HQ 080483: Internal Advice Request No. 56/86, Concerning the Classification of Seagrass Doormats

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 080483

                                  September 26, 1988





            CLA-2 CO:R:C:G  080483 jlj

            CATEGORY:  Classification

            TARIFF NO.:  361.23

            Area Director of Customs
            6 World Trade Center
            New York, New York 10048-0945

            RE:  Internal Advice Request No. 56/86, Concerning the
                 Classification of Seagrass Doormats

            Dear Sir:

                 This request for internal advice was initiated by Rode
            and Qualey, 295 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10017, on
            behalf of their client Import Specialists Inc.

            FACTS:

                 The merchandise at issue is seagrass doormats in three
            different shapes:  oval, oblong and half round.  This
            merchandise was classified by the New York Seaport import
            specialist under the provision for floor coverings not
            specially provided for, of textile materials, other, other,
            other, other, in item 361.70, Tariff Schedules of the United
            States (TSUS).

                 The inquirer contends that this merchandise is classified
            under the provision for floor coverings of unspun fibrous
            vegetable materials, other, in item 222.57, TSUS.
            Alternatively, the inquirer argues that, if the doormats are
            of textile materials, they are composed of materials similar
            to cords and are classified under the provision for floor
            coverings composed of braids, cords, fabric strips and similar
            materials in continuous lengths, sewn or otherwise bound
            together, but not woven, of textile materials, other, other,
            in chief weight of vegetable fibers, except cotton, in item
            361.23, TSUS.

            ISSUE:

                 What is the correct classification of the instant
            seagrass doormats?











                                         - 2 -

            LAW AND ANALYSIS:

                 The inquirer argues that the seagrass doormats are
            classified as floor coverings of unspun fibrous vegetable
            materials in item 222.57, TSUS.  He cites Customs Headquarters
            Ruling Letter (HRL) 055440 of June 7, 1979 (Internal Advice
            No. 128/78) and Barham v. United States, 11 Ct. Cust. Appls.
            536, T.D. 39679 (1923) in support of his position.

                 Schedule 3, Headnote 1(i), TSUS, states:

                 1.  This schedule does not cover --
                     (1)  articles of unspun fibrous vegetable materials
                     (see Part 2B of Schedule 2)....

                 In order to understand what is excluded from Schedule 3
            TSUS, we must look to the definition of unspun fibrous
            vegetable materials found in Schedule 2, Part 2, Subpart B,
            Headnote 2(d), TSUS:

                 2.  For the purposes of the tariff schedules --

                       *         *          *           *

                     (d) the term "unspun fibrous vegetable materials"
                     means bamboo, rattan, willow, chip, straw, palm leaf,
                     grass, seagrass, and similar fibrous vegetable
                     substances which have not been spun.

                 Schedule 3, Headnote 2(a)(i), TSUS, states:

                 2.  For the purposes of the tariff schedules--
                     (a) the term "textile materials" means--
                       (i) the fibers (cotton, other vegetable
                       fibers, wool and hair, silk, and man-made
                       fibers) provided for in Part 1 of this
                       schedule....

                 Schedule 3, Part 1, Subpart B, Headnote 1(a), TSUS,
            defines vegetable fiber as follows:

                 1.  For the purposes of the tariff schedules--
                     (a) the term "vegetable fiber" means vegetable
                         fiber which can be spun....

                 Reading the headnotes above, it is apparent that the
            difference between seagrass classified as an unspun fibrous
            vegetable material in Schedule 2, TSUS, and seagrass
            classified as a textile vegetable fiber in Schedule 3, TSUS,
            is whether the seagrass can be spun.  The Customs Court












                                         - 3 -

            arrived at the same conclusion in B.A. McKenzie & Co., Inc. v.
            United States, 63 Cust. Ct. 110 (1969), when it said that
            "...for the purposes of the tariff schedule, a vegetable fiber
            is one which is spinnable but not necessarily spun."  This
            principle was repeated in Continental Importing Co. v. United
            States, 63 Cust. Ct. 341 (1969), when the court observed:

                       A vegetable fiber is one that can be
                       spun.... Had Congress intended the
                       distinction claimed by plaintiff, it
                       would have defined vegetable fiber as
                       one that has been spun.  Not having
                       done so, it seems clear that Congress
                       meant to include as a textile material
                       any vegetable fiber provided for in
                       Schedule 3, Part 1, which can be spun,
                       whether or not it actually has been
                       spun.

                 Each of the submitted samples is made from 2-ply yarns or
            cords of twisted seagrass fibers.  The fibers are not uniform
            in width and are in various lengths.  The twisting action
            forms the fibers into the yarns or cords comprising the mats.
            When the yarns or cords are untwisted, the fibers revert back
            to being individual fibrous lengths of seagrass.

                 Spun yarns are defined as being "composed of relatively
            short lengths of fiber twisted or spun to hold them together."
            Fabric Science, J.J. Pizzuto (1974, Fairchild Publications,
            Inc.), at page 65.  Accordingly, we conclude that the sample
            mats consist of seagrass fibers which have been spun.
            Inasmuch as the seagrass in the instant doormats has been
            spun, it cannot be classified as an unspun fibrous vegetable
            material in Schedule 2, TSUS.

                 Alternatively, the inquirer argues that the doormats are
            classified under the provision for floor coverings composed of
            braids, cords, fabric strips and similar materials in
            continuous lengths, sewn or otherwise bound together but not
            woven, of textile materials, in item 361.23, TSUS.

                 Because the mats are made of vegetable fibers which have
            been twisted into a yarn and plied into cordage prior to being
            made into mats, we find that the instant doormats are made of
            cordage and are classified in item 361.23, TSUS.  We note that
            item 361.70, TSUS, falls under the superior heading "Floor
            coverings not specially provided for" and is a basket
            provision.  Inasmuch as the mats are specially provided for in
            item 361.23, TSUS, item 361.70, TSUS, would not apply.













                                         - 4 -

            HOLDING:

                 The instant seagrass doormats are classified under the
            provision for floor coverings composed of cords, but not
            woven, of textile materials, in item 361.23, TSUS.  You should
            inform the inquirer of this ruling.

                                        Sincerely,




                                        John Durant, Director
                                        Commercial Rulings Division
















































            6cc:  A.D., NY Seaport (NIS-349 and NIS-29)
            1cc:  CITA
            1cc:  John Durant
            CO:R:C:G:JLJOHNSON:lw 6/8/88  7/13/88  7/14/88  7/15/88