HQ 112801: Instruments of International Traffic; Plastic Drums; 19 U.S.C. 1322; 19 CFR 10.41a.Dear Mr. Meola:

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 112801

                            October 8, 1993
                                   
BOR-7-07-CO-R-IT-C  112801 GOB

CATEGORY:  Carriers

Mr. Ralph C. Meola
Rhone-Poulenc
Specialty Chemicals Division
Logistics Department
CN 7500
Cranbury, New Jersey 08512-7500

RE:  Instruments of International Traffic; Plastic Drums; 19     
U.S.C. 1322; 19 CFR 10.41a.
Dear Mr. Meola:

     This is in response to your letter dated July 2, 1993, which
requested that certain open head plastic drums be determined to be
instruments of international traffic within the meaning of 19 CFR
10.41a.

FACTS:

     Rhone-Poulenc ("Rhone") has purchased 12,200 open head plastic
drums to be used on a continuous basis for the importation of a
certain pesticide from the United Kingdom and France.  The drums
were manufactured in the United States.  The importer or shipper
of the drums will be Rhone-Poulenc Inc. or Rhone-Poulenc Ag
Company, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rhone-Poulenc Inc. 
You have submitted certain documentation with respect to the
manufacture of the drums.   

ISSUE:

     Whether the open head plastic drums used to import certain
pesticides from the United Kingdom and France may be designated as
instruments of international traffic within the meaning of 19
U.S.C. 1322(a) and 19 CFR 10.41a. 

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     19 U.S.C. 1322(a) states in part:

     Vehicles 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
                              
                              - 2 -

     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 19
U.S.C. 1322 are contained in 19 CFR 10.41a.  19 CFR 10.41a(a)(1)
designates lift vans, cargo vans, shipping tanks, skids, pallets,
caul boards, and cores for textile fabrics as instruments for
international traffic.

     19 CFR 10.41a(a)(1) also authorizes the Commissioner of
Customs to designate as instruments of international traffic such
additional articles or classes of articles as he shall find should
be so designated.  Instruments so designated may be released
without entry or the payment of duty, subject to the provisions of
19 CFR 10.41a.

      To qualify as an instrument of international traffic within
the meaning of 19 U.S.C. 1322(a) and 19 CFR 10.41a, 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.  See Headquarters decisions
108084, 108658, 109665, and 109702.

     The concept of reuse pertains to commercial shipping or
transportation purposes, and not incidental or fugitive uses. 
Tariff Classification Study, Sixth Supplemental Report (May 23,
1963) at p. 99.  See Holly Stores, Inc. v. United States, 697 F.2d
1387 (Federal Circuit, 1982).  In Holly Stores, the court
determined that reuse "has been consistently interpreted to mean
practical, commercial reuse, not incidental reuse."

     After a review of the information submitted, we determine that
the open head plastic drums meet the requirements to be designated
as instruments of international traffic.

HOLDING:

     The subject open head plastic drums are designated as
instruments of international traffic within the meaning of 19
U.S.C. 1322(a) and 19 CFR 10.41a.



                              Sincerely,



                              Arthur P. Schifflin
                              Chief