CLA-2 RR:TC:FC 958841 RC
Mr. Tom Krysiak
Purchasing Director
Institutional Financing Services
5100 Park Road
Benicia, California 94510
RE: Reconsideration of NY A81027; Decorative Glass Made in
China; Not Festive
Dear Mr. Krysiak:
This is in response to your letter of March 22, 1996,
requesting reconsideration of NY A81027, dated March 13, 1996,
issued to a broker on behalf of Institutional Financing Services
by our New York office, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of
the United States Annotated (HTSUSA).
FACTS:
The subject merchandise, identified as a "Glass Christmas
Tree," Item #236, is made of clear ordinary glass, six inches in
height, and valued at $1.20. A catalog photograph depicts the
item as an undecorated evergreen-style tree. The item is
marketed for the Christmas holidays with articles associated with
Christmas festivities. In your submissions, you claim that the
glass tree should be classified under subheading 9505.10.1000,
HTSUSA, the provision for articles for Christmas festivities and
parts and accessories thereof: Christmas ornaments: of glass.
The New York office found that although sold as a "Christmas"
tree, this item depicts only an evergreen tree and as such could
be displayed all year round, not just at Christmas. The ruling
classified the article in subheading 7013.99.5000, HTSUSA, the
provision for glassware of a kind used for table, kitchen,
toilet, office, indoor decoration or similar purposes . . . other
glassware: other: other: other: valued over $0.30 but not over $3
each.
ISSUE:
Whether the item should be classified as a festive article,
or as other glassware of a kind used for indoor decoration.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification under the HTSUSA is made in accordance with
the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs). The systematic
detail of the harmonized system is such that virtually all goods
are classified by application of GRI 1, that is, according to the
terms of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relative
Section or Chapter Notes. In the event that the goods cannot be
classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, and if the headings and
legal notes do not otherwise require, the remaining GRIs may then
be applied. The Explanatory Notes (ENs) to the Harmonized
Commodity Description and Coding System, which represent the
official interpretation of the tariff at the international level,
facilitate classification under the HTSUSA by offering guidance
in understanding the scope of the headings and GRIs.
Heading 9505, HTSUSA, provides for, among other items,
festive, carnival, and other entertainment articles. The EN to
9505 indicates that the heading covers:
(A) Festive, carnival or other entertainment articles,
which in view of their intended use are generally made
of non-durable material. They include:
(1) Decorations such as festoons, garlands, Chinese
lanterns, etc., as well as various decorative
articles made of paper, metal foil, glass fibre,
etc., for Christmas trees (e.g., tinsel, stars,
icicles), artificial snow, coloured balls, bells,
lanterns, etc. Cake and other decorations (e.g.,
animals, flags) which are traditionally associated
with a particular festival are also classified
here.
(2) Articles traditionally used at Christmas
festivities, e.g., artificial Christmas trees
(these are sometimes of the folding type),
nativity scenes, Christmas crackers, Christmas
stockings, imitation yule logs . . .
In general, merchandise is classifiable in heading 9505,
HTSUSA, as a festive article when the article, as a whole:
1. is of non-durable material or, generally, is
not purchased because of its extreme worth,
or intrinsic value (e.g., paper, cardboard,
metal foil, glass fiber, plastic, wood);
2. functions primarily as a decoration (e.g.,
its primary function is not utilitarian); and
3. is traditionally associated or used with a
particular festival (e.g., stockings and tree
ornaments for Christmas, decorative eggs for
Easter).
An article's satisfaction of these three criteria is
indicative of classification as a festive article. The motif of
an item is not dispositive of its classification and,
consequently, does not transform an item into a festive article.
The subject articles are made of non-durable material. They
are not designed for sustained wear and tear, nor purchased for
their extreme worth or value (as would be a decorative, yet
costly piece of art or crystal). The primary function of the
article is decorative, as opposed to utilitarian.
The glass tree is advertised in a "Christmas" catalog.
Nevertheless, this piece of glass depicts an undecorated
evergreen tree, not a decorated evergreen tree as would be
traditionally associated with or used at Christmas festivities.
The article itself is merely a decorative piece of glass. The
fact that it is marketed under the name "Glass Christmas Tree"
does not, in and of itself, convey the requisite association with
Christmas. (See, Headquarters Ruling Letter (HRL) 951417, dated
April 9, 1993. There, a "Christmas Candle" with a Santa Claus
image was classified in heading 7013, HTSUSA, as glassware. Also
see, HRL 955239, dated February 28, 1994; HRL 087878, dated May
20, 1991. Both involve glassware with a holiday motif, yet
Customs classified the articles in heading 7013, HTSUSA) Since
the glass trees cannot be classified as festive, they must be
classified elsewhere.
Heading 7013, HTSUSA, provides for, among other items,
glassware of a kind used
for indoor decoration or similar purposes. The EN to heading
7013 indicates that the heading covers glassware for indoor
decoration and other glassware (including that for churches and
the like), souvenirs bearing views, and that the glass may be
colored, frosted, etched, engraved, or otherwise decorated.
It is our determination that the article of decorative
glassware is classified in subheading 7013.99.5000, HTSUSA, the
provision for "glassware of a kind used for table, kitchen,
toilet, office, indoor decoration or similar purposes . . .:
Other glassware: Other: Other: Other: Valued over $0.30 but
not over $3 each." This ruling affirms NY A81027, March 13,
1996.
HOLDING:
The article identified as a "Glass Christmas Tree" is
classified under subheading 7013.99.5000, HTSUSA, the provision
for glassware of a kind used for table, kitchen, toilet, office,
indoor decoration or similar purposes . . . other glassware:
other: other: other: valued over $0.30 but not over $3 each,
dutiable at 30 percent ad valorem.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Tariff Classification
Appeals Division