CLA-2 RR:TC:FC 958867K
Port Director
U. S. Customs Service
2350 N. Sam Houston Parkway East
Houston, Texas 77032
RE: Internal Advice 63/95; Sassafras Oils From Vietnam
Dear Sir:
The following is our response to your request of November 28,
1995, for internal advice concerning the classification of certain
oils from Vietnam.
FACTS:
The oils in question from Vietnam were entered as other
essential oils of sassafras including Ocotea cymbarum, in
subheading 3301.29.5041, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United
States (HTSUS) (1995), with a free column 2 rate of duty. Based
upon technical information, the high safrole content of the oils
as reported in Customs laboratory reports indicating that some of
the components were removed to increase the safrole content, and
the conflicting statements submitted as to how the oils were
produced, that is, by mere natural distillation or further
fractionation, Customs officials concluded that the process went
beyond natural distillation and opined that the oils were
classified as other mixtures of odoriferous substances containing
no alcohol or not over 10 percent alcohol by weight, in subheading
3302.90.10, HTSUS, with a 1995 column 2 rate of duty of 88 cents
per kg, plus 50 percent ad valorem.
Submissions by the importer's counsel dated November 16,1995,
and March 19, 1996, were submitted. A meeting was requested and
was held on July 24, 1996. At that meeting, the importer agreed
to obtain samples of wood chips from Vietnam for analytical
evaluation. Samples were subsequently submitted and were analyzed
by the Customs laboratory. The results of the tests are discussed
under the caption, LAW AND ANALYSIS.
ISSUE:
The issue is whether the oils were produced by natural
distillation and therefore classified in heading 3301, HTSUS, or,
were they further processed by fractionation and therefore
classified in heading 3302, HTSUS.
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Heading 3301, HTSUS, provides for the following;
Essential oils (terpeneless or not), including concretes
and absolutes; resinoids; extracted oleoresins;
concentrates of essential oils in fats, in fixed oils,
in waxes or the like, obtained by enfleurage or
maceration; terpenic by-products of the deterpenation of
essential oils; aqueous distillates and aqueous
solutions of essential oils.
Heading 3302, HTSUS, provides for the following;
Mixtures of odoriferous substances and mixtures
(including alcoholic solutions) with a basis of one or
more of these substances, of a kind used as raw
materials in industry; other preparations based on
odoriferous substances, of a kind used for the
manufacture of beverages.
The Explanatory Notes (EN) to the Harmonized Commodity
Description and Coding System, which represent the official
interpretation of the tariff at the international level,
facilitate classification under the HTSUS by offering guidance in
understanding the scope of the headings and General Rules of
Interpretation of the HTSUS. The EN for heading 3301 indicates
that one of the processes for obtaining essential oils is by steam
distillation. The EN for heading 3301 further states, in part, as
follows:
Essential oils, resinoids and extracted oleoresins which
have been merely standardised by the removal or addition
of some of the principal ingredients remain classified
in this heading provided the composition of the
standardised product remains within the normal range
found in that kind of product in its natural state.
However, an essential oil, resinoid or extracted
oleoresin which has been fractionated or otherwise
modified (other than by the removal of terpenic
hydrocarbons), so that the composition of the resulting
product is significantly different from that of the
original product, is excluded (generally heading 33.02).
The heading further excludes products put up with added
diluents or carriers such as vegetable oil, dextrose or
starch (generally heading 33.02). (Emphasis added.)
The EN for heading 3302 states, in part, the following:
Products obtained by the removal of one or more of the
ingredients of an essential oil, resinoid or extracted
oleoresin so that the composition of the resulting
product is significantly different from that of the
original product are also mixtures of this heading.
Examples of such products are menthone oil (obtained by
freezing peppermint oil, followed by treatment with
boric acid, to remove most of the menthol and
containing, inter alia, 63 % menthone and 16 % menthol),
white camphor oil (obtained from camphor oil by freezing
and distilling to remove camphor and safrole and
containing 30 to 40 % cineole plus dipentene, pinene,
camphene, etc.) and geraniol (obtained by fractional
distillation of citronella oil and containing 50 to 77 %
geraniol together with varying amounts of citronellol
and nerol). (Emphasis added.)
As noted under the caption FACTS, we have subsequently
received a report from the Office of Laboratories & Scientific
Services, of the results of the Customs laboratory at New Orleans
in conducting an analytical evaluation of the submitted wood chips
from Vietnam. The wood chips were processed by steam
distillation. Also, samples of the oils previously tested by the
laboratory were retested for comparison purposes. The report
concludes that, with the exception of the safrole content, the
composition of the distilled oils obtained from the wood chips
from Vietnam is similar to that of the imported oils. Both
products show the same qualitative analytical profile. There is
no indication of additional impurities or additives or missing
components with both products. There are a number of different
reasons that could explain the differences in the amount of
safrole. For example, safrole, a highly volatile component, could
be gradually lost during transportation
Based upon the further reports from the Customs laboratory,
we conclude that the oils are classified as other essential oils
in subheading 3001.29.50, HTSUS. The technical information also
indicates that the oils distilled from the roots of the Vietnamese
sassafras trees, Cinnamomum parthenoxylon, are not from trees of
the Sassafras albidum and Ocotea cymbarum varieties, which produce
sassafras oils. Accordingly, for statistical purposes, the oils
in question are classified as essential oils in subheading
3301.29.5050, HTSUS.
HOLDING:
Oils extracted from Cinnamomum parthenoxylon plants (or
trees) in Vietnam by a natural distillation process are
classified as other essential oils, in subheading 3301.29.5050,
HTSUS, (1995) with a free column 2 rate of duty. This decision
only covers the instant oils extracted by a distillation process
from Vietnamese Cinnamomum parthenoxylon plants .
You should mail this decision to the internal advice
applicant, through its representative, no later than 60 days from
the date of this letter. On that date the Office of Regulations
and Rulings will take steps to make the decision available to
Customs personnel via the Customs Rulings Module in ACS and to the
public via the Diskette Subscription Service, the Freedom of
Information Act, and other public access channels.
Sincerely,
John Durant, Director
Tariff Classification
Appeals Division