CLA-2-39:OT:RR:NC:N2:222
Ms. Melinda Voelcker
Money Savvy Generation
910 Sherwood Drive
Suite 17
Lake Bluff, IL 60044-2233
RE: The tariff classification of a plastic piggy bank from China
Dear Ms. Voelcker:
In your letter dated August 11, 2008, you requested a tariff classification ruling.
The submitted sample is identified as a Money Savvy Pig 4-chambered piggy bank. It is made of clear blue polystyrene (PS) plastic material and is in the shape and the appearance of a pig. This item measures approximately 8 inches long by 5 inches wide by 5.5 inches high. The inside of the piggy bank is divided into four sections by plastic section dividers. Each section is labeled on the outside and can be viewed from the outside. The four sections, from the front of the bank to the back, are respectively labeled as follows: Save, Spend, Donate, Invest.
There are four separate slots on the top of the bank, each lined up with a different section, so that coins can be deposited into the corresponding section as desired. Each of the four feet of the piggy bank has a twist off plastic closure that is labeled with a different section, so that access can be gained to the coins in the corresponding section.
This item is designed to teach children about the choices that can be made for the use of money. On the outside of each section is an oblong depression, intended as a location for the placement of paper stickers, which are included on a sheet in the retail box. These stickers are referenced as “goal-setting stickers.” On the outer surface of each sticker is a drawings of a different item for which money can be used. Also included are blank stickers, on which the child can draw a representation of his own goal. There is also a depression at the location of each of the two eyes of the piggy bank, providing a space for stickers of eye colors of either brown, blue or green, also included on the sticker sheet. Also included in the retail package is a parent/child brochure with instructions and educational tips for each of the four money choices, as reflected by the four sections.
You have suggested that this item is correctly classified as a toy in heading 9503. However, we do not agree that this item is correctly classified in the provision that you suggest. In order to be classified as a toy, this item would need to be principally used for amusement. We do not
believe this to be the case with regard to the instant item. This item serves primarily as a receptacle or storage space for coins. It is a static, passive bank and the commercial viability depends primarily on this item functioning as a bank, not as a toy. In light of this reasoning, the piggy bank does not qualify as a toy within the purview of Chapter 95, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), and correspondingly, it is not classifiable in any of the headings which accompany that chapter.
This item is considered to be “goods put up in sets for retail sale” within the meaning of General Rule of Interpretation GRI 3. The stickers merely provide an optional decoration and the brochure is intended to supplement the use of the plastic piggy bank. Therefore it is the opinion of this office that the plastic piggy bank provides this item with the essential character within the meaning of GRI 3(b).
The applicable subheading for the Savvy Pig 4-chambered piggy bank will be 3924.90.5600, HTSUS, which provides for…other household articles…of plastics: other: other. The rate of duty will be 3.4 percent ad valorem.
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 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 Gary Kalus at (646) 733-3055.
Sincerely,
Robert B. Swierupski
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division