HQ 956726: Bamboo Rake, Wooden Rake, Lawn Rake, Heading 4417.00; Implement to be Used for Agricultural or Horticultural Purposes, Heading 9817.00.50; Chapter 98, U.S. Note 1; NY 845945, NY 882114, HQ 950223

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 956726

                            OCTOBER 25, 1994

CLA-2:CO:R:C:M    956726 JAS

CATEGORY:    Classification

TARIFF NO.:  4417.00.80, 9817.00.50

Ms. Cynthia A. Benway
Tower Group International, Inc.
24 Commerce Street
Pawtucket, RI 02862-2906 

RE:  Bamboo Rake, Wooden Rake, Lawn Rake, Heading 4417.00;
     Implement to be Used for Agricultural or Horticultural
     Purposes, Heading 9817.00.50; Chapter 98, U.S. Note 1;
     NY 845945, NY 882114, HQ 950223

Dear Ms. Benway:

     Your letter to the District Director of Customs, Providence,
dated July 11, 1994, has been referred to this office for reply.
Your inquiry, on behalf of the Wayne Seed Corporation, concerns
the tariff status of bamboo rakes from Taiwan.

FACTS:

     The rakes in issue are hand tools designed for gathering
leaves and grass.  Each consists of a fan-shaped head and wooden
handle.  The head has projecting bamboo tynes or teeth bent at a
90 degree angle to form hooks.  The fan head is fixed in place by
a metal spring and a bamboo fixture.  Each fan head and handle
are joined by a nut and bolt and a U-shaped device.  The bamboo
fan is reinforced by a metal spacer.

     The importer states these rakes are to be sold to
independent garden centers and merchants for resale in their
garden shops to homeowners for lawn and garden care.  You have
been tentatively advised by the local Customs officer that the
rakes are classifiable in heading 4417.00, Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), as tools of wood. 
Further, you were advised that the provision for machinery,
equipment and implements to be used for agricultural or
horticultural purposes, in heading 9817.00.50, HTSUS, may be
applicable.                   - 2 -

     The provisions under consideration are as follows:

     4417.00        Tools, tool bodies, tool handles, broom or
                    brush bodies and handles, of wood; boot or
                    shoe lasts and trees, of wood:

     4417.00.80     Other...8 percent

               *              *              *              *

     9817.00.50     Machinery, equipment and implements to be
                    used for agricultural or horticultural
                    purposes...Free
                    
ISSUE:

     Whether wooden rakes are agricultural or horticultural
implements for tariff purposes.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     Merchandise is classifiable under the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) in accordance with the
General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs).  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, and provided the headings or notes do not
require otherwise, according to GRIs 2 through 6.

     Bamboo rakes of the kind in in issue have been held to be
classifiable as tools of wood, of heading 4417.00, HTSUS.  NY
845945, dated October 20, 1989, NY 882114, dated February 24,
1993. 

     Heading 9817.00.50 provides for machinery, equipment and
implements to be used for agricultural or horticultural purposes. 
The provisions of this heading are not governed by the rule of
relative specificity in General Rule of Interpretation (GRI)
3(a).  Chapter 98, U.S. Note 1, HTSUS.  If the bamboo rakes are
described in heading 9817.00.50 they are classifiable therein,
provided the conditions and requirements for the provision are
met and there is compliance with any applicable regulations.

     The raking of grass cuttings, leaves and other debris from
lawns, flower beds and gardens is per se agricultural or
horticultural for tariff purposes.  However, because it is the
importer who receives the benefits of duty-free entry, neither
the garden centers or other distributors may relieve him of his
obligations under relevant actual use regulations.  In our
opinion, however, considering the nature of these articles and
their level of distribution, it would be appropriate for Customs
officers to regard the importer as having sufficient knowledge of - 3 -

actual use as to meet the conditions for free entry prescribed in
the regulations.  HQ 950223, dated December 4, 1991.    

HOLDING:

     Under the authority of GRI 1, the bamboo rakes in issue are
provided for in heading 4417.00, HTSUS.  They are classifiable in
subheading 4417.00.80, HTSUS, as other tools of wood.

     These rakes may be eligible for free entry under heading
9817.00.50, HTSUS, upon compliance with the actual use
requirements of sections 10.131 through and including 10.139,
Customs Regulations.

     We are providing the District Director at Providence with a
copy of this letter.

                         
                              Sincerely,


                              John Durant, Director
                              Commercial Rulings Division