MAR-2-05 CO:R:V:C 733267 RSD
Marcela B. Stras, Esq.
Barnes & Thornburg
1815 H Street, Suite 800
Washington, D.C. 20006
RE: Country of origin marking requirements for rental shop
towels
Dear Ms. Stras:
This is in response to your letter dated April 12, 1990, and
your subsequent correspondence, in which you seek a ruling on the
country of origin marking requirements for imported rental shop
towels.
FACTS:
Your client imports shop towels from Bangladesh and
Pakistan. The towels are imported in large bales, each
containing 2500 towels. The bales in turn are imported in burlap
bags that contain four sticks on each side which are bound with
metal bands. The country of origin of the towels is stenciled on
each of the burlap bags. Inside each bale are bundles of 50 shop
towels held together by a string through a hole in each of the
towels. The burlap bags are never broken--they are sold to
linen supply companies that rent the shop towels to machine shops
and other industrial users. At present, each towel is being
individually marked with its country of origin by a sewn on cloth
label. You request an exception from marking the individual
towels because the marking of the containers will indicate the
country of origin to the ultimate purchaser. You also indicate
that it is costly to sew on a label on each towel. Photographs
of the burlap bags with the proposed country of origin marking
were submitted.
ISSUE:
Do the shop towels have to be individually marked with their
country of origin if the burlap bags are marked with the country
of origin?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Section 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19
U.S.C. 1304), provides that, unless excepted, every article of
foreign origin imported into the U.S. shall be marked in a
conspicuous place as legibly, indelibly, and permanently as the
nature of the article (or container) will permit, in such a
manner as to indicate to the ultimate purchaser in the U.S. the
English name of the country of origin of the article.
Congressional intent in enacting 19 U.S.C. 1304 was that the
ultimate purchaser should be able to know by an inspection of the
marking on the imported goods the country of which the goods is
the product. "The evident purpose is to mark the goods so that at
the time of purchase the ultimate purchaser may, by knowing where
the goods were produced, be able to buy or refuse to buy them, if
such marking should influence his will." United States v.
Friedlaender & Co., 27 C.C.P.A. 297 at 302 (1940).
Part 134, Customs Regulations (19 CFR Part 134), implements
the country of origin marking requirements and exceptions of 19
U.S.C. 1304. Section 134.41(b), Customs Regulations (19 CFR
134.41(b)), mandates that the ultimate purchaser in the U.S. must
be able to find the marking easily and read it without strain.
An article is excepted from marking under 19 U.S.C. 1304
(a)(3)(D) and 19 CFR 134.32(d), if the marking of a container of
such article will reasonably indicate the origin of such article.
Accordingly, if the ultimate purchaser can tell the country of
origin of the shop towels by viewing the container, the
individual shop towels themselves would be excepted from marking
under this provision. Therefore, it is necessary to ascertain who
is the ultimate purchasers of the shop towels.
Section 134.1(d), Customs Regulations, (19 CFR 134.1(d)),
defines the ultimate purchaser as the generally the last person
in the U.S. who will receive the article in the form in which it
was imported. Customs has previously considered the question of
who is the ultimate purchaser when an importer sells towels to a
linen supply company, who in turns rents the towels to its
customers. In HQ 708979, May 31, 1978, Customs ruled that the
linen supply company which purchases the towels in rolls for
rental to its customers is the ultimate purchaser of those
imported items. Similarly in this case, we find that the linen
supply companies who buy the shop towels and rent them to
machine shops and other industrial users are the ultimate
purchasers of the shop towels.
You have indicated that the towels are imported in and are
sold to the linen supply companies in burlap bags which are
marked with the country of origin of the towels and the bales are
never broken. Accordingly, if the district director of Customs
at the port of entry is satisfied that the imported towels will
reach the linen supply companies in bags in which they are
imported which are legibly and conspicuously marked to indicate
the country of origin of the contents, an exception from
individual marking will be applicable.
HOLDING:
The linen supply companies that buy the towels from the
importer and rent them to machine shops and other industrial
users are the ultimate purchasers. The individual towels are
excepted from country of origin marking under 19 U.S.C. 1304
(a)(3)(D) and 19 CFR 134.32(d) if the district director at the
port of entry is satisfied that towels are imported in bags which
are conspicuously and legibly marked with the country of origin
of the towels and that the towels will reach the linen supply
companies in these unopened marked bags.
Sincerely,
Marvin M. Amernick
Chief, Value, Special Programs
and Admissibility Branch