HQ 086176: Modification of New York Ruling Letter (NYRL) 833660 concerning printed paperboard

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 086176

                         April 16, 1990

CLA-2 CO:R:C:G 086176 RFC

CATEGORY: Classification

TARIFF NO.: 4911.99.6000; 4911.99.8000

Ms. Florence Pianke
Advance Watch Company, Ltd.
26400 W. 8 Mile Road
Southfield, Michigan 48034

RE: Modification of New York Ruling Letter (NYRL) 833660
    concerning printed paperboard

Dear Ms. Pianke:

     This letter is in reference to NYRL 833660 of December 8,
1988, sent to you from our New York office.  NYRL 833660 concerns
the classification of printed paperboard under the Harmonized
Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA).

FACTS:

     The goods consist of coated paperboard printed with product
information for use with the sale of consumer products.

     In NYRL 833660, the above-described goods were classified
under subheading 4823.90.6500, HTSUSA, which provides for other
paper, paperboard, other, other, other, other.  Upon further
review of the goods, however, it has been determined that the
goods are properly classified as follows: If the goods are
printed in whole or in part by a lithographic process, then they
are classified under subheading 4911.99.6000, HTSUSA, which
provides for other printed matter, other, other, other, printed
on paper in whole or in part by a lithographic process.  On the
other hand, if the goods are not printed by a lithographic
process, then they are classified under subheading 4911.99.8000,
HTSUSA, which provides for other printed matter, other, other,
other, other.

ISSUE:

     Whether coated paperboard printed with product information
for use with the sale of consumer products should be classified
as printed matter or as paperboard under the HTSUSA.


                               -2-




LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     Classification of merchandise under the HTSUSA is governed
by the General Rules of Classification (GRI's).  GRI 1 states, in
part, that "for legal purposes, classification shall be
determined according to the terms of the headings and any
relative section or chapter notes...."

     The general notes to the Explanatory Notes to Chapter 49
state, in part, that "this Chapter covers all printed matter of
which the essential nature and use is determined by the fact of
its being printed with motifs, characters or pictorial
representations...[with the exception of]...goods...in which the
printing is merely incidental to their primary use...."

     In the instant case, the above-described goods are simply
printed paperboard at the time of importation.  Moreover, the
printing on the paperboard provides essential and necessary
information regarding the products with which the paperboard
will be sold.  As such, the printing determines the essential
nature and use of the goods (as the purpose of the printed
paperboard at the time of importation is to provide information
regarding the products with which the printed paperboard will be
sold and not to package or wrap the products). Also, by
determining the essential nature and use of the goods, the
printing, quite obviously, is not merely incidental to the
primary use of the goods (as the printing determines the primary
use of the goods: to wit, providing information).  Therefore, the
above-described goods are properly classified in Chapter 49.

HOLDING:

     If the goods are printed in whole or in part by a
lithographic process, then they are classified under subheading
4911.99.6000, HTSUSA, which provides for other printed matter,
other, other, other, printed on paper in whole or in part by a
lithographic process and is dutiable at the rate of 0.4% ad
valorem.  On the other hand, if the goods are not printed by a
lithographic process, then they are classified under subheading
4911.99.8000, HTSUSA, which provides for other printed matter,
other, other, other, other and dutiable at the rate of 4.9% ad
valorem.







                               -3-



     NYRL 833660 is hereby modified accordingly as of the date
of this letter.  See 19 C.F.R. 177.9(d).

                              Sincerely,



                              John Durant, Director
                              Commercial Rulings Division