OT:RR:CTF:FTM H301905 YAG
Mr. Michael T. Shor
Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP
601 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20001-3743
Re: Country of Origin Marking; United Arab Emirates
Dear Mr. Shor:
This is in reference to your ruling request, dated September 27, 2018, filed on behalf of your client, Central National Gottesman Inc. (“Gottesman”), concerning the proper country of origin marking of uncoated free sheet paper (copy paper) to be produced in the United Arab Emirates.
FACTS:
Gottesman intends to import copy paper from the United Arab Emirates. You request that “Made in U.A.E.” or “Emirates” be deemed acceptable country of origin marking for copy paper manufactured in the United Arab Emirates.
ISSUE:
Is “U.A.E.” or “Emirates” an acceptable abbreviation for country of origin marking purposes for copy paper imported from the United Arab Emirates?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Section 304(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. § 1304(a)), provides that, unless excepted, every article of foreign origin imported into the United States shall be marked in a conspicuous place as legibly, indelibly, and permanently as the nature of the article (or container) will permit in such manner as to indicate to an ultimate purchaser in the United States 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, 302 (1940); American Burtonizing Co. v. United States, 13 Ct. Cust. 652, 654 (Ct. Cust. App. 1926) (“[T]he object sought to be obtained by the legislature could best be obtained by an indication which was clear, plain, and unambiguous and which did more than merely hint at the country of origin.”)
Part 134 of the Customs Regulations implements the country of origin marking requirements and exceptions of 19 U.S.C. § 1304. Section 134.45(b) provides that abbreviations of country names “which unmistakably indicate the name of a country … are acceptable. See 19 C.F.R. § 134.45(b). Variant spellings which clearly indicate the English name of the country of origin such as ‘Brasil’ for Brazil and ‘Italie’ for Italy, are acceptable.” You cite growing familiarity with the United Arab Emirates on a global level, and suggest that “U.A.E.” is a sufficiently recognizable abbreviation that meets the requirements of 19 U.S.C. § 1304. Therefore, you request for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) to reconsider its prior rulings and find that “U.A.E.” is an acceptable country of origin marking for the outer wrappings of Gottesman’s imports of copy paper.
In Headquarters Ruling Letter (“HQ”) 734487, dated May 7, 1992, CBP noted that it has been very stringent in approving the use of abbreviations to ensure that an abbreviation unmistakably indicates the country of origin to an ultimate purchaser of a product. The fact that an abbreviation is the official abbreviation for a country is not enough. It must unmistakably identify the country of origin to the ultimate purchaser.
CBP has consistently denied a number of requests for abbreviations where it determined that the abbreviation was not sufficiently known in the United States for consumers to recognize the country of origin, including the use of abbreviation “U.A.E.” in case of the United Arab Emirates. See HQ 561083, dated November 5, 1998 (denial of “U.A.E.” as abbreviation for United Arab Emirates). Further, in HQ 561997, dated March 4, 2001, and HQ 563047, dated July 22, 2004, CBP once again determined that the abbreviation of “U.A.E.” for the United Arab Emirates was not acceptable for country of origin marking purposes.
You claim that U.S. consumer awareness of the United Arab Emirates has changed in the 14 years since CBP’s last ruling with respect to this issue. In support, you cite to websites and numerous newspaper articles that reference the United Arab Emirates, “U.A.E.,” “Emirates” or use the names “U.A.E,” “Emirates,” and “United Arab Emirates” interchangeably. Further, you argue that the U.S. Department of State interchangeably uses “United Arab Emirates” and “U.A.E.” on its traveler website for the U.S. Embassy in the United Arab Emirates. Likewise, you specify that the Central Intelligence Agency’s (“CIA”) World Factbook recognizes “U.A.E.” as the official abbreviation for the United Arab Emirates and refers to the country as “United Arab Emirates” and “U.A.E.” Finally, you point out a number of CBP ruling letters in which CBP used the terms “U.A.E.” and “United Arab Emirates” interchangeably. Specifically, New York Ruling Letter (“NY”) N266154, dated February 23, 2016; NY N266274, dated July 24, 2015; NY N058478, dated May 14, 2009; and, NY R02106, dated June 20, 2005.
We find that the interchangeable use of the “U.A.E.” abbreviation and “United Arab Emirates” on websites or in newspaper articles, or the occasional sole reference to “U.A.E” or “UAE” in such sources is not sufficient to unmistakably identify the name of the country of origin for marking purposes to the ultimate purchaser. Similarly, your reliance on the CIA Factbook or the U.S. Embassy websites is misplaced as we do not rely on such sources to make our determination as to recognizability of an abbreviation for country of origin marking purposes. Although the CBP rulings cited in your submission referenced “U.A.E.,” they did not indicate that “UAE” or “U.A.E.” were acceptable country of origin abbreviations under 19 U.S.C. § 1304. Contrary to your arguments and the information presented, the U.S. Department of State list of Independent States in the World as of February 15, 2019, lists “United Arab Emirates” as the short and the long form name for the United Arab Emirates. The U.S. Department of State list does not mention “U.A.E.,” “UAE,” or “Emirates” abbreviations. See HQ 560978, dated July 24, 1998 (CBP considered the U.S. Department of State list of Independent States in determining that the abbreviations “Ger” for Germany and “CZ” and “CR” for the Czech Republic were not acceptable under 19 U.S.C. § 1304). Accordingly, we affirm CBP’s determinations in HQ 563047, HQ 561083, and HQ 561997 and find that “U.A.E.” is not an acceptable abbreviation for the United Arab Emirates for country of origin marking purposes. Furthermore, for the reasons outlined above, we find that “Emirates” is not an acceptable abbreviation for the United Arab Emirates as it does not unmistakably indicate the name of a country for marking purposes.
HOLDING:
Assuming for the purposes of this ruling that that goods are products of the United Arab Emirates, the abbreviations “U.A.E.” or “Emirates” are not acceptable under 19 U.S.C. § 1304.
A copy of this ruling letter should be attached to the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is entered. If the documents have been filed with a copy, this ruling should be brought to the attention of the CBP officer handling the transaction. Sincerely,
Parisa J. Ghazi, Acting Chief
Food, Textiles and Marking Branch