MAR-2-05 CO:R:C:V 733963 KG
Duncan A. Nixon, Esq.
Sharretts, Paley, Carter & Blauvelt, P.C.
1707 L Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036
RE: Country of origin marking of imported garments; 19 CFR
134.46; hang tag; U.S. address and telephone number
Dear Mr. Nixon:
This is in response to your letter of November 29, 1990,
requesting a prospective country of origin ruling on behalf of
Anne Klein II regarding imported garments which have a hang tag
bearing a U.S. address and telephone number attached to them.
Your client received a marking notice from Customs at JFK Airport
stating that the hang tag must either be marked with the country
of origin of the garments or removed. Your client has complied
with the marking notice.
FACTS:
Your client imports garments which have a hang tag affixed
to them. The hang tag describes a marketing program undertaken
by your client which provides an 800 number for customer
assistance and registration for other services provided by the
program such as fashion consultation. The hang tag offers the
customer the option of registering by mail and asks that the
customer answer two basic questions regarding their past
purchases. As part of the customer assistance services and the
mail registration, the hang tag contains a telephone number and a
U.S. address to mail in the registration. You state that all the
imported garments themselves will be properly marked with their
country of origin by means of a sewn in label.
ISSUE:
Whether the hang tags described above must be marked to
indicate the country of origin of the garments to which they are
affixed to satisfy the country of origin marking requirements.
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 requirement is to prevent
the possibility of misleading or deceiving the ultimate purchaser
of the actual origin of the imported goods.
In HQ 732329 (July 12,1989), Customs 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 article 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. This case is very similar; the U.S. address and phone
number do not connote origin and are placed on the hang tag as
part of a widely publicized customer assistance marketing
campaign. There is no possibility that this U.S. address and
telephone number would confuse or mislead an ultimate purchaser
as to the country of origin of the garments. Therefore, the
requirements of 19 CFR 134.46 are not triggered by the use of the
hang tag described above attached to imported garments.
HOLDING:
The hang tag described above does not trigger the
requirements of 19 CFR 134.46. The hang tag which is affixed to
imported garments is not required to be marked to indicate the
country of origin of the garment.
Sincerely,
Marvin M. Amernick
Chief, Value, Special Programs
and Admissibility Branch