HQ 086583: Classification of Unfinished Filler Pages for Photo Albums; NYRL 849228 Affirmed

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 086583

                            June 6, 1991


CLA-2  CO:R:C:T  086583 PR

CATEGORY: Classification

TARIFF NO.:  4823.90.6500

Mr. Arthur Robbins
Mastercargo, Inc.
161-5 Rockaway Boulevard
Jamaica, New York 11434

RE:  Classification of Unfinished Filler Pages for Photo Albums;
     NYRL 849228 Affirmed

Dear Mr. Robbins:

     This is in reply to your inquiry of February 12, 1990,
concerning New York Ruling 849228, dated February 6, 1990.  In
that ruling you were advised that certain finished filler pages
for photo albums were classifiable under the provision for other
articles of coated paperboard, in Subheading 4823.90.6500,
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated
(HTSUSA).  You now ask how certain similar unfinished merchandise
is classifiable and whether it is subject to antidumping duties
in accordance with the notice published on April 3, 1989, in the
Federal Register (54 F.R. 13399).

     The Customs Service is the administrative agency which has
been designated to administer the HTSUSA.  Therefore, the
classification of imported merchandise is a matter properly
determined by this agency and our ruling on your submitted sample
follows.  However, the determination of whether specific
merchandise is subject to antidumping duties is within the
purview of the International Trade Administration of the
Department of Commerce.  In order to ascertain whether your
merchandise is subject to the antidumping order contained in 54
F.R. 13399, you should submit a copy of this ruling to the
following address:

          Office of Dumping Compliance
          Attn: Mr. Horace Jennings
          International Trade Administration
          Department of Commerce
          Washington, D.C. 20230


FACTS:

     The submitted sample is a 25 cm by 60 cm sheet of paperboard
which is covered on both surfaces with embossed aluminum foil,
that, in turn, is covered with a peel-away transparent plastic
film.  The film adheres to a thin layer of polymer that has been
applied to the surfaces of the aluminum foil.  A "hinge",
consisting of a 2 cm wide strip of the same composite material as
the rest of the article, only without the plastic film, is
attached to one of the 60 cm long sides by means of a flexible
binding tape.  There is no information in the file to indicate
how the merchandise will be imported.  For the purposes of this
ruling we will assume that it will be imported in such a
condition that the only processing done in this country to make
finished filler pages for photo albums will be to cut the
individual pages from the imported lengths and to punch holes in
the "hinge" portion of each page.

ISSUE:

     Two issues are presented.  The first is whether the imported
merchandise has been advanced beyond the material stage to the
point where it is considered to be unfinished photo album pages
for tariff purposes.  The second issue to be decided is which
component, the paperboard, the metal foil, or the plastic sheet,
imparts the essential character to the imported merchandise.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     General Rule of Interpretation 2(a), HTSUSA, provides:

     Any reference in a heading to an article shall be taken to
     include a reference to that article incomplete or
     unfinished, provided that, as entered, the incomplete or
     unfinished article has the essential character of the
     complete or finished article.

     While the individual pages that will be made from the
imported merchandise are not readily identifiable (a test used
under the old Tariff Schedules of the United States Annotated
(TSUSA), to determine whether material had been transformed into
unfinished articles), there is no question that the instant
merchandise possesses the essential character of photo album
pages, which is the requirement set out in GRI 2(a), for
unfinished goods to be classifiable as though they were finished.


     As imported, its identity as photo album pages is readily
apparent.  The merchandise possesses all the characteristics of
photo album pages and is complete except for uncomplicated and
inexpensive processing (cutting to size and punching holes). It
is, therefore, classifiable as though it were finished.


     Where goods are described by two or more headings, those
goods are classifiable in accordance with GRI 3, HTSUSA, which
states:

     (a)  The heading which provides the most specific
     description shall be preferred to headings providing a more
     general description.  However, when two or more headings
     each refer to part only of the materials or substances
     contained in mixed or composite goods  * * *  those headings
     are to be regarded as equally specific in relation to those
     goods, even if one of them gives a more complete or precise
     description of the goods.

     (b)  Mixtures, composite goods consisting of different
     materials or made up of different components, and goods put
     up in sets for retail sale, which cannot be classified by
     reference to 3(a), shall be classified as if they consisted
     of the material or component which gives them their
     essential character, insofar as this criterion is
     applicable.

     (c)  When goods cannot be classified by reference to 3(a) or
     3(b), they shall be classified under the heading which
     occurs last in numerical order among those which equally
     merit consideration.

     The subject merchandise is constructed from three different
materials.  Accordingly, there are three tariff provisions, one
for each material, that describe the merchandise and GRI 3(a)
requires that GRI 3(b) governs the classification of the
merchandise (if it can be determined that one of the components
or materials provides the essential character to the imported
merchandise).

     The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System,
Explanatory Notes, which are the official interpretation of the
HTSUSA at the international level (for the 4 digit headings and
the 6 digit subheadings), states:

     The factor which determines essential character will vary as
     between different kinds of goods.  It may, for example, be
     determined by the nature of the material or component, its
     bulk, quantity, weight or value, or by the role of a
     constituent material in relation to the use of the goods.
     (at page 4; underscoring added)

     In this instance, the paperboard supplies the weight and
bulk of the article.  In addition, it acts as a stiffener and
creates the page.  The aluminum foil presents a decorative
background for photographs and acts as a carrier for the plastic
polymer.  The plastic application to the surfaces of the aluminum
foil, to some



degree, holds photographs in place, but primarily serves the
purpose of causing the plastic film to adhere to the surface of
the aluminum foil.  The plastic film allows the photographs to be
displayed, it holds the pictures in place, allows them to be
viewed, and protects them.

     It is our view that only the plastic film and the paperboard
contribute to the essential character of the merchandise and that
they are equally important in relation to the existence and
functioning of the imported goods.  Accordingly, neither imparts
the essential character to the article and, in accordance with
GRI 3(c), the goods are classifiable in the last appearing
provision of the two which equally merit consideration--the
provision for paperboard.

HOLDING:

     The merchandise is properly classifiable as unfinished photo
album pages under the provision for other (nonenumerated)
articles of paperboard, in Subheading 4823.90.6500, HTSUSA, with
duty, as a product of Korea, at the rate of 5.6 percent ad
valorem.

     In view of the above, New York Ruling 849228 is affirmed.


                              Sincerely,




                              John Durant, Director
                              Commercial Rulings Division