HQ 953485: Classification and Country of Origin of a Beverage Bag Usedfor Camping

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 953485

                          May 21, 1993

CLA-2 CO:R:C:T 953485 jlj

CATEGORY: Classification

TARIFF NO.: 6306.99.0000

Mr. Larry L. Lineham
Alfred H. Marzolf, Inc.
157 Yesler Way, Suite 605
Seattle. Washington 98104

RE: Classification and Country of Origin of a Beverage Bag Used
for Camping

Dear Mr. Lineham:

     In your letter of February 5, 1993, you requested a tariff
classification under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United
States Annotated (HTSUSA) for a beverage bag to be imported by
your client, Mountain Safety Research of Seattle, Washington.
You submitted a sample along with your letter and later submitted
two descriptive brochures covering the bag.

     You also ask whether it is sufficient to mark only the
paperboard packaging if the beverage bag is imported with the
paperboard packing in place.

FACTS:

     The sample submitted is a beverage bag made of coated nylon
fabric with a plastic cap and nylon webbing straps.  The bag is
approximately 17 inches by eight inches, with a webbing strap
laced through grommet holes along the edges of the bag.

     The bag is used to carry water or beverages when camping. 
It is advertised as being able to screw onto a water filtration
system also sold by your client.

     The fabric is made in the United States and then shipped to
Malaysia.  In Malaysia, the fabric is cut and the pieces are
welded together.

     The partly-completed bags are shipped to Taiwan where the
grommets are put in and the Taiwanese plastic cap is added.

     The webbing strap is made in Spain.  It is added to the bag
in Taiwan or in Seattle, depending upon the packaging.


ISSUE:

     What is the correct HTSUSA classification of the beverage
bag?

     What is the country of origin of the bag for marking
purposes?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

I. Classification

     Classification of merchandise under the HTSUSA is in
accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs), taken
in order.  GRI 1 provides that classification shall be according
to the terms of the headings and any relevant section or chapter
notes.

     The Explanatory Notes to the Harmonized Commodity
Description and Coding System (EN) are the official
interpretation of the nomenclature at the international level.
The EN for Heading 6306, HTSUSA, state, in relevant part, as
follows:

     Camping goods.  This group includes canvas buckets, water
     bags....

     You submitted two descriptive brochures from your client
which advertise the instant beverage bag.  Both brochures show
that the beverage bag is part of a line of camping goods used in
camping situations.  Both brochures advertised the goods within
as "outdoor gear for citizens of the environment."  Photographs
of tents and camp sites figure predominantly in the brochures'
illustrations.

     The beverage bag is specially designed to be attached to a
water filtration system used to camp in areas where the water may
not be potable otherwise.

     We find that the beverage bag is specifically advertised as
and designed for use as a camping good, therefore it is
classified under the provision for camping goods: other: of other
textile materials, in subheading 6306.99.0000, HTSUSA.

II. Country of Origin

     Country of origin determinations for textile products are
subject to Section 12.130, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 12.130). 
Section 12.130 provides that a textile product which is processed
in more than one country or territory shall be a product of that
country or territory where it last underwent a substantial
transformation.  A textile product will be considered to have
undergone a substantial transformation if it has been transformed
by means of substantial manufacturing or processing operations
into a new and different article of commerce.

     Section 12.130(d), Customs Regulations, sets forth criteria
for determining whether a substantial transformation of a textile
product has taken place.  This regulation states these criteria
are not exhaustive; one or any combination of criteria may be
determinative, and additional factors may be considered.

     Section 12.130 (d) (1), Customs Regulations, states that a
new and different article of commerce will usually result from a
manufacturing or processing operation if there is a change in:

     (i)   Commercial designation or identity,
     (ii   Fundamental character, or
     (iii) Commercial use.

     Section 12.130 (d) (2), Customs Regulations, states that for
determining whether merchandise has been subjected to substantial
manufacturing or processing operations, the following will be
considered:

     (i)   The physical change in the material or article,
     (ii)  The time involved in the manufacturing or processing,
     (iii) The level of complexity of the manufacturing or       
           processing,
     (iv)  The level or degree of skill, and
     (v)   The value added to the article or material.

     Section 12.130 (e) (1), Customs Regulations, describes
manufacturing or processing operations from which an article will
usually be considered a product of the country in which those
operations occurred.  Section 12.130 (e) (1) (iv) provides the
following:

     (iv)  Cutting of fabric into parts and the assembly of those
           parts into the completed article....

     While a little of the assembly process (i.e., addition of
grommets, caps and webbing straps) is done after the cutting and 
assembly process in Malaysia, the bag is substantially complete
after the Malaysian operations.  The cutting of the United
States-made fabric in Malaysia is also the only substantial
transformation of the imported product.

     The imported bag is a product of Malaysia and must be marked
accordingly.

     If the bags are imported with the paperboard packaging
securely affixed to the bags, it would be permissible to mark the
country of origin on the paperboard backing instead of on the
bags themselves.  Since all the information about the product
appears on the paperboard backing, it is clear that it is
designed to remain on the product until it is sold to the retail
purchaser.  The origin marking must be easy to read and easy to
find.

     We note that a U.S. address appears on the backing. 
Accordingly, pursuant to 19 CFR 134.46, the country of origin
preceded by words such as "Made in" must appear in close
proximity and in comparable size letters as the U.S. address. 
This is true whether or not the bag is marked with the country of
origin.  Since the submitted sample does not have the paperboard
backing affixed, we cannot determine whether the U.S. address
appears in a conspicuous location.  If it does not, an additional
country of origin marking would have to appear in a conspicuous
location on either the bag or the paperboard backing.

HOLDING:

     The instant beverage bag is classified in subheading
6306.99.0000, HTSUSA, dutiable at the rate of 9 percent ad
valorem.

     Malaysia is the country of origin for marking purposes. 

                                   Sincerely,



                                   John Durant, Director