HQ 957232: Classification of vinyl decorative lawn signs; not festivearticles; printed matter; Legal Note 2, Section VII, 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 957232

                         January 20, 1995

CLA-2 CO:R:C:T 957232 BC

CATEGORY:  Classification

TARIFF NO.:  4911.91.4040

Tracy Ann Ehme
The A.W. Fenton Company Inc.
1157 Rarig Avenue
Columbus, Ohio 43219

RE:  Classification of vinyl decorative lawn signs; not festive
articles; printed matter; Legal Note 2, Section VII, HTSUSA 

Dear Ms. Ehme:

     This responds to your letter of September 7, 1994, wherein
you requested a binding classification ruling on vinyl outdoor
Christmas signs.  We have reviewed the matter and our decision
follows.

FACTS:

     The merchandise at issue, item #6452, are flat signs made of
tough, weatherproof vinyl film covering cardboard frames.  You
submitted three samples, each printed with a different multi-
colored caricature: the "Little Drummer Boy," "Santa Clause," and
a reindeer ("Rudolph").  A slot is located on the back of the
signs into which a plastic stake fits.  By driving the stake into
the ground or snow, the signs can be displayed as a decoration. 
The signs measure about one foot wide by one and one half feet
high.  Their shape conforms roughly to the contour of the
character printed on the sign.

ISSUE:

     What is the proper classification for the plastic signs at
issue?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     Classification under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the
United States (HTSUS) is governed by the General Rules of
Interpretation (GRI).  GRI 1 provides that classification is
determined in accordance with the terms of the headings and any
relative section or chapter notes.  Where goods cannot be
classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, the remaining rules will
be applied in sequential order.  The Explanatory Notes (EN's) to
the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (cited as
HCDCS) assist us in the classification of merchandise.  The EN's
constitute the official interpretation of the nomenclature at the
international level.  While not legally binding, they represent
the considered views of classification experts of the Harmonized
System Committee.  It has been the practice of the Customs
Service to follow, whenever possible, the terms of the EN's when
interpreting the HTSUS.  (See Treasury Decision (T.D.) 89-80, 23
Cust. Bull. 379 (1989), 54 Fed. Reg. 35,127 (August 23, 1989).) 

     Three tariff provisions are suggested for classification of
the instant merchandise: heading 9505, HTSUSA, pertaining to
festive articles; heading 3926, HTSUSA, pertaining to other
articles of plastic; and heading 4911, HTSUSA, pertaining to
other printed pictures, designs, and photographs.

     Heading 9505, HTSUSA, provides for festive, carnival, or
other entertainment articles, including magic tricks and
practical joke articles.  Subheading 9505.10, HTSUSA, provides
specifically for articles for Christmas festivities, including
ornaments and nativity scenes and figures.  Customs has held that
merchandise is classifiable in heading 9505 as a festive article
when the article:

     1.  is of non-durable material or, generally, is not
     purchased because of its extreme worth, or intrinsic value
     (e.g., paper, cardboard, metal foil, glass fiber, plastic,
     wood);

     2.  functions primarily as a decoration (e.g., its primary
     function is not utilitarian); and

     3.  is traditionally associated or used with a particular
     festival (e.g., stockings and tree ornaments for Christmas,
     decorative eggs for Easter).

     The signs at issue meet requirements (1) and (2) above, but
do not meet requirement (3).  Signs generally are not articles
traditionally associated with the Christmas holiday; nor does the
Christmas motif of the signs transform them into traditional
Christmas articles.  In HRL 956709 (October 25, 1994), a case
involving a textile wall hanging that had a Halloween motif, we
stated the following regarding HRL 956296 (June 29, 1994), where
we held that a textile wall hanging in the form of the word
"NOEL," with the letter "O" forming a reindeer face and the
letter "L" forming a Christmas stocking filled with candy and
presents, was not an article traditionally associated with the
Christmas holiday:  

     [A] wall hanging is not an article traditionally
     associated with the Christmas holiday, as opposed to a
     Santa Claus or Christmas tree ornaments.  A wall
     hanging is a wall hanging.  It can be designed to take
     on any number of appearances, from relatively cheap
     holiday or festival motifs to genuinely artistic
     decorative accents found in the home or office, just to
     name two types.  Since neither a particular motif nor a
     particular word or phrase will transform a wall hanging
     into a festive article associated with a particular
     holiday or festival, neither the Christmas motif of the
     "NOEL" wall hanging nor the word itself is sufficient
     to confer on this wall hanging the tariff status of
     "festive article."

     Based on the foregoing, we conclude that the signs at issue
are not classifiable as festive articles in heading 9505, HTSUSA. 
(Note that it is Customs position that Santa Claus articles must
be three dimensional to qualify as festive articles in heading
9505, HTSUSA.  See 951459 (March 17, 1993) and 951394 (December
2, 1992).)

     As the signs at issue are primarily plastic, classification
is suggested in heading 3926, HTSUSA, which provides for other
articles of plastics (more specifically, 3926.40.0000, HTSUSA,
covering statuettes and other ornamental articles).  In addition,
as the pictorial representations on the signs are printed
thereon, classification in heading 4911, HTSUSA, is also
suggested.  That heading pertains to other printed matter,
including pictures and photographs.  The EN's to Chapter 49,
HTSUSA, provide that the chapter covers "all printed matter of
which the essential nature and use is determined by the fact of
its being printed with motifs, characters or pictorial
representations."  Also, "[i]n general the goods of this Chapter
are executed on paper but the goods may be on other materials
provided they have the characteristics described in the first
paragraph of this General Explanatory Note [referring to the
language quoted immediately above].  (See HCDCS, Vol. 2, p. 691-
92.)  We believe that the foregoing describes the signs at issue. 
The question is which of the above two suggested headings apply
to the signs. 

     In this regard, we note Legal Note 2, Section VII, HTSUSA,
which provides as follows:

     Except for the goods of heading 3918 or 3919, plastics,
     rubber and articles thereof, printed with motifs, characters
     or pictorial representations, which are not merely
     incidental to the primary use of the goods, fall in Chapter
     49.

Since the signs at issue are printed with pictorial
representations that are not merely incidental to the primary use
of the goods, this note applies to exclude classification in
Chapter 39.

      As above, heading 4911 provides for other printed matter,
including printed pictures and photographs.  The EN's for heading
4911, HTSUSA, provide that the heading "covers all printed matter
(including photographs and printed pictures) of this Chapter (see
the General Explanatory Note above) but not more particularly
covered by any of the preceding headings of the Chapter."  (See
HCDCS, Vol. 2, p. 699.)  As this heading describes the signs at
issue more specifically than any other of this chapter, or
elsewhere, they are held to be classifiable thereunder.

HOLDING:

     The plastic vinyl Christmas holiday signs at issue are
classifiable in subheading 4911.91.4040, HTSUSA, which provides
for other printed matter: other: printed pictures, designs, and
photographs: printed not over 20 years at time of importation:
other: other: other.  The applicable duty rate is 3.1% ad
valorem.

                              Sincerely,




                              John Durant, Director
                              Commercial Rulings Division