HQ 085967: Emergpak CPR Kit

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 085967

                         March 2, 1990


CLA-2:CO:R:C:G  085967 SER

CATEGORY:  Classification

TARIFF NO.:  9801.00.1035

Ms. Cam Murphy
IC Systems Ltd.
P.O. Box 3853 VMPO
Vancouver, B.C.
Canada  V6B 3Z3

RE:  Emergpak CPR Kit

Dear Ms. Murphy:

     This is in reference to your letter of October 26, 1989,
requesting classification, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule
of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA), of the Emergpak CPR kit
shipped to the United States from Canada.

FACTS:

     The Emergpak kit consists of a CPR Microshield, a pair of
latex surgical gloves and a nylon pouch.  The CPR microshield
consists of a clear plastic sheet measuring approximately 4 3/4
by 5 inches.  Attached to the center of the sheet is a hard
plastic oval tubular mouthpiece with an inner one-way valve
device.  The mouthpiece is approximately 1-3/4" long by 1-1/4"
wide.  The CPR Microshield is designed to protect the rescuer
from the fluids of the cardiac/respiratory arrest victim while
cardio-pulmonary recessatation (CPR) is administered.

     The nylon pouch measures approximately 2 by 3 inches.  It
has a front and back compartment, a belt loop and a Velcro-type
flap closure.

     The Microshield is made in the United States, the nylon
pouch in Taiwan and the latex gloves in Malaysia.  The articles
are packed together in Canada and exported to the United States.

ISSUE:

     What is the proper classification of the Emergpak CPR kit
under the HTSUSA?



                               -2-


LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     Classification of goods under the HTSUSA is governed by the
General Rules of Interpretation (GRI), taken in order.  When
goods are prima facie classifiable under two or more headings GRI
3 is applicable.  In this case classification is determined by
application of GRI 3(b) which provides:

     [G]oods put up in sets for retail sale, . . . shall be
     classified as if they consisted of the . . .component
     which gives them their essential character . . .

     The Explanatory Notes to the HTSUSA constitute the official
interpretation of the tariff at the international level.  The
Explanatory Note to GRI 3(b) provides, in part:

     For the purposes of this Rule, the term "goods put up
     in sets for retail sale" shall be taken to mean 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 (e.g., in
          boxes or cases or on boards).

     The merchandise at issue meets this three part test so as to
constitute a set.  There are at least two articles which are
prima facie, classifiable in different headings.  The nylon pouch
would be classified under subheading 4202.92.9020, HTSUSA, which
provides for trunks, suitcases, guncases, holsters, and similar
containers, other, other with outer surface of textile materials,
of man-made fibers.  The gloves would be classified under
subheading 4015.11.0000, HTSUSA, which provides for surgical and
medical gloves of vulcanized rubber other than hard rubber.

     The merchandise at issue is also put up in a manner suitable
for sale directly to users without repacking.  The "set" will be
packaged in Canada and will not undergo any further assembly in
the United States.

     In addition, the set consists of products which are put up
together to meet a particular need or carry out a specific
activity, to facilitate CPR.

                               -3-



     With the elements for sets satisfied, the essential
character of the set must be determined to allow for proper
classification.  "In general, 'essential character' has been
construed to mean the attribute which strongly marks or serves to
distinguish what an article is; that which is indispensable to
the structure, core or condition of the article."  Harmonized
System Handbook: A Guide to the New U.S. Tariff, Office of Reg. &
Rulings, U.S. Customs Service (August 1986), page 14.  The
essential character of this set is obviously imparted by the
Microshield which is a product of the United States.  This is not
only the article which composes the major article in dollar
value, but it is also the indispensable article in the set.  It
is only for the Microshield that one would purchase this set.

HOLDING:

     The Emergpak CPR kit constitutes a set.  The essential
character is imparted by the Microshield which is a product of
the United States.  The complete kit would therefore be free of
duty under subheading 9801.00.1035, HTSUSA, which provides for
products of the United States when returned after having been
exported, without having been advanced in value or improved in
condition by any process of manufacture or other means while
abroad.

                                   Sincerely,



                                   John Durant, Director
                                   Commercial Rulings Division