HQ 955525: Application for further review of protest no. 5501-93-100314; classification of acrylic fabric door knob covers;festive articles; HRL 955342

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 955525

                          March 30, 1994

CLA-2 CO:R:C:T 955525 BC

CATEGORY:  Classification

TARIFF NO.:  6307.90.9986

District Director of Customs
U.S. Customs Service
1205 Royal Lane
Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas 75261

RE:  Application for further review of protest no. 5501-93-
100314; classification of acrylic fabric door knob covers;
festive articles; HRL 955342

Dear Sir:

     This is a decision on an application for further review of a
protest timely filed by Ruby L. Wood on behalf of Hobby Lobby
Stores, Inc.  The protest objects to your decision concerning the
classification of acrylic plush fabric door knob covers.

FACTS:

     The merchandise at issue are door knob covers made of
acrylic plush fabric, described as style #1369.  Samples were not
submitted with the protest, but photographs show three door knob
covers resembling the faces of  a snowman wearing a top hat and
two different bears wearing Santa Claus hats.

     The merchandise was entered on June 22, 1993, under
subheading 3924.10.5000 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the
United States Annotated (HTSUSA), which provides for other
household articles of plastics.  Customs liquidated the entry on
August 6, 1993, classifying the merchandise under subheading
6307.90.9986, HTSUSA, which provides for other made-up textile
articles.  The PROTESTANT, hereafter referred to as the importer,
filed a timely protest on September 14, 1993.  In this protest,
the importer contends that the doorknob covers are classifiable
as festive articles in subheading 9505, HTSUSA.

ISSUE:

     Are the door knob covers classifiable as festive articles in
heading 9505, HTSUSA, or as other articles of textile in heading
6307, HTSUSA?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     Classification under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the
United States (HTSUS) is accomplished in accordance with the
General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's).  The systematic detail
of the Harmonized System is such that virtually all goods are
classified by application of GRI 1, that is, according to the
terms of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relative
section or chapter notes.  In the event that goods cannot be
classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, and if headings and
legal notes do not otherwise require, the remaining GRI's will
then be applied in numerical order.  Further, the Explanatory
Notes (EN's) to the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding
System, which represent the official interpretation of the tariff
at the international level, facilitate classification under the
HTSUS by offering guidance in understanding the scope of the
headings and GRI's.  Accordingly, the GRI's and EN's are utilized
as the basis for the classification determination discussed
below.  (See T.D. 89-80, quoting from a report of the Joint
Committee on the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988,
endorsing use of the EN's in the classification of goods.  23
Cust. Bull. 379 (1989), 54 Fed. Reg. 35,127 (August 23, 1989).) 
(See also Totes, Inc. v. United States, No. 91-09-00714, slip op.
92-153 (CIT September 4, 1992), 26 Cust. Bull. No. 40, 35, 37 n.
3 (September 30, 1992), citing T.D. 89-80 and acknowledging the
authority of the EN's.)  

     The issue presented has been addressed by Customs in
Headquarters Ruling Letter (HRL) 951418, dated February 1, 1993,
wherein two doorknob covers, one with a Santa Claus motif and the
other a Scrooge motif, were classified as other articles of
textile, rather than as festive articles.  In the ruling, we
stated that a festive motif is not necessarily controlling when
classifying festive articles under heading 9505, HTSUSA.

     The EN's to heading 9505, HTSUSA, indicate that the heading
covers, in part, the following articles:

     (A)  Festive, carnival or other entertainment articles,
     which in view of their intended use are generally made
     of non-durable material.  They include:

        (1) Decorations such as festoons, garlands, Chinese
     lanterns, etc., as well as various decorative articles
     made of paper, metal foil, glass fibre, etc., for
     Christmas trees (e.g., tinsel, stars, icicles),
     artificial snow, coloured balls, bells, lanterns, etc.
     Cake and other decorations (e.g., animals, flags) which
     are traditionally associated with a particular festival
     are also classified here.

        (2) Articles traditionally used at Christmas
     festivities, e.g., artificial Christmas trees (these
     are sometimes of the folding type), nativity scenes,
     Christmas crackers, Christmas stockings, imitation yule
     logs . . .

                         *        *       *

     In general, merchandise is classifiable in heading 9505,
HTSUSA, as a festive article when the article, as a whole:

     1. is of non-durable material or, generally, is not
     purchased because of its extreme worth, or intrinsic
     value (e.g., paper, cardboard, metal foil, glass fiber,
     plastic, wood);

     2. functions primarily as a decoration (e.g., its
     primary function is not utilitarian); and

     3. is traditionally associated or used with a
     particular festival (e.g., stockings and tree ornaments
     for Christmas, decorative eggs for Easter).

An article's satisfaction of these criteria is indicative of
classification as a festive article.  (See HRL  954418 (as above;
criteria not satisfied) and HRL 955342 (criteria satisfied),
dated November 30, 1993, for application of these criteria.)  

     As in HRL 951418, the doorknob covers at issue here meet the
first two criteria, above, but fail to meet the third.  Since
they are not designed for sustained wear and tear, we consider
them to be made of non-durable material (first criterion); also,
they are not purchased because of their extreme value, as would
be, for example, an article of crystal (first criterion).  In
addition, the doorknob covers' primary function is decorative
(second criterion).  However, as a whole, it is clear that the
kind of article at issue is not traditionally used or associated
with a particular festive occasion (third criterion).  Again,
motif alone is not controlling; the snowman and the hatted bear
motifs are not conclusive on the issue of the doorknob covers' 
association with any particular festival.  The doorknob covers
are not ejusdem generis with those articles cited in the EN' to
heading 9505, HTSUSA, as exemplars of traditional Christmas
articles.  Thus, the doorknob covers must be classified
elsewhere.

     Heading 6307, HTSUSA, provides for other made-up textile
articles.  The EN's for that heading state that the heading
covers made-up textile articles that are not more specifically
described elsewhere in the tariff.  Because the doorknob covers
are not more specifically described elsewhere in the tariff, they
are classifiable in heading 6307, HTSUSA.  Customs original
classification of the doorknob covers at issue in this protest
was correct.

HOLDING:

     This protest is DENIED.  The doorknob covers at issue, made
of acrylic fabric, are classifiable under subheading
6307.90.9986, HTSUSA, which provides for other made-up articles
of textile material, other, other, other, other, other.  The
applicable duty rate is 7% ad valorem.

     In accordance with Section 3A(11)(b) of Customs Directive
099 3550-065, dated August 4, 1993, Subject: Revised Protest
Directive, this decision should be mailed by your office to the
PROTESTANT no later than 60 days from the date of this letter. 
Any reliquidation of the entries in accordance with the decision
must be accomplished prior to mailing of the decision.  Sixty
days from the date of the decision, the Office of Regulations and
Rulings will take steps to make the decision available to Customs
personnel via the Customs Rulings Module in ACS and the public
via the Diskette Subscription Service, Lexis, Freedom of
Information Act, and other public access channels.

                                   Sincerely,




                                   John Durant, Director
                                   Commercial Rulings Division