HQ 087836: Slippers imported in a pouch

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 087836

                        October 11, 1990

CLA-2 CO:R:C:G  087836  NLP

CATEGORY:  Classification

TARIFF NO.: 6405.20.30

Peter J. Morton, Group Import Manager
Lillian Vernon Corp.
510 South Fulton Avenue
Mount Vernon, New York  10550-5067

RE:  Slippers imported in a pouch

Dear Mr. Morton:

     This letter is in response to your inquiry, dated July 27,
1990, regarding the tariff classification of slippers in a pouch,
imported from China, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the
United States Annotated (HTSUSA).  A sample was submitted for
examination.

FACTS:

     The subject sample is a pair of textile slippers with a
textile pouch.  The slippers have uppers and bottoms of jersey
material, containing 54 percent cotton, 36 percent polyester and
10 percent spandex.  The uppers of the slippers have metallic
gold nylon overlays covering the toe and heel portions of the
slippers and the border of the slipper openings.  The slippers
also have foam inserts between the inner soles and the outer
soles.  The accompanying pouch is made of the same material as
the slippers with the same color and trim and it has a gold nylon
drawstring.  The pouch is barrel shaped and the slippers and
pouch will be imported as a unit.

ISSUES:

     What is the tariff classification of the slippers.

     Whether the slippers and the pouch are classifiable together
or separately.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     Issue 1- Tariff classification of the slippers

     Classification of goods in Chapter 64, which provides for
footwear, is determined by the constituent material of the outer
sole and upper of the footwear.  Note 4(a) to Chapter 64
provides:


          (a) The material of the upper shall be taken to be
          the constituent material having the greatest external
          surface area, no account being taken of accessories or
          reinforcements such as ankle patches, edging,
          ornamentation, buckles, tabs, eyelet stays or similar
          attachments.

The Explanatory Notes to the Harmonized Commodity Description and
Coding System, although not legally binding, may nevertheless be
consulted for purposes of interpreting the Harmonized System at
the international level.  General Explanatory Note D to Chapter
64 states, in pertinent part:

          If the upper consists of two or more materials,
          classification is determined by the constituent
          material which has the greatest external surface
          area, no account being taken of accessories or
          reinforcements, such as ankle patches, protective or
          ornamental strips or edging, other ornamentation (e.g.
          tassels, pompoms or braid), buckles, tabs, eyelet
          stays, laces or slide fasteners.

     In determining the constituent material of the slippers'
uppers, we exclude the gold overlays as accessories because they
are merely ornamentation.  Therefore, after excluding the
metallic gold overlays, the jersey material comprises the
greatest external surface area of the slippers' uppers.  Since
cotton comprises the largest percentage of the jersey material,
the slippers are classifiable in subheading 6405.20.30, HTSUSA,
which provides for other footwear, with uppers of vegetable
fibers.

     Issue 2- Tariff classification of the slippers and slipper
     pouch

     GRI 3 governs the classification of goods which are prima
facie classifiable within two or more headings.  The slippers are
classifiable within Heading 6405, HTSUSA, which provides for
other footwear.  The slipper pouch is classifiable in Heading
6307, HTSUSA, which provides for other made up articles of
textile materials.

     GRI 3(b) provides for composite goods made up of different
components.   Explanatory Note IX to GRI 3(b) provides that
composite goods can consist of separable components, provided
these components are adapted one to the other and are mutually
complementary and that together they form a whole which would not


normally be offered for sale in separate parts.  The slipper and
pouch are a composite good as that term is defined and applied in
the HTSUSA.  The components are separable and they are adapted
for use together.  The pouch is intended to store the slippers
during travel or when the slippers are not in use and the pouch
for the slippers would not normally be sold separately from the
slippers.

     Composite goods are classifiable as if they consisted of the
component which gives them their essential character.
Explanatory Note VIII to GRI 3(b) provides that:

          The factor which determines essential character will
          vary as between different kinds of goods.  It may, for
          example, be determined by the nature of the material or
          component, its bulk, quantity, weight or value, or by
          the role of a constituent material in relation to the
          use of the goods.

     The component which establishes the essential character in
this case is the slippers as they play the dominant role in
relation to the use of the goods.  Accordingly, the composite
good would be classifiable as if it consisted solely of the
slippers.

HOLDING:


     The slippers and pouch are a composite good classifiable
according to their essential character within subheading
6405.20.30, HTSUSA, which provides for other footwear, with
uppers of vegetable fibers.  The rate of duty is 7.5 percent ad
valorem.

                              Sincerely,



                              John Durant, Director
                              Commercial Rulings Division