HQ 083770: Classification of the main panel of a military field pack

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 083770

                                    June 09, 1989



          CLA-2:CO:R:C:G  083770  SR

          CATEGORY:  Classification

          TARIFF NO.:  6307.90.9030

          Mr. Michael K. Tomenga
          McKenna, Conner, & Cuneo
          1575 Eye Street, N.W.
          Washington, D.C. 20005

          RE:  Classification of the main panel of a military field pack

          Dear Mr. Tomenga:

               This is in reference to your letter dated February 15, 1989,
          requesting the tariff classification of a military field pack
          under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
          Annotated (HTSUSA).  A sample produced in Korea was provided.

          FACTS:

               The merchandise at issue is the back panel of a military
          field pack.  The back panel is manufactured of man-made textile
          materials which are said to be of United States origin.  The
          panel consists of a piece of fabric with three pockets that will
          make up the front panel of the backpack.  The pack is designed
          for use with a frame and has a pad that slips over the top of a
          frame that serves to hold the pack to the frame, support the
          weight of the pack, and cushion the user from the hard metal of
          the frame.  The backpack also has shoulder straps which allow it
          to be used without the frame.

               After importation the panel will be used in the manufacture
          of an incomplete medium military field pack.  All components are
          cut and sewn in Korea, thus the component is considered to be a






















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          foreign product.  To be permitted entry as Emergency War
          Materials, certification by the Department of Defense (DOD) is
          required.  The DOD certification has not been submitted as
          required by subheading 9808.00.30, HTSUSA, which provides for
          duty free entry for articles for military departments, materials
          certified to the Commissioner of Customs by the authorized
          procuring agencies to be emergency war material purchased abroad.
          In absence of the DOD certification subheading 9808, HTSUSA,
          cannot be applied.

          ISSUE:

               Whether the main panel of the military field pack is
          classified as a backpack or as a made up article.

          LAW AND ANALYSIS:

               The importer claims that the manufacture of the main panel
          of the back pack is only a small portion of the time, costs, and
          operations necessary to transform the main panel into a completed
          backpack.  However, the back panel that is necessary to complete
          the backpack is also a product of Korea and the two parts are
          merely assembled in the United States.  The statistics of the
          costs produced by the importer are inaccurate because they do not
          include the cost of the labor.

               Classification of goods under the HTSUSA is in accordance
          with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI), taken in order.
          GRI 2(a) provides that any reference in a heading to an article
          shall be taken to include a reference to that article incomplete
          or unfinished, provided that, as entered, the incomplete or
          unfinished article has the essential character of the complete or
          finished article.  The main panel at issue does not provide the
          essential character of the completed backpack.  It does not
          provide the bulk of the completed product nor does it provide the
          main role of the good.  As imported it is not sufficiently
          completed to provide the shape of a backpack.

          HOLDING:

               The merchandise at issue is classifiable under subheading
          6307.90.9030, HTSUSA, which provides for other made up articles,




















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          other, other, other.  The rate of duty is 7 percent ad valorem
          unless qualifying for free entry under subheading 9808.00.0030,
          HTSUSA, upon submission of the proper certification.

                                             Sincerely,




                                             John Durant, Director
                                             Commercial Rulings Division