HQ 227059: 19 U.S.C. 1321; 19 CFR 10.151, 10.153(d); Reimportation ofcatalogue merchandise; Consolidated shipment

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 227059

                                  August 2, 1996

ENT-4-01-RR:IT:EC    227059 GOB

CATEGORY:    Entry

Rae Fawcett
Vice President, East
Circle International, Inc.
810-R Oregon Avenue
Linthicum, MD 21090

RE:  19 U.S.C. 1321; 19 CFR 10.151, 10.153(d); Reimportation of
catalogue           merchandise; Consolidated shipment

Dear Ms. Fawcett:

     This is in response to your letter of June 14, 1996 on
behalf of Victoria's Secret Catalogue ("VSC").

     Pursuant to the request of the VSC representatives at the
oral conference on this matter on July 31, 1996, we have
forwarded a copy of your request to the special Classification
and Marking Branch of this office for a determination with
respect to a specific issue raised by VSC at the oral conference,
i.e., the applicability of subheading 9801.00.25, HTSUS to
"[a]rticles which VSC purchased domestically, that were
previously imported by parties related and unrelated to VSC." 
See page one, "category (c)" of your ruling request.

FACTS:

     In your letter of June 14, 1996, you state as follows, in
pertinent part:
     
     When VSC receives an order for merchandise from an
     individual consumer in Canada, it ships the ordered goods in
     a package which contains a return form for the consumer to
     use in the event an item does not meet the consumer's
     specifications.  The return form provides the address of an
     agent designated by VSC in Canada, i.e., TNT/Canada, to
     which the returns are to be sent.  TNT accumulates all
     individually packaged consumer returns and moves them into
     the USA in a truckload shipment approximately twice per
     week.  Formal entry is made at the port of Detroit, and
     duties are paid upon reimportation of only those articles
     which were previously imported by parties other than VSC.

     The consolidation of the individual consumer returns in
     Canada is simply an aggregation of personal, non-commercial
     transactions designed to provide an easier means of
     returning goods for Canadian consumers and to enable more
     efficient processing of the re-importation for VSC and
     Customs...
     ...
     We respectfully submit that, consistent with Customs'
     position concerning consumer returns to mail-order companies
     and the "personal, non-commercial nature" of these returns,
     even when consolidated, the exemption from duty under CR
     10.151 for importations not over $200 should apply to each
     individual consumer return (valued at $200 or under, of
     course) re-imported by VSC pursuant to its Canadian
     consolidation program.  As discussed below, notwithstanding
     CR 10.153(d), we submit that the consolidation of these
     individual non-commercial returns from individual consumers
     should not preclude the applicability of CR 10.151.
     (Emphasis in original.)

ISSUE:

     Whether VSC can import merchandise which it purchased
domestically and which was previously imported by other parties,
as described supra, duty-free under 19 CFR 10.151?
 
LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     Section 651 of Title VI (Customs Modernization) of the North
American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, Pub. L. 103-
182, 107 Stat. 2057, 2209 (1993) amended 19 U.S.C. 1321.  As
amended, 19 U.S.C. 1321 authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury
to promulgate regulations relating to administrative exemptions
from duty for certain articles, including gifts and personal and
household goods.  In all other cases, the Secretary is authorized
to promulgate regulations providing for a duty exemption for a
specific amount, not to be less than $200.  The prior law
provided for a duty exemption for those articles valued less than
$5. 

     Interim regulations were published in the Federal Register
on June 13, 1994, T.D. 94-51 (59 FR 30289), including regulations
concerning certain duty exemptions, e.g., 19 CFR 10.151.  These
regulations became effective on August 23, 1994.  See T.D. 94-71
(59 FR 43283); see also, T.D. 95-31 (60 FR 18983).

     19 CFR 10.151 provides:

     10.151   Importations not over $200.

     Subject to the conditions in 10.153 of this part, the port
     director shall pass free of duty and tax any shipment of
     merchandise, as defined in 101.1(o) of this chapter,
     imported by one person on one day having a fair retail
     value, as evidenced by an oral declaration, the bill of
     lading (or other document filed as the entry) or manifest
     listing each bill of lading, in the country of shipment not
     exceeding $200, unless he has reason to believe that the
     shipment is one of several lots covered by a single order or
     contract and that it was sent separately for the express
     purpose of securing free entry therefor or of avoiding
     compliance with any pertinent law or regulation. 
     Merchandise subject to this exemption shall be entered under
     the informal entry procedures (see subpart C, part 143, and
     128.24, 145.31, 148.12, and 148.62, of this chapter).
     
     19 CFR 10.153 provides, in pertinent part:

     10.153   Conditions for exemption.

     Customs officers shall be further guided as follows in
     determining whether an article or parcel shall be exempted
     from duty and tax under 10.151 and 10.152:
     *     *     *     *     *
     (d) Consolidated shipments addressed to one consignee shall
     be treated for purposes of 10.151 and 10.152 as one
     importation.
   
     VSC states in its ruling request that it utilizes the duty-free provision of subheading 9801.00.10, HTSUS for articles of
U.S. origin and the duty-free provision of subheading 9801.00.25,
HTSUS for articles imported by VSC previously.

     VSC seeks to be able to import articles, as described supra,
which it purchased domestically, and which were imported by
parties other than VSC, duty-free under 19 CFR 10.151.  VSC
cannot do so.  19 CFR 10.153(d) provides that a consolidated
shipment addressed to one consignee, which is the case in the
subject situation, shall be treated as one importation.  VSC
stated at the oral conference a consolidated shipment consists of
hundreds or thousands of articles being returned.  The total
value of the shipment far exceeds the $200 limitation of 19 CFR
10.151, thus precluding the use of that regulation.  (The
statutory authority for 19 CFR 10.151, 19 U.S.C. 1321, authorizes
the Secretary of the Treasury to promulgate regulations providing
for a duty exemption for a specific amount, not to be less than
$200.)

     VSC cites Ruling 556429 dated March 24, 1992, which states,
in pertinent part:

     
     The return of merchandise in a consolidated package from
     customers in Canada who purchased it from a U.S. store's
     catalog is not subject to visa and quota requirements,
     provided the package contains a separate form for each
     article which identifies it, states the reason for the
     return and lists the names of the individual customers.

     Ruling 556429 is not supportive of VSC's position because
Ruling 556429 did not involve the statute or regulations which
are at issue in the case of VSC.

HOLDING:

     VSC cannot import merchandise which it purchased
domestically and which was previously imported by other parties,
as described supra, duty-free under 19 CFR 10.151 because the
merchandise exceeds the $200 limitation of 19 CFR 10.151. 
Pursuant to 19 CFR 10.153(d), the articles are treated as one
importation.


                              Sincerely,



                              Director,
                              International Trade Compliance
Division