CLA-2-04:S:N:N7:228-885020

Ms. Patricia Compres
Customized Brokers
P.O. Box 163021
Miami, FL 33116

RE: The tariff classification of MANTIQUILLA CREMA from Honduras.

Dear Ms. Compres:

In your letter dated March 22, 1993, you requested a tariff classification ruling on behalf of Herrera Tortillas Corporation of Miami, Florida.

The product in question, MANTIQUILLA CREMA, is a cream colored liquid which is used as a dressing on vegetables (e.g., on baked potatoes), on meats and for similar applications. The product is said to contain 75.95 percent moisture, 17.16 percent fat, 3.92 percent protein and 1 percent salt and to be made up, by weight, of 67.6 percent vegetable cream (at 18.65 percent fat), 30 percent dairy cream (at 18 percent fat), stabilizer, salt, lactic cultures and natural coloring. A sample, submitted with your request, consisted of a retail plastic bag, containing eight ounces, by weight, of product and packed under the "SULA" brand name. An analysis by the Customs Laboratory at New York found the sample to consist of 77.9 percent moisture, 17 percent fat (76.7 percent on a dry basis), 3.6 percent protein and 0.9 percent salt, with a pH of 3.7. Of the 17 percent fat, approximately 9 percent was found to be butterfat. MANTIQUILLA CREMA will be imported vacuum packed in one pound packages for retail sale.

Classification of merchandise under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS) is governed by the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs). GRI 1 requires that classification be determined first according to the terms of the headings of the tariff and any relative section or chapter notes and, unless otherwise required, then according to the remaining GRIs, taken in order. The Explanatory Notes to the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, which represent the official interpretation of the tariff at the international level, facilitate classification under the Harmonized Tariff by offering guidance in understanding the scope of the headings and the General Rules.

The Explanatory Notes to heading 19.01 of the Harmonized Tariff state that

"The preparations of this heading may be distinguished from the products of headings 04.01 to 04.04, in that they contain, in addition to natural milk constituents, other ingredients not permitted in the products of those earlier headings. Thus heading 19.01 includes, for example: ... (2) Milk preparations obtained by replacing one or more con- stituents or milk (e.g., butyric fats) by another substance (e.g., oleic fats)."

Accordingly, based on the foregoing, the instant product, which is an imitation dairy cream, containing natural milk constituents (cream) and other ingredients not permitted in the products of headings 04.01 to 04.04 (that is, the oleic fats in the product), is properly classifiable in heading 19.01, HTS.

The applicable subheading for MANTIQUILLA CREMA will be 1901.90.3030, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for food preparations of goods of headings 0401 to 0404, not containing cocoa powder or containing cocoa powder in a proportion by weight of less than 10 percent, not elsewhere specified or included:...Other:...Malted milk; articles of milk or cream not specially provided for...Other:...Provided for in subheading 9904.10.60. The rate of duty will be 17.5 percent ad valorem.

Articles classifiable in HTS subheading 1901.90.3030 are subject to quota quantity restrictions listed in subchapter IV of Chapter 99 in HTS subheading 9904.10.60, which limits the amount of such goods which may be imported into the United States to an annual quota quantity of 2,721 kilograms. Additionally, an import license, issued to the importer by the United States Department of Agriculture, will be required at the time such merchandise is entered for consumption into the United States.

This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Section 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177).

A copy of this ruling letter should be attached to the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If the documents have been filed without a copy, this ruling should be brought to the attention of the Customs officer handling the transaction.

Sincerely,

Jean F. Maguire
Area Director
New York Seaport