CLA-2-39:OT:RR:NC:N1:119
Mr. George Keller
100 Hartsfield Centre Parkway, Suite 350
Atlanta, GA, 30354
RE: The tariff classification of Waste Plastics from Netherlands
Dear Mr. Keller:
In your letter dated October 09, 2018, you requested a tariff classification ruling on behalf of your client, The Ocean Cleanup Projects B.V. (“The Ocean Cleanup”).
You describe the instant product as a mixture of various plastic waste which is recovered from international waters. The waste is recovered using a floating waste retrieval system. The system consists of a 600-meter-long floater that sits at the surface of the water and a tapered 3-meter-deep impermeable skirt attached below. You state that both the plastic waste and the recovery system are carried by the current. However, wind and waves propel the system faster than the plastic. The floater sits just above the water surface, while the plastic is primarily just beneath it. The recovery system thus moves faster than the plastic waste, allowing the plastic to be captured. You indicate that plastic collected during The Ocean Cleanup’s study has specific characteristics such as small surface-to-volume ratio, indicating that only certain types of debris have the capacity to persist and accumulate at the surface.
According to your request letter this floating system is “designed to capture plastics ranging from small pieces just millimeters in size, up to large debris, including massive discarded fishing nets (ghost nets), which can be tens of meters wide.”
You indicate that research of plastic collected from the GPGP during several expeditions indicated that material recovered is 90% HDPE and 10% PP and consists of rigid items and fishnets including buoys and ropes. You also indicate that the recaptured material will have a range from 1 – 5% contamination of other material, such as biomass, glass and metals.
The applicable subheading for the mixture of recovered waste plastics based on the composition you indicated will be 3915.10.0000, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for waste, parings and scrap, of plastics: of polymers of ethylene. The rate of duty will be free.
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 the World Wide Web at https://hts.usitc.gov/current.
You have also inquired as to the proper country of origin marking for the subject merchandise. 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 (or its container) imported into the U.S. shall be marked in a conspicuous place as legibly, indelibly and permanently as the nature of the article (or its container) 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. Part 134, Customs Regulations (19 CFR Part 134), implements the country of origin marking requirements and exceptions of 19 U.S.C. 1304. Section 134.41(b), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.41(b)), mandates that the ultimate purchaser in the U.S. must be able to find the marking easily and read it without strain. Section 134.1(d) defines the ultimate purchaser as generally the last person in the U.S. who will receive the article in the form in which it was imported.
You suggest that the country of origin of used goods is the country where they are used and collected. You further add that you believe that the “country” in international waters is the flag of the collecting vessel, similar to a vessel harvesting fish: therefore, the country of origin of the plastic waste should be the Netherlands, the flag of the collecting vessel. We agree.
Section 134.33, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.33), excepts certain "J-list" articles from individual country of origin marking in accordance with 19 U.S.C. 1304(a)(3)(J) and only requires that the outermost container in which the article is imported to be marked with the country of origin. Among the J-list items is scrap and waste. While the crushed containers need not be individually marked, the regulations require that for any J-list item, the outermost container in which the article normally reaches the ultimate purchaser is required to be marked to indicate the origin of its contents. We agree with your suggestion that “container” would be excepted from marking under 134.22(e)(1) in accordance with 134.32(f) because the waste plastic as imported are not for sale in their imported form.
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 Paul Hodgkiss at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Steven A. Mack
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division