international
traffic in decisions to be published in the weekly Customs
Bulletin.  Once designated as instruments of international
traffic, these items may be released without entry or the payment
of duty, subject to the provisions of section 10.41a.

     To qualify as an "instrument of international traffic"
within the meaning of section 322(a), Tariff Act of 1930, as
amended (19 U.S.C. 1322(a)), and the regulation issed thereunder
(19 CFR 10.41a et seq.), an article must be used as a container
or holder.  The article must be substantial, suitable for and
capable of repeated use, and used in significant numbers in
international traffic.

     In requesting that wire lumber slings be designated as
instruments of international traffic, you rely on Treasury
Decision 80-145.  In that decision, we ruled that steel lumber
slings with permanently affixed identification plates that were
used to hold steel products together from the time of their
manufacture until they reach their point of unlading or ultimate
destination in the United States were instruments of
international traffic within the meaning of section 322(a),
Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1322(a))(emphasis
added).

                               -3-

     As we indicate, Treasury Decision 80-145 allows cargo slings
to be designated as instruments of international traffic only for
a very specific use.  Under the facts before us, the wire lumber
slings are not placed on the lumber at the time of manufacture
but are "discharged from the containers and used in pairs to load
ships with packages of lumber".  Furthermore, there is nothing to
indicate that the slings are used to hold, contain, or secure the
lumber during transportation. Therefore, the slings under
consideration do not fall within the use allowed by Treasury
Decision 80-145.  Since the use under the facts before us does
not fall within the specific circumstance contemplated by
Treasury Decision 80-145, we must look elsewhere to make our
decision.

     Customs Service Decision 79-395 also addresses the use of
steel cargo slings.  In the facts in that case, slings made of
steel cable were used to hold and contain imported steel pipes
while the pipes were laded and unladed.  After the steel pipe was
discharged in the United States, the slings were returned to the
vessel and carried to the foreign port of lading and were again
wrapped around pipes for importation into the United States.  In
that decision, we ruled that steel cargo slings used to lade and
unlade steel pipes from a vessel were not substantial containers
or holders and did not qualify as instruments of international
traffic (see also Legal Determination 79-0243, and Customs Letter
Ruling 103887 MJN (dated April 20, 1979)).

     In the facts before us, the steel wire lumber slings under
consideration are used "so that our customers may use the steel
lumber slings for loading of their ships...".  This use is
clearly within the use contemplated by Customs Service Decision
79-395, which refuses to designate slings so used as instruments
of international traffic.

HOLDING:

     Steel wire slings which are used to lade and unlade lumber
from a vessel are not substantial containers or holders and may
not be designated as instruments of international traffic within
the meaning of 19 U.S.C. 1322(a) and section 10.41a of the
Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.41a).

                                     Sincerely,



                                     B. James Fritz
                                     Chief
                                     Carrier Rulings Branch