CLA-2-04:S:N:N7:229-881217
Bongrain Cheese U.S.A.
400 S. Custer Avenue
New Holland, PA 17557
RE: The tariff classification of Chamois d'Or Cheese from
France.
Dear Mr. Bongrain:
In your letter, received by this office on December 9, 1992,
you requested a tariff classification ruling.
The cheese in question is in the form of a wheel,
approximately 23.5 centimeters (about 9.25 inches) in diameter
and 4.5 centimeters (about 1.75 inches) in height. The exterior
of the cheese is covered with a white, papery
mold. The interior of the cheese is pale yellow in color, with a
smooth, paste consistency. Chamois d'Or is a pressed cheese.
It does not ripen from the surface to the center, and is not a
soft-ripening variety. An analysis of the sample by the Customs
Laboratory at New York indicates that this cheese contains 46.3
percent moisture (67.8 percent of the non fatty matter), 31.8
percent butterfat (58.2 percent on a dry basis), 22.4 percent
protein and 1.4 percent salt, with a pH of 7.0. The cheese was
found to be made from cow's milk.
The applicable subheading for Chamois d'Or will be
0406.90.6080, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
(HTS), which provides for Cheese and curd:...Other
cheese:...Other cheeses, and subsitutes for cheese, including
mixtures of the above:...Other, including mixtures of the
above:...Other...Other:...Other:...Other. The rate of duty will
be 10 percent ad valorem.
Articles classifiable in HTS subheading 0406.90.8060 are
subject to quota quantity restrictions listed in subchapter IV of
Chapter 99 in HTS subheading 9904.10.54, which limits the amount
of such cheese which may be imported from the European Economic
Community to an annual quota quantity of 20,456,00 kilograms (of
which 353,000 are reserved for Portugal). Additionally, an
import license, issued to the importer by the United States
Department of Agriculture, will be required at the time such
merchandise is entered for consumption into the United States.
This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Section
177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177).
A copy of this ruling letter should be attached to the entry
documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. 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,
Jean F. Maguire
Area Director
New York Seaport