HQ 951128: Application for Further Review of Protest No. 0201-91-100466. Kraft paper which is also bibulous must be classifiedunder the heading for kraft, not other, paper.

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 951128

                                              October 20, 1992

CLA-2 CO:R:C:T  951128 HP

CATEGORY:  Classification

TARIFF NO.:   4804.39.6040

Mr. Michael D'Ambrosio
District Director
U.S. Customs Service
P.O. Box 1490
St. Albans, VT 05478

RE:  Application for Further Review of Protest No. 0201-91-
100466.  Kraft paper which is also bibulous must be classified
under the heading for kraft, not other, paper.

Dear Mr. D'Ambrosio:

         This is in reply to your letter of December 2, 1991,
forwarding Protest #0201 91 100466, which is the subject of an
Application for Further Review.  Please note your reference
number PRO-1-0.

FACTS:

         The merchandise at issue is described by protestant's
counsel, Sullivan & Lynch, P.C., as follows:

                   The imported merchandise is known in the
                 trade as decor paper.  Decor paper is
                 specialty, made to order paper which is used
                 as the surface sheet in laminates for
                 application in the construction or furniture
                 industries.  [Importer's] satinated base
                 paper (decor paper) consists of 60-65% pulp
                 fiber with the balance filler (primarily
                 titanium dioxide).  The consignee of the
                 imported merchandise ... uses [the] satinated
                 base paper as a surface sheet for the
                 introduction of melamine resin to manufacture
                 laminated furniture components.  The end
                 product has a surface finish similar to
                 Formica~.

Customs Laboratory Report No. 2-91-30257-001 described the sample
as:

                 two sheets of uncoated Kraft paper, weighing
                 113.9 grams per square meter with an ash of
                 46.1% (essentially titanium), and a thickness
                 of 0.125 millimeter, ... composed of chemical
                 bleached Kraft fibers.



         Protestant attempted entry of this merchandise under
subheading 4805.60.3000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United
States Annotated (HTSUSA), as other uncoated paper, bibulous. 
Customs disagreed, appraising the paper under subheading
4804.39.6040, HTSUSA, as other uncoated Kraft paper.

ISSUE:

         Whether the instant paper is considered Kraft paper under
the HTSUSA?  If so, under which heading of the HTSUSA is the
paper properly classified?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Kraft or Other Paper

         The General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs) to the HTSUSA
govern the classification of goods in the tariff schedule.  GRI 1
states, in pertinent part, that such "classification shall be
determined according to the terms of the headings and any
relative section or chapter notes...."  Goods which cannot be
classified in accordance with GRI 1 are to be classified in
accordance with subsequent GRIs, taken in order.  Note 5 to
Chapter 48, HTSUSA, states:

                 In this chapter, "kraft paper and paperboard"
                 means paper and paperboard of which not less
                 than 80 percent by weight of the total fiber
                 content consists of fibers obtained by the
                 chemical sulfate or soda processes.

         As we stated above, the Customs Laboratory stated that the
paper was "composed of chemical bleached Kraft fibers."  In
addition, counsel states, at 3, that

                 for the purposes of this Protest, it is
                 accepted that the subject paper consists of
                 fibers obtained by the chemical sulfate or
                 soda process and that those fibers are in
                 excess of 80% by weight of the total fiber
                 content of the paper.  By total weight, the
                 paper is 60-65% fiber and the balance
                 titanium dioxide and other fillers.

The paper at issue is therefore considered "kraft paper" under
the HTSUSA.

Classification of the Kraft Paper

         Heading 4804, HTSUSA, provides for uncoated kraft paper and
paperboard, in rolls or sheets.  Heading 4805, HTSUSA, provides
for other uncoated paper or paperboard, in rolls or sheets. 
Counsel argues that, notwithstanding the fact that the instant
merchandise is considered kraft paper under the tariff schedule,
it should be classified as other uncoated paper, bibulous, under
subheading 4805.60.30, HTSUSA.  Counsel principally relies on the
language of Note 6 to Chapter 48, HTSUSA; specifically, "paper
... answering to a description in two or more of the headings
4801 to 4811 [is] to be classified" in the heading occurring last
in numerical order.

         Counsel's reliance, however, is misplaced.  For
classification under Note 6 to take effect, the merchandise must
meet the descriptions in two or more headings, not subheadings. 
Even assuming, arguendo, that the instant merchandise is
considered by the trade as "bibulous," and that it was so
classified under the Tariff Schedules of the United States
(TSUS), it is clear from the language of headings 4804 and 4805
that the drafters of the current tariff intended the latter
heading to encompass paper other than kraft.  See Explanatory
Note to heading 4805, HTSUSA (stating that the heading covers
uncoated paper "other than those included in headings 48.01 to
48.04").  Emphasis in original.  While classification decisions
under the TSUS may at times be deemed instructive, language in
the HTSUSA must take precedence.  The merchandise is therefore
correctly classifiable as other uncoated paper or paperboard.

HOLDING:

         As a result of the foregoing, the instant merchandise is
classified under subheading 4804.39.6040, HTSUSA, as uncoated
kraft paper and paperboard, in rolls or sheets, other than those
of heading 4802 or 4803, other kraft paper and paperboard
weighing 150 g/m squared or less, other, other, other.  The
applicable rate of duty is 4 percent ad valorem.  You are
instructed to Deny the Protest in Full.  A copy of this document
should be attached to the Form 19 Notice of Action.



                                                 Sincerely,



                                            John Durant, Director