HQ 081591: Tariff classification of "Total Planner"

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 081591

                                    April 24 1989


          CLA-2 CO:R:C:G  081591 LS  826328

          CATEGORY:  Classification

          TARIFF NO.:  4820.10.20

          Ms. Janis Nulph
          Import Supervisor
          Action Industries, Inc.
          Allegheny Industrial Park
          Cheswick, Pennsylvania  15024

          RE:  Tariff classification of "Total Planner"

          Dear Ms. Nulph:

                Your inquiry, dated November 3, 1987, addressed to our New
          York office concerning the tariff classification of a "Total
          Planner" under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United
          States Annotated (HTSUSA) was referred to this office for a
          direct reply to you.  A sample was submitted for our examination.

          FACTS:

                The sample submitted is known as a "Total Planner" and
          consists of the following items which fit into plastic pockets of
          a plastic folding case:  a telephone and address indexer; a
          weekly planner; a note pad; plastic inserts for business cards or
          other cards; and a ball point pen.  On the left side of the
          opened case are two plastic pockets, which are designed for
          holding a calculator and business cards, neither of which are
          included with the "Total Planner."  The weekly planner and
          telephone and address indexer have spiral binders and are located
          opposite each other when the case is opened.  The weekly planner
          contains blocks of spaces naming each day of the week.  There are
          two pages allocated for each week of the year.  Although the
          weekly planner contains condensed calendars for the years 1987,
          1988, and 1989 on the first page, it is designed for use in any
          year because there are designated spaces on the top of each page
          for the user to fill in the month, week, and year.  The last nine
          pages of the weekly planner contain three divided sections
          labeled "Call," "Do," and "See," which are designed for writing
          lists.  Each section has seven numbered lines.  The note pad is a
          separate article located behind the weekly planner and is titled
          "Notes & Ideas Plan Your Day."  The folded case is held closed by
          a fastener similar to the VELCRO brand fastener.  The "Total
          Planner" is manufactured in Taiwan.












                                        - 2 -

          ISSUE:

                Is the "Total Planner" classifiable as a "set," pursuant to
          General Rule of Interpretation 3(b), HTSUSA?

          LAW AND ANALYSIS:

                Classification of products under the HTSUSA is governed by
          the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's).

                GRI 3(b) provides for the classification of goods put up in
          sets for retail sale.  The rule states in pertinent part:

                [G]oods 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.

                The Explanatory Notes, which constitute the official
          interpretation of the HTSUSA at the international level, state in
          Note X to Rule 3(b) that the term "goods put up in sets for
          retail sale" means goods which:

                (a) consist of at least two different articles which are,
                    prima facie, classifiable in different headings;

                (b) consist of products or articles put up together to meet
                    a particular need or carry out a specific activity;
                and

                (c) are put up in a manner suitable for sale directly to
                    users without repacking.

                The "Total Planner" meets criteria (a), (b), and (c) above.
          At least two of the articles are classifiable in different
          headings since the telephone and address indexer, weekly planner
          and note pad are all classifiable in subheading 4820.10.20,
          HTSUSA, and the pen is classifiable in subheading 9608.10.00,
          HTSUSA.  All of the articles in the "Total Planner" are put up
          together to carry out a specific activity of planning and
          organizing one's thoughts, activities, and personal contacts.
          The pen is used to write in each of the three paper articles.
          The plastic pockets and plastic inserts are designed to hold
          business cards and a calculator, which are respectively used to
          organize one's personal contacts and to make calculations which
          assist in the planning of one's activities and financial status.
          The "Total Planner," is put up in a manner suitable for sale
          directly to users without repacking since it is sold in a box
          which displays pictures of the item, both folded and unfolded,
          and which lists the contents of the 5 piece set.











                                        - 3 -

                Since we find that the "Total Planner" qualifies as a set
          under the HTSUSA, we must next determine which component gives
          the set its essential character.  Explanatory Note VIII to GRI
          3(b) provides that the essential character may 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."  Essential character has been
          construed to mean the attribute which strongly marks or serves to
          distinguish what an article is.  United China & Glass Co. v.
          United States, 61 Cust. Ct. 386, C.D. 3637 (1968).

                The components of this set which constitute the most
          distinctive features of the "Total Planner" and which play the
          major roles in its function as a tool for organizing and planning
          one's activities are the weekly planner and the telephone and
          address indexer.  Apart from the plastic cover, which has a value
          of $.373, the weekly planner and the telephone and address
          indexer have the greatest value, i.e., $.330 each.  The latter
          two items are classifiable in subheading 4820.10.20, HTSUSA,
          which provides for "diaries, notebooks and address books, bound."
          We find that the weekly planner is classifiable in subheading
          4820.10.20, HTSUSA, rather than subheading 4910.00, HTSUSA, which
          provides for "calendars of any kind, printed."  The Explanatory
          Note to heading 4910 states that the heading excludes "memorandum
          pads incorporating calendars and diaries (including so-called
          engagement calendars) (heading 4820)."  The weekly planner
          appears to fit under this exclusion and is therefore classifiable
          in heading 4820.  The Explanatory Note to heading 4820 states in
          part that "articles of this heading sometimes contain a
          considerable amount of printed matter but are classified in this
          heading (and not in Chapter 49) provided that the articles are
          essentially for completion in manuscript or typescript."  The
          weekly planner and telephone and address indexer have some
          printed matter but are classified in heading 4820 because they
          are completed in manuscript.

                Since the weekly planner and telephone and address indexer
          impart the essential character to the set, the set is
          classifiable in subheading 4820.10.20, HTSUSA.  GRI 5(a) provides
          that containers which are specially shaped or fitted to contain a
          specific set of articles are classifiable with the set if they
          are suitable for long-term use, are entered with the articles for
          which they are intended, and are normally sold with the set.
          Since the plastic folding case or holder meets all of the
          criteria of GRI 5(a), it is classifiable with the "Total Planner"
          under subheading 4820.10.20, HTSUSA.
















                                        - 4 -

          HOLDING:

                For the foregoing reasons, the "Total Planner" is
          classifiable as a set in subheading 4820.10.2010, HTSUSA, which
          provides for "diaries and address books," bound, dutiable at the
          column 1 duty rate of 4 percent ad valorem.

                                        Sincerely,





                                        John Durant, Director
                                        Commercial Rulings Division









































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