CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 955291 MMC
Evy Bilde Jordan, Vice Consul
Royal Danish Embassy
3200 Whitehaven Street, N.W.
Washington D.C. 20008-3683
RE: BOBO Combi-Play & Sleep beds; ENs GEN 4 (A) Chapter 94, 44.21
Dear Vice Consul Jordan:
This is in response to your letters of October 26 and 29,
1993, on behalf of the Bobo Company of Denmark, requesting a
classification ruling for a combi-play and sleep bed system under
the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).
Descriptive literature of the bed system was enclosed for our
examination.
FACTS:
The Bobo system combi-play and sleep bed consists of an
individually packaged basic module, a bed with slatted base (170cm
X170cm) and sides with universal holes on the inside for individual
mounting of either of two items referred to as "toykits".
The two toykits, which are purchased separately, are known as
the "Wendy House" and the "BOBO Car". The "Wendy House", has a
total height of 130cm, an outside width of 85cm, an outside length
of 184cm, and a weight of 52kg. The "BOBO Car" has a total height
of 58cm, an outside width of 78cm, an outside length of 184cm, and
a weight of 54kg.
Both the bed module and the toykits are made of leached pine
wood and colored medium density fiber (MFD) boards.
ISSUE:
What is the classification of the bed module? What is the
classification for the "Wendy House" and "BOBO Car" toykits?
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Classification of merchandise under the HTSUS is in accordance
with the General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's), taken in order.
GRI 1, HTSUS, states in part that for legal purposes,
classification shall be determined according to the terms of the
headings and any relative section or chapter notes. The headings
under consideration are as follows:
9403 [o]ther furniture and parts thereof
4421 [o]ther articles of wood
Bed Module
Chapter 94, HTSUS, provides, in pertinent part, for furniture
and bedding. In understanding the language of the HTSUS, the
Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory
Notes may be consulted. The Explanatory Notes (EN), although not
dispositive, are to be used to determine the proper interpretation
of the HTSUS. 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128, (August 23, 1989). EN
Gen 4 (A) for Chapter 94, p. 1574, states in pertinent part that:
[f]or the purposes of this Chapter, the term "furniture"
means:
[a]ny "movable" articles (not included under other more
specific headings of the Nomenclature), which have the
essential characteristic that they are constructed for placing
on the floor or ground, and which are used, mainly with a
utilitarian purpose to equip dwellings,...
[h]eadings 94.01 to 94.03 cover articles of furniture of any
material (wood, osier, bamboo, cane, plastics, base metals,
glass, leather, stone, ceramics, etc.). Such furniture
remains in these headings whether or not stuffed or covered,
with worked or unworked surfaces, carved, inlaid, decoratively
painted,...
It is our opinion that the bed module meets the definition of
furniture, because it is a movable article, it rests on the ground
of a bedroom, and is used as a place for children to sleep.
Therefore, it is classifiable under subheading 9403.50.90, HTSUS,
which provides for [o]ther wood furniture and parts thereof:
[w]ooden furniture of a kind used in the bedroom: [o]ther.
Wendy House and BOBO Car Toykits
Chapter 44, HTSUS, provides, in pertinent part, for articles
of wood. EN 44.21, pg. 638, states, in pertinent part, that:
[t]his heading covers all articles of wood manufactured by
turning or by any other method, or of wood marquetry or inlaid
wood...
It is our opinion that the "Wendy House" and the "BOBO Car"
toykits are classifiable as articles of wood, specifically under
subheading 4421.90.95, HTSUS, as [o]ther articles of wood: [o]ther:
[o]ther.
HOLDING:
The bed modules are classifiable as wooden furniture of a kind
used in the bedroom under subheading 9403.50.90, HTSUS, which has
a general column one duty rate of 2.5 percent ad valorem.
The "Wendy House" and the "BOBO Car" toykits are classifiable
as other wooden articles under subheading 4421.90.95, HTSUS, which
has a general column one rate of duty of 5.1 percent ad valorem.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Commercial Rulings Division