HQ 958248: Revocation of NYRL's [840769, 840779, 840780,840781, 840782](5/22/89) and 865248 (7/30/91); wet-laid nonwoven fabric; filterfabric; Note 7 to Chapter 59; 5911.40.0000; HRL 958415 (3/26/96);955244 (4/4/94): 954138 (6/15/93); 950167 (3/13/92).

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 958248
                           June 4, 1996
CLA-2 RR:TC:TE 958248 SK

CATEGORY: Classification

TARIFF NO.: 5911.40.0000

Patrick K. McCooey
Manager, Customs Clearance
Mitsubishi International Corporation
520 Madison Avenue
New York, N.Y. 10022

RE: Revocation of NYRL's [840769, 840779, 840780,840781, 840782]
(5/22/89) and 865248 (7/30/91); wet-laid nonwoven fabric; filter
fabric; Note 7 to Chapter 59; 5911.40.0000; HRL 958415 (3/26/96);
955244 (4/4/94): 954138 (6/15/93); 950167 (3/13/92).

Dear Mr. McCooey:

     On May 22, 1989, Customs issued to your company New York
Ruling Letter (NYRL) [840769, 840779, 840780, 840781, 840782]. 
On July 30, 1991, Customs issued you NYRL 865248.  In all of
these rulings, Customs classified wet-laid nonwoven fabric under
heading 5603, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
Annotated (HTSUSA).  On July 19, 1995, you petitioned this office
for a review of these rulings.  Samples of the subject
merchandise were submitted for our examination.  Upon review, the
classification of this merchandise as a nonwoven under heading
5603, HTSUSA, is deemed to be incorrect.  Our analysis follows.

FACTS:

     In your submission to this office, you have requested
confidential treatment in accordance with 19 CFR 177.2(b)(7)
concerning the end use of the subject nonwoven textile material
as well as the manufacturing processes involved in the
manufacture of this material.  We note, however, that the
manufacturing processes 
for which confidential treatment is sought were explicitly
described in NYRL 865248.  As this information has already been
published, we will not treat it as confidential for 

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the purposes of this ruling.  Moreover, this office was not
provided definitive information regarding the end use of this
merchandise, nor was this information provided in your earlier
requests for rulings.

     The material the subject of the six rulings cited supra, is
identified as "Hirose High Technology Paper Products" and
consists of a wet-laid nonwoven fabric produced by suspending and
dispersing short cut polyester fibers in water and depositing
these fibers onto a wire cylinder screen that forms the nonwoven
fiber sheet.  The fiber sheet is then drawn through rollers and
dryers and finally taken up on a winder.  The material is made
from 100 percent polyester fibers and is available in widths
ranging from 950 to 1300 mm, lengths ranging from 1000 to 2000
meters, and weights ranging from 8 to 150 grams per square meter. 
None of the rulings  indicated how this product will be used. 
The sample book provided to this office features sample fabrics
in weights ranging from 8.1 to103.2 grams per square meter.

     In your submission to this office, you state:

          "[A]fter importation and customs clearance, MIC sells
the
          fabric, as is, to its US customer.  We do not use this
fabric for 
          ourselves.  Our customer uses the fabric for its own
confidential             purposes and they have declined to share
this use information 
          with us beyond a most general verbal explanation."

Later in your submission, you state that it is your understanding
that after importation the subject merchandise undergoes a
coating or lamination process and is then used for micro
filtration.

     In NYRL [840769, 840779, 840780, 840781, 840782], the
subject merchandise was classified under subheading 5603.00.9040,
HTSUSA, which under the 1989 tariff provided for nonwovens,
whether or not impregnated, coated or covered.  In NYRL 865248,
the subject merchandise was classified under subheading
5603.00.9090, HTSUSA, which under the 1991 tariff provided for
nonwovens, whether or not impregnated, coated, covered or
laminated, of staple fibers.

ISSUE:

     What is the proper classification for the subject
merchandise?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     Classification of merchandise under the HTSUSA is governed
by the General 

                              - 3 -
Rules of Interpretation (GRI's).  GRI 1 provides that
classification shall be determined according to the terms of the
headings and any relative section or chapter notes.  Merchandise
that cannot be classified in accordance with GRI 1 is to be
classified in accordance with subsequent GRI's, applied in order. 


     The Explanatory Notes (EN) to the HTSUSA constitute the
official interpretation of the tariff at the international level. 
While not legally binding, they do represent the considered views
of classification experts of the Harmonized System Committee.  It
has therefore been the practice of the Customs Service to follow,
whenever possible, the terms of the EN when interpreting the
HTSUSA.  

     Heading 5603, HTSUSA, provides for nonwoven fabrics.  As the
merchandise at issue is a nonwoven, classification is seemingly
proper within this provision.  The Explanatory Note (EN) to
heading 5603, HTSUSA, at page 776, however, states that
"[N]onwovens for technical uses, of heading 59.11" are excluded
from this heading.  

     Heading 5911, HTSUSA, provides for textile products and
articles for technical uses so long as they are specified in note
7 to Chapter 59.  Note 7 to Chapter 59 reads:

     "[H]eading 5911 applies to the following goods, which do not
     fall in any other heading of Section XI:

     (a)  Textile products in the piece, cut to length or simply
cut to rectangular       (including square) shape (other than
those having the character of the       products of headings 5908
to 5910), the following only:

               (i)  Textile fabrics, felt and felt-lined woven 
                    fabrics, coated, covered or laminated with
                    rubber, leather or other material, of a kind
                    used for other technical purposes;

               (ii) Bolting cloth;

               (iii)     Straining cloth of a kind used in oil
presses or the                     like, of textile material or
human hair; 

               (iv) Flat woven textile fabric with multiple warp
or weft,                 whether or not felted, impregnated or
coated, of a kind                  used in machinery or other
technical purposes;


                              - 4 -
               (v)  Textile fabric reinforced with metal, of a
kind used for                 technical purposes;
     
               (vi) Cords, braids and the like, whether or not
coated,                       impregnated or reinforced with
metal, of a kind used in                     industry as packing
or lubricating materials.

     (b)  Textile articles (other than those of headings 5908 to
5910) of a kind          used for technical purposes (for
example, textile fabrics and felts, endless       or fitted with
linking devices), of a kind used in paper-making or similar           machines (for example, for pulp or asbestos-cement),
gaskets, polishing       discs and other machinery parts).

     The EN to heading 5911, HTSUSA, at page 822, describe
"straining cloths" as:

          ... (e.g., woven filter fabrics and [sic] needled
fabrics), whether 
          or not impregnated, of a kind used in oil presses or
for similar 
          filtering purposes (e.g., in sugar refineries or
breweries) and for 
          gas cleaning or similar technical applications in
industrial dust 
          collecting systems.  The heading includes oil filtering
cloth, 
          certain thick heavy fabrics of wool or of other animal
hair, and 
          certain unbleached fabrics of synthetic fibers (e.g.,
nylon) 
          thinner than the foregoing but of a close weave and
having char-
          acteristic rigidity.  It also includes similar
straining cloth of human 
          hair. 

     Heading 5911, HTSUSA, is not limited to woven fabrics for
technical use.  The EN to heading 5603, HTSUSA, cited supra,
specifically state that nonwovens for technical use are
classifiable in heading 5911, HTSUSA, and are excluded from
heading 5603, HTSUSA.

     Customs has classified various types of filter fabric,
similar to the instant merchandise, as technical use fabric. In
Headquarters Ruling Letter (HRL) 958415, dated March 26, 1996, a
nonwoven filter material made of 100 percent polyester, used in
desalination, chemical and waste treatment filtration operations,
was classified as technical use fabric of subheading 5911.40.000,
HTSUSA.  
In HRL 955244, dated April 4, 1994, Customs classified nonwoven
polyester filter mat used as an air filter medium as a technical
use fabric under subheading 5911.40.0000, HTSUSA.  As that
merchandise was to be used in spray paint booth apparatus for use
in filtration, classification was deemed proper as a technical
use fabric.  Similarly, in HRL 954138, dated June 15, 1993,
Customs classified filtrete air 

                              - 5 -

filter media made of a spunbonded nonwoven component and batting
material as a technical use fabric of subheading 5911.40.0000,
HTSUSA.  See also HRL 950167, dated March 13, 1992, where Customs
determined that a diffusion filter fabric made of 100 percent
polyester fibermat was classifiable as a technical use fabric. 

       As the subject merchandise is for technical use (i.e., for
use in micro filtration), and this type of process is identified
in note 7 to chapter 59 (i.e., straining or filtering liquids),
classification is excluded from heading 5603, HTSUSA, and is
proper within subheading 5911.40.0000, HTSUSA.

HOLDING:

     NYRL's [840769, 840779, 840780, 840781, 840782] and 865248
are revoked.

     The merchandise the subject of these rulings is classifiable
under subheading 5911.40.0000, HTSUSA, which provides for
"[T]extile products and articles, for technical uses, specified
in note 7 to Chapter 59: straining cloth of a kind used in oil
presses or the like, including that of human hair," dutiable at a
rate of 12 percent ad valorem.  

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



                                   Sincerely,


                                   John Durant, Director
                                   Tariff Classification Appeals
Division