MAR-2-05 CO:R:C:V 733840 KG

Scott A. Cohn, Esq.
Grunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz & Silverman
12 East 49th Street
New York, N.Y. 10017

RE: Country of origin marking of imported garments; 19 CFR 134.46; hang tags

Dear Mr. Cohn:

This is in response to your letter of October 1, 1990, and your follow-up letter of November 30, 1990, requesting a country of origin ruling on behalf of Woolrich, Inc., regarding imported garments with a hangtag attached to them.

FACTS:

Your client desires to attach a hangtag to various imported garments. You state that each garment imported will be properly marked with its country of origin. One sample hangtag was submitted for examination. The front of the hangtag has the following information on it: "The Woolrich Woman Style 3740 Blueberry Made in Macau size Medium." On the back of the hangtag, there is a statement concerning Woolrich's products in general, along with a bar-code graph for point-of-purchase sale purposes. The statement on the back of the hangtag is as follows:

Woolrich: experience: knowledge: tradition: over 150 years of manufacturing and marketing know-how is your guarantee that all our Woolrich garments are of the highest quality. Add to Woolrich experience and value, our use of top-quality fabrics, insulations such as down and 3M Thinsulate insulation and DuPont Zepel water-repellant finish to give you product satisfaction in keeping with our tradition. Your satisfaction is our top priority.

The bottom of this hangtag contains the Woolrich logo and the U.S. address of Woolrich.

Three alternative hang tags are proposed; we assume that the front of each alternative will contain the same information on the front as the sample described above. The back of the second hangtag has the same information as the first hangtag except that the phrase "For further information please contact" is added before the U.S. address and a telephone number. The back of the third hangtag differs by adding the phrase "For further information concerning this product, please contact" before the U.S. address and a telephone number. The back of the fourth hangtag differs by adding the phrase "For further information concerning this product or any Woolrich product, please contact" before the U.S. address and a telephone number.

ISSUE:

Whether the four hangtags described above satisfy the country of origin marking requirements of section 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended.

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. The Court of International Trade stated in Koru North America v. United States, 701 F.Supp. 229, 12 CIT (CIT 1988), that: "In ascertaining what constitutes the country of origin under the marking statute, a court must look at the sense in which the term is used in the statute, giving reference to the purpose of the particular legislation involved. The purpose of the marking statute is outlined in United States v. Friedlaender & Co., 27 CCPA 297 at 302, C.A.D. 104 (1940), where the court stated that: "Congress intended 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."

Part 134, Customs Regulations (19 CFR Part 134), implements the country of origin marking requirements and exceptions of 19 U.S.C. 1304. Section 134.46, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.46), requires that when the name of any city or locality in the U.S., other than the name of the country or locality in which the article was manufactured or produced, appears on an imported article or its container, there shall appear, legibly and permanently, in close proximity to such words, letters, or name, and in at least a comparable size, the name of the country of origin preceded by "Made in,""Product of," or other words of similar meaning. The purpose of this section is to prevent the possibility of misleading or deceiving the ultimate purchaser of the actual origin of the imported goods.

Although each hang tag contains a U.S. address on the back, you argue that the requirements of 19 CFR 134.46 are not applicable. You cited HQ 732329 (July 12,1989), which held that a warranty tag on a garment which contained a U.S. address did not trigger the requirements of 19 CFR 134.46. The garment in question was a waterproof garment insert which was subject to bona fide warranty protection. Further, it was clear from the design of the hangtag that the U.S. address had been placed there to enable a wearer to contact the company if they had complaints or questions about the product. In contrast, in the case of the first hangtag, there is no indication that these garments are subject to warranty protection. Further, there is no indication that the U.S. address listed is placed there for the purpose of enabling the consumer to contact the company if they had questions about the product. For these reasons, the first hangtag presented here is distinguishable from the hangtag presented in HQ 732329 and could confuse an ultimate purchaser. Accordingly, the requirements of 19 CFR 134.46 must be satisfied. In order to meet the close proximity requirement, the country of origin must appear on the same side of the hangtag as the U.S. address. See HQ 733068 (March 29, 1990).

The other hangtags, however, which include a telephone number of the company and language which invites a consumer to contact the company if they have questions along with a "Made in Macau" marking on the reverse side of each tag, are not likely to confuse or mislead an ultimate purchaser regarding the country of origin of the garment. Therefore, the second, third and fourth hangtags described above, do not trigger the requirements of 19 CFR 134.46.

HOLDING:

The first sample hangtag, described above, triggers the requirements of 19 CFR 134.46. Therefore, the country of origin preceded by words such as "Made in" or "Product of" would have to appear on the hangtag on the same side of the hangtag as the U.S. address and in comparable size letters. The other sample hangtags, which include a telephone number and language which invites the consumer to contact the company with questions preceding the U.S. address of the company along with a "Made in Macau" marking on the reverse side of each tag, do not trigger the requirements of 19 CFR 134.46.

Sincerely,

John Durant
Director
Commercial Rulings Division