HQ 951914: Request for reconsideration of NYRL 873296; garment part properly classified; subheading 6217.90.0085, HTSUSA

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 951914

                        September 1, 1992

CLA-2  CO:R:C:T  951914  jb

CATEGORY:  Classification

TARIFF NO.:  6217.90.0085

Anne G. Monlezun
Glitz, Inc.
801 Bayou Pines Drive
Lake Charles, LA 70601-7076

RE:  Request for reconsideration of NYRL 873296; garment part
     properly classified; subheading 6217.90.0085, HTSUSA

Dear Ms. Monlezun:

     This is in response to your letter, dated April 30, 1992,
requesting reconsideration of New York Ruling (NYRL) 873296,
dated April 16, 1992, regarding classification of a beaded and
embroidered article.  Upon further review that classification is
deemed to be correct and therefore affirmed.

FACTS:

     In NYRL 873296 three embroidered and beaded items were
classified as embroidered motifs in heading 5810, Harmonized
Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated, (HTSUSA), and one
item, Style number G573, and the subject of this request for
reconsideration, was classified as a part of a garment in heading
6217, HTSUSA.  You state that there is no difference between the
use of the article classified in heading 6217, HTSUSA, and those
classified in heading 5810, HTSUSA.  You also mention that the
process of manufacturing for both types of articles is the same.

     The article at issue is a V-shaped embroidered piece that is
intended to be used as a yoke.  It has flowered leaf patterns
with dangling beads at the bottom of the yoke.  The item measures
13 inches by 17 inches and has the curvature for a neck opening
at the top.

ISSUE:

     Whether the article is classifiable under the provision for
embroidery in the piece, in strips, or in motifs, in heading
5810, HTSUSA, or under the appropriate provision for parts of
garments in heading 6217, HTSUSA?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     Classification of merchandise under the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA), is in
accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI).  The
GRI require that classification be determined according to the
terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes,
taken in order.  Where goods cannot be classified solely on the
basis of GRI 1, the remaining GRI will be applied in the order of
their appearance.

     The Explanatory Notes (EN) to the Harmonized Commodity
Description and Coding System, are the official interpretation of
the tariff at the international level.  The EN for heading 5810,
HTSUSA, state that the embroidery classified within its
provisions is comprised mainly of three types of articles.  The
third type, "applique work" is relevant here.  It is defined as 
     
     a ground of textile fabric or felt on which are sewn, by
     embroidery or ordinary stitches:

     (A) Beads, sequins, or similar ornamental accessories: these
         accessories are generally made of glass, gelatin, metal 
         or wood, and are sewn so as to produce a pattern or a  
         scattered design on the ground fabric.

     * * * * * *

     All varieties of embroidery remain within this heading when
     in the following forms:

     (2) In the form of motifs, i.e., individual pieces of       
         embroidered design serving no other function than to be 
         incorporated or appliqued as elements of embroidery in,
         for example, underwear or articles of apparel or        
         furnishings.  They may be cut to any shape, backed or   
         otherwise assembled.  They include badges, emblems,    
         "flashes", initials, numbers, stars, national or        
         sporting insignia, etc.

     "Motif" is also defined by Mary Brooks Picken in The Fashion
Dictionary, (1973), p.249 as

     Unit of design, or figure; repeated to form pattern or used
     separately as decoration

     It is clear both by the terms of the EN and the Fashion
Dictionary that the linchpin in the definition of "motif" is that
the article be clearly designed to be applied onto apparel.   


     Similar merchandise was classified in HQ 950190, dated
December 4, 1991.  Headquarters ruled that the V-shaped pieces
were designed to be incorporated as parts of apparel.  They are
shaped and decorated so that they are not reasonably useful for
any other purpose.  Motifs are items that are small enough to be
applied on a number of different areas on larger articles for the
purpose of identification or decoration.  Motifs are not integral
parts of the articles to which they are attached.

     Heading 6217, HTSUSA covers made up textile clothing
accessories, other than knitted or crocheted, not specified or
included in other headings of chapter 62 or elsewhere in the
Nomenclature.  The heading also covers parts of garments or of
clothing accessories, not knitted or crocheted.  

     The examples for garment parts enumerated in the EN to
heading 6217, HTSUSA, include:

     Pockets, sleeves, collars, collarettes, wimples, fallals of
     various kinds (such as rosettes, bows, ruches, frills and
     flounces), bodice-fronts, jabots (including those combined
     with collars), cuffs, yokes, lapels and similar articles.

     Style G573 is a "yoke" and is explicitly mentioned as a
garment part.  

HOLDING:

     Style number G573 was properly classified under the
provision for parts of garments or of clothing accessories, of
man-made fibers, in subheading 6217.90.0085, HTSUSA.  The
applicable rate of duty is 15.5 percent, ad valorem.  The textile
category is 659.

     The designated textile and apparel category may be
subdivided into parts.  If so, visa and quota requirements
applicable to the subject merchandise may be affected.  Since
part categories are the result of international bilateral
agreements which are subject to frequent negotiations and
changes, to obtain the most current information available, we
suggest that you check, close to the time of shipment, the Status
Report on Current Import Quotas (Restraint Levels), an issuance
of the U.S. Customs Service, which is updated weekly and is
available at the local Customs office.








     Due to the changeable nature of the statistical annotation
(the ninth and tenth digits of the classification) and the
restraint (quota/visa) categories, you should contact the local
Customs office prior to importing the merchandise to determine
the current status of any import restraints or requirements.



                           Sincerely,




                           John Durant, Director
                           Commercial Rulings Division