MAR-2-05 RR:TC:SM 559712 DEC
Ms. Laurie Everill
J.C. Penney Purchasing Corporation
P.O. Box 10001
Dallas, Texas 75301-0001
RE: Country of origin marking of woman's pullover shirt, jeans,
knit blouse,
belts, earrings, and hairclips; 19 CFR 134.46; 19 CFR
134.47;
HRL 732412; C.S.D. 89-73; HRL 732486; HRL 733281; HRL 558741;
T.D. 54640(6), 93 Treas. Dec. 301 (1958); T.D. 71-264(3)
Dear Ms. Everill:
This is in response to your letter dated January 16, 1996,
requesting a country of origin marking ruling regarding the country
of origin marking of a woman's pullover, woman's jeans, a knit
blouse, a belt, a pair of earrings and a pair of hair clips.
Samples of each of these articles were submitted with your request.
FACTS:
Sample 1 is a woman's pullover with a partial placket opening.
It is marked "Assembled in Honduras of U.S. components" on the
front of a fabric loop sewn in just below the label on the inside
center back of the collar containing the J.C. Penney trademark with
the words "The Original Arizona Jean Company." There is one other
label on the garment, a paper label, tacked to the neck loop label
with the words "Arizona henley" on the front. Around the garment
is a paper band with the words "The Original Arizona Jean Company."
The word "Arizona" is embroidered on the front right chest of the
pullover.
Sample 2 is a pair of jeans. In the center back of the
waistband is the trademark label with the words "The Original
Arizona Jean Company." The trademark logo is also on the paper
labels tacked to the garment on the back pocket and in the
waistband. The buttons and rivets carry the trademark "Arizona
Jean Co." The size and price label does not contain the trademark
logo. The country of origin label with the marking "Made in
Guatemala" is on the front of a loop label sewn to the inside front
of the jeans, below the waistband.
Sample 3 is a knit blouse with a partial placket opening. A
label bearing the trademark is sewn into the center back of the
collar and appears on a paper hang tag tacked to the country of
origin label. The size and price label does not contain the
trademark logo. The country of origin label containing the words
"Made in Philippines" is on the front of a loop label sewn in at
the nape of the neck.
Sample 4 is a leather belt that contains the marking "Made in
USA" and the complete trademark die sunk on the inside of the belt.
The belt will be displayed with a plastic belt hook which will
contain the entire trademark. You question whether the country of
origin marking on the inside of the belt would satisfy the
statutory requirements if the belt were to be of foreign origin.
The fifth samples include a pair of earrings and a pair of
hair clips. Both of these articles will be placed on plastic
display boards that will bear the complete trademark. The country
of origin will be indicated on the back of the display board of
both the earrings and the hair clips.
You state that "The Original Arizona Jean Company" and
"Arizona Jean Company" are registered trademarks that belong to
J.C. Penney. You have submitted copies of the registered
trademarks as part of your submission.
ISSUE:
Whether the articles described above satisfy the country of
origin marking requirements.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
The marking statute, section 304, 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 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. 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. Inc., 27 CCPA 297, 302,
C.A.D. 104 (1940).
Part 134, Customs Regulations (19 CFR Part 134), implements
the country of origin marking requirements and exceptions of 19
U.S.C. 1304. Customs has recognized
that the presence of a geographic location other than the country
in which the article was produced on an imported article or its
container may mislead the ultimate purchaser as to the true country
of origin. Therefore, in cases where the name of a location in the
U.S. or the name of any foreign country or locality other than the
country or locality in which the article was manufactured or
produced appears on an imported article or its container, section
134.46, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.46), provides that 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. Customs has ruled that in order
to satisfy the close proximity requirement, the country of origin
marking must appear on the same side(s) or surface(s) in which the
name of the locality other than the country of origin appears. The
purpose of this section is to prevent the possibility of misleading
or deceiving the ultimate purchaser as to the actual origin of the
imported good.
However, section 134.47, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.47),
provides that when as part of a trademark or trade name or as part
of a souvenir marking, the name of a location in the U.S. appears,
the article shall be legibly, conspicuously, and permanently marked
to indicate the name of the country of origin of the article
preceded by "Made in", "Product of", or other similar words, in
close proximity or in some other conspicuous location. In other
words, if the question concerns a trade name or trademark, the
country of origin marking needs only to meet the general standard
of conspicuousness.
You contend in your submission that all of the sample
merchandise that is a part of this ruling request are covered under
the provisions of 19 CFR 134.47. We agree with your conclusion
that all of the sample articles that contain references to
registered trademark "The Original Arizona Jean Company" or the
"Arizona Jean Company" either on the articles or on the tags that
are tacked to the articles when they will be purchased trigger the
19 CFR 134.47 requirements as opposed to the more stringent
requirements under 19 CFR 134.46. However, with respect to the
other locality marking, the question of whether 19 CFR 134.46 is
applicable still must be decided.
Sample 1 (woman's pullover) has the word "Arizona" embroidered
on the front right chest of the garment. In addition, there is a
label on the garment, a paper label, tacked to the neck loop label
with the words "Arizona henley" on the front. Customs has held
that in cases where the reference to a place other than the country
of origin is made on an imported article, but such reference would
not confuse the ultimate purchaser, the requirements of 19 CFR
134.46 are not triggered. In Headquarters Ruling Letter (HRL)
732412, dated August 29, 1989, Customs found that the placement of
the word "Kansas" on different parts of imported jeans did not
trigger the requirements of 19 CFR 134.46 because such marking was
used as a symbol or decoration and would not reasonably be
construed as indicating the country of origin of the article on
which it appeared. See also C.S.D. 89-73 (February 2, 1989), in
which Customs held that an imported man's pullover
shirt that prominently displayed the words "Christian Dior, 30
Avenue Montaigne, Paris 75008" across the back, did not invoke the
application of 19 CFR 134.46 because the true
country of origin of the article was indicated conspicuously on a
label inside the neckband. In this case, the word "Arizona"
embroidered on the front right chest does not trigger the special
marking requirements of 19 CFR 134.46 because the word "Arizona" is
used as a decoration of the shirt and such a reference on the shirt
would not reasonably be construed to indicate the country of origin
of the article. The country of origin is conspicuously placed in
the center back of the collar.
However, in HRL 732486, dated September 5, 1989, a label,
crest and hangtag containing the words "Riviera Line" were attached
to imported garments. The hangtag contained a picture of a cruise
ship in the center with two circles around the ship. Below the
ship in large bold lettering was the phrase "RIVIERA LINE". The
crest had a large script letter "R" in the center surrounded by a
crest with the word "RIVIERA" below the letter "R". It was
determined that while the crest was part of the design of the
garment, the hangtag with the phrase "Riviera Line" triggered the
special marking requirements of 19 CFR 134.46. Therefore, the
hangtag had to contain the country of origin printed in a
conspicuous manner and placed in close proximity to the phrase
"Riviera Line".
The rationale in HRL 732486 was that a locality other than the
country of origin is more likely to cause confusion when it appears
on a hangtag attached to a garment because a hangtag is designed to
attract the attention of the purchaser and generally contains
information about the article. As such, a reference on the hangtag
to a locality other than the country of origin of the article to
which it is attached is potentially misleading with regard to the
garment's country of origin. Similarly, in HRL 733281, dated
August 3, 1990, garments contained the words "Bonjour
International" in large lettering on the front and back and on a
hangtag, along with the words "Milan", "Paris", and "New York" in
smaller lettering on both sides of the hangtag. It was determined
that since the hangtag contained several references to localities
other than the country of origin of the garment to which it was
attached and these references did not appear as part of a trade
name, trademark, or souvenir marking, these references were
potentially misleading; therefore, the special marking requirements
of 19 CFR 134.46 were applicable.
In HRL 558741, dated January 4, 1995, Customs concluded that
shorts containing a hangtag, a cardboard label, and a sticker
referencing "Kalifornia" would be required under 19 CFR 134.46 to
indicate the country of origin of the shorts on the same side of
the panels (see HRL 732486) containing the "Kalifornia" reference.
However, since the importer had applied for "Kalifornia" as a
trademark, Customs allowed the more lenient requirements of 19 CFR
134.47 to apply rather than applying the 19 CFR 134.46
requirements.
The hangtag on the sample woman's pullover (Sample 1) in this
case contains one reference to Arizona ("Arizona henley"). The
hangtag sewn into the neck loop label which is clearly marked with
the country of origin. While "Arizona henley" is not a trademark,
the Arizona reference will not reasonably be construed as
indicating the country of origin of the pullover. An ultimate
purchaser who examines the hangtag anchored in the neck loop label
will be drawn to the information on the fabric loop on which the
country of origin information is clearly printed. Accordingly, the
special marking requirements of 19 CFR 134.46 are not triggered in
this instance.
In T.D. 54640(6), 93 Treas. Dec. 301 (1958), Customs
determined that wearing apparel, such as shirts, blouses, coats,
sweaters, etc., must be legibly and conspicuously marked with the
name of the country of origin by means of a fabric label or label
made from natural or synthetic film sewn or otherwise permanently
affixed on the inside center of the neck midway between the
shoulder seams or in that immediate area or otherwise permanently
marked in that area in some other manner. The origin marking on
the sewn-in fabric label on the front of the loop label satisfies
the requirement of T.D. 54640(6) as well as the conspicuousness
marking requirement set forth 19 CFR 134.47.
In the center back of the waistband of the pair of jeans
(Sample 2) is the trademark label. The trademark logo is also on
the paper labels tacked to the garment on the back pocket and in
the waistband. The buttons and rivets carry the trademark "Arizona
Jean Co." The size and price label does not contain the trademark
logo. The country of origin label with the marking "Made in
Guatemala" is on the front of a loop label sewn to the inside front
of the jeans, below the waistband. T.D. 71-264(3) provides that
Trousers, slacks, jeans, and similar wearing apparel
shall be marked to
indicate the country of origin by means of a permanent
label affixed in
a conspicuous location on the garments, such as the
inside of the
waistband.
The origin marking on the sewn-in fabric label on the front of the
loop label satisfies the marking requirement set forth in T.D. 71-264(3) and the conspicuousness requirement of 19 CFR 134.47.
The knit blouse (Sample 3), which has a label bearing the
trademark sewn into the center back of the collar and on a paper
hangtag tacked to the country of origin label, is marked with its
country of origin on the front of a loop label sewn in at the nape
of the neck. This marking of the knit blouse satisfies the
conspicuousness requirement pursuant to section 134.47.
Sample 4 is a leather belt that contains the marking "Made in
USA" and the complete trademark die sunk on the inside of the belt.
The belt will be displayed with a
plastic belt hook which will contain the entire trademark. You
question whether the country of origin marking on the inside of the
belt would satisfy the statutory marking requirements if the belt
were to be of foreign origin. Since the belt hook contains the
trademark label, the 19 CFR 134.47 requirements will be applicable.
If the belt is of foreign origin and marked with the words "Made
in" or "Product of" preceding the country of origin die sunk on the
inside of the belt, the marking would satisfy the 19 CFR 134.47
general standard of conspicuousness.
The pair of earrings and pair of hair clips (sample 5) are
both packaged and marked with their country of origin in a similar
manner. Each will be placed on plastic
display boards that will bear the complete trademark. The country
of origin will be indicated on the back of the display board of
both the earrings and the hair clips with the words "Made in
Korea." Since 19 CFR 134.47 will also apply to these articles, the
country of origin must appear in a conspicuous location with the
country of origin preceded by the words "Made in" or "Product of."
The back of the display board is a conspicuous location which an
ultimate purchaser may find easily. The marking with respect to
the sample earrings and hairclips is acceptable.
HOLDING:
On the basis of the information and samples submitted, we find
that the country of origin marking of the imported articles
described above satisfies the marking requirements of 19 U.S.C.
1304 and 19 CFR Part 134.
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 without a copy, this ruling should be
brought to the attention of the Customs officer handling the
transaction
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Tariff Classification Appeals
Division