CLA-2 CO:R:C:G 086216 STB

Ms. Aime Sabourin
Sabourin Seed Service Ltd.
St. Jean, Manitoba, Canada ROG 2BO

RE: Request for Reconsideration of New York Ruling Letter 835842 concerning the tariff classification of dried yellow peas and a mixture of dried peas with small grains.

Dear Ms. Sabourin:

This letter is in response to your request for a reconsideration of New York Ruling Letter (NYRL) 835842, dated February 6, 1989, regarding the classification of dried yellow peas and a mixture of dried peas with small grains under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA). The peas are from Canada. A sample of the peas was submitted to New York where they were examined and disposed of.

FACTS:

In NYRL 835842, your sample was classified under subheading 0713.10.10, HTSUSA, which provides for dried leguminous vegetables, shelled, whether or not skinned or split: peas (Pisum sativum): seeds of a kind for sowing.

The sample that was submitted consisted of whole, dry yellow field peas (Pisum sativum), cleaned, and checked for germination. These peas will be packed in bulk or poly bags. The principal use of these peas in the United States will be to blend them with small grains such as barley, oats, or triticale, and then sow the blend to be harvested for forage for use in livestock rations. You state that the peas should improve both the yield and the quality of the forage.

On some occasions, as a result of periodic quality problems with small grains in the United States, whole yellow peas will be mixed with small grains of Canadian origin prior to exportation to the United States. Normally, blends or mixtures of this kind consist of 60% whole yellow peas and 40% small grains.

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In your initial letter, dated January 17, 1989, you requested that the peas and the blend be classified under subheading 1209.29.00, HTSUSA. In your subsequent letter, dated December 18, 1989, you did not state any reasons for disagreement with the classification that was rendered in NYRL 835842, nor did you argue for any alternative classification, but you did allude to your original request.

ISSUES:

(1) What is the proper tariff classification of whole, dry yellow field peas (pisum sativum)?

(2) What is the proper tariff classification of a blend of whole, dry yellow field peas (Pisum sativum) with small grains, where the blend will consist of 60% peas and 40% small grains?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

Classification under the HTSUSA is governed by the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's). GRI 1 provides that classification is determined first in accordance with the terms of the headings together with any relevant Section or Chapter notes.

As noted above, you have requested that the peas and the blend be classified in subheading 1209.29.00. This is not possible because these peas, as dried leguminous vegetables, are specifically excluded from heading 1209 by Note 3(a) of Chapter 12. Note 3(a) states in pertinent part:

Heading 1209 does not, however, apply to the following even if for sowing:

(a) Leguminous vegetables or sweet corn (chapter 7)...

Note that chapter 7 is mentioned in this note as the proper chapter for classification.

The fact that the crop is harvested before maturity, i.e. before reproducing seeds, does not preclude classification in heading 0713. The phrase "Seeds of a kind used for sowing" (emphasis added) does not demand that the seeds themselves be actually used to reproduce, or be placed in the ground. The subheading only suggests their similarity to such seeds. In fact, the Explanatory Notes to heading 1209, the classification that you requested, state that "seeds of a kind used for sowing" includes products "no longer capable of germination." (p. 82) Heading 1209 also utilizes the phrase "seeds...of a kind used for sowing." Additional U.S. Note 3 to Chapter 7 indicates that articles of a kind can be covered by this chapter whether they

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can be used for food, sowing or planting. Clearly, then, the proper classification for the peas is in heading 0713.

To determine the classification of the blend of peas and small grains, reference must be made to GRI 3(b). GRI 3(b) states:

(b) Mixtures, composite goods consisting of different materials or made up of different components, and goods put up in sets for retail sale, which cannot be classified by reference to 3(a), shall be classified as if they consisted of the material or the component which gives them their essential character, insofar as this criterion is applicable.

In this case, it is clear that we are dealing with a mixture. The Explanatory notes to GRI 3(b), which constitute the official interpretation of the tariff at the international level, set out the following test for determining essential character:

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.

As you stated, these blends will normally consist of 60% whole yellow peas and 40% small grains. It is the peas that improve the forage crop and this principal use is the reason that you import the peas alone and the blend. It is thus our determination that the peas provide the essential character of the blend (or mixture) as they are present in the greatest quantity and perform the central role in the use of the exported goods.

HOLDING:

The whole, yellow dried peas when imported alone, and the blend of 60% peas and 40% small grains, are properly classifiable under subheading 0713.10.10, HTSUSA as Dried leguminous vegetables, shelled, whether or not skinned or split: Peas (Pisum savitum): Seeds of a kind used for sowing. The rate

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of duty is 3.3 cents per kilogram. Goods classified under subheading 0713.10.10, HTSUSA, which have originated in the territory of Canada, will be entitled to a 2.9 cents per kilogram rate of duty under the United States-Canada Free Trade Agreement (FTA) upon compliance with applicable regulations.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division