CLA-2-24:OT:RR:NC:2:231
Ms. Diane Sutera
Global Shipping Services
21 Fadem Road
Springfield, NJ 07081
RE: The tariff classification of a tobacco substitute from Egypt.
Dear Ms. Sutera:
In your letter dated February 11, 2011, you requested a tariff classification ruling on behalf of Shayni-Trade Corporation (Santa Ana, CA).
A sample of the merchandise in question, described as “natural herbal molasses,” was submitted for our examination. It is a small (50-gram), amorphous mass of what appears to be shredded vegetable material suffused with a sticky red liquid or syrup. It exudes a pleasant, berry-like odor. It is put up for sale in a sealed plastic pouch within a paperboard retail carton printed with the words “El Rosha Herbal Shisha - Strawberry” and “tobacco-free / nicotine-free.” The carton is also printed with pictures of strawberries and hookahs.
The product appears to be a tobacco-free smoking mixture intended for use, in place of flavored tobacco, in traditional Middle Eastern pipes (hookahs). It is assumed that it will be employed in the same manner as hookah tobacco, i.e., placed in the bowl of the pipe and heated by smoldering charcoal. You state that the ingredients of this mixture are as follows:
Bagasse ……………..… 30%
Molasses ……………… 30%
Glycerine...…….………. 30%
Flavoring……………..…10%
The applicable subheading for the above-described tobacco-free smoking mixture known as herbal shisha/molasses will be 2403.99.2090, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides, in pertinent part, for … manufactured tobacco substitutes …: other: other: prepared for marketing to the ultimate consumer in the identical form and package in which imported: other. The rate of duty will be 24.7 cents per kilogram.
Duty rates are provided for your convenience and are subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided on World Wide Web at http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/.
This merchandise may be subject to requirements administered by the Division of Import Operations & Policy, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). You may contact that agency at 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857, telephone (301) 443-6553.
This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177).
A copy of the ruling or the control number indicated above should be provided with the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If you have any questions regarding the ruling, contact National Import Specialist Nathan Rosenstein at (646) 733-3030.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Swierupski
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division