HQ 952841: Back support belt; worn over garments; heading 6307, HTSUSA; other made up articles

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 952841
                                
                        January 26, 1993

CLA-2  CO:R:C:T  952841  jb

CATEGORY:  Classification

TARIFF NO.:  6307.90.9986

Mr. Tom Thompson
Bolen Leather Products Company
903 S. Main Street
Springfield, TN 37172

RE:  Back support belt; worn over garments; heading 6307, HTSUSA;
     other made up articles

Dear Mr. Thompson:

     This is in reply to your letter, dated September 8, 1992,
concerning the classification of a work knee pad and a back
support belt under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United
States Annotated (HTSUSA).  A sample was provided to this office
for examination.

FACTS:

     As our New York Customs office has issued you a ruling in
regard to the work knee pad, this ruling will only address itself
to the back support belt. 

     The merchandise in question, the Bolen Work Rite Back
Support System, Style number 7200, measures 35 inches by 9 inches
at its widest point and tapers to four inches at either end.  The
middle section consists of heavy elastic knit fabric with four
vertical stays.  Each end section has a vertical stay made from
cellular foam laminated on the outer surface with hook and loop
fabric, and on the inner surface, with knit man-made fabric.

     A large rectangular tab of hook and loop fabric is sewn to
one end and used to secure the belt.  The belt also has two
elastic fabric outer-bands each of which is sewn at one end to
the rear center.  The narrow bands extend around either side, and
with the use of hook and loop end tabs, provide additional
tension adjustment for the wearer. The adjustable, elasticized
suspenders are permanently attached.
  



     The packaging insert offers the following description in
reference to the back support:

     Delivers firm and comfortable support to the lower back and
     abdominal area.

     Promotes proper posture during lifting, standing, and
     bending

     Velcro closure for quick and easy adjustment for increased
     support for light and heavy lifting

     Breathable fabric for all climates and for maximum comfort.

ISSUE:

     Is the article classifiable in heading 6212, HTSUSA, which
provides for body supporting garments or in heading 6307, HTSUSA,
which provides for other made up articles?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     Classification of merchandise under the HTSUSA is in
accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI), taken
in order.  GRI 1 requires that classification be determined
according to the terms of the headings and any relative section
or chapter notes, taken in order.  Where goods cannot be
classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, the remaining GRI will
be applied, in the order of their appearance.

     In your letter you requested classification in chapter 40,
HTSUSA, which provides for rubber and articles thereof.  The
article in question is excluded from chapter 40 classification   
because our examination of the submitted sample indicates that
the item does not contain rubber.  

     GRI 2(b) states:

     Any reference in heading to a material or substance shall be
     taken to include a reference to mixtures or combinations of
     that material or substance with other materials or
     substances.  Any reference to goods of a given material or
     substance shall be taken to include a reference to goods
     consisting wholly or partly of such material or substance. 
     The classification of goods consisting of more than one
     material or substance shall be according to the principles
     of rule 3.





     GRI 3, in provision (b), states:

     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 which gives them their essential character, insofar
     as this criterion is applicable.
     
The competing provisions for this article are heading 6212,
HTSUSA, which provides for body supporting garments or heading
6307, HTSUSA, which provides for other made up articles.

     The Explanatory Notes to the Harmonized Commodity
Description and Coding System (EN), to heading 6212, HTSUSA,
state in pertinent part:

     This heading covers articles of a kind designed for wear as
     body-supporting garments or as supports for certain other
     articles of apparel, and parts thereof... (Emphasis added)

     The heading includes, inter alia:
     
     (1) Brassieres of all kinds.

     (2) Girdles and panty-girdles.

     (3) Corselettes (combinations of girdles or panty-girdles   
         and brassieres).

     (4) Corsets and corset-belts.  These are usually reinforced
         with flexible metallic, whalebone or plastic stays, and
         are generally fastened by lacing or by hooks.

     (5) Suspender-belts, hygienic belts, suspensory bandages,   
         suspender jock-straps, braces, suspenders, garters,    
         shirt-sleeve supporting arm-bands and armlets.    

     (6) Body belts for men (including those combined with       
         underpants).

     (7) Maternity, post-pregnancy or similar supporting or      
         corrective belts, not being orthopaedic appliances of   
         heading 90.21 (see Explanatory Note to that heading).
     
     In HQ 952390, dated December 16, 1992 and HQ 952201, dated
October 26, 1992, Customs ruled on a similar back support belts. 
Those rulings determined:




     In Customs' view, the belt in question is not similar to any
     of the aforementioned articles.  It does not support apparel
     or other items, and therefore is not similar to braces or
     garters.  Moreover, while it is designed to support and
     prevent injury to the back, the article in question is not a
     form of garment, nor is it worn underneath other garments
     as, for example, maternity belts or men's body belts.

     Heading 6307, HTSUSA, is a residual provision which provides
for other made up articles of textiles that are not provided for
more specifically elsewhere in the nomenclature.  In HQ 088540,
dated June 3, 1991, addressing the classification of a weight
lifting belt, Customs held that the article was classifiable
under the provision for other made up articles of heading 6307,
HTSUSA.  A later ruling, HQ 089581, dated November 4, 1991,
addressing the classification of a similar article, a "Tummy
Shaper" belt, also classified the article in heading 6307,
HTSUSA.

     There has been some confusion in determining what
distinguishes the belts of heading 6212, HTSUSA, from those of
heading 6307, HTSUSA.  The EN to heading 6212, HTSUSA, are clear
in designating these articles as body-support garments or 
supports for other kind of apparel. The distinction centers on
the fact that while the articles enumerated in the EN to heading
6212, HTSUSA, are principally used or worn as garments or garment
accessories, those of heading 6307, HTSUSA, are not.   

     Stated simply, merchandise similar to the subject articles,
is classifiable as belts of 6212, HTSUSA, if it functions with a
dual purpose, in providing:

     1. support for the body, or support for certain articles of
        apparel; and

     2. a construction that allows the belt to be worn           
        comfortably next to the wearer's skin, under other       
        garments 

This is the case for example, for such articles such as the
brassieres, girdles, corset-belts, suspender-belts, hygienic
belts, corrective belts, etc.

     The belt in question is distinguishable from the enumerated
articles of heading 6212, HTSUSA, in that it is neither a garment
nor a kind of apparel.  Nor can it be said that the belt is
designed for the purpose of being worn next to the wearer's skin. 
It is a belt which is to be worn over other garments--not as
underwear.  As it is not ejusdem generis with the body supporting



garments of heading 6212, HTSUSA, and since there are no headings
that specifically provide for the instant textile belt, it is
classifiable in heading 6307, HTSUSA, as an other made up
article.

HOLDING:

     The article in question, the Bolen Work Rite Back Support
System, Style number 7200, is classifiable in subheading
6307.90.9986, HTSUSA, under the provision for other made up
articles.  The applicable rate of duty is 7 percent ad valorem.

     Due to the changeable nature of the statistical annotation
(the ninth and tenth digits of the classification) and the
restraint (quota/visa) categories, your client should contact the
local Customs office prior to importing the merchandise to
determine the current status of any import restraints or
requirements.
     

                           Sincerely,



                           John Durant, Director
                           Commercial Rulings Division