CLA-2-21:OT:RR:NC:232
Ms. Tonja Davenport
Dollar General Corp.
100 Mission Ridge
Goodlettsville, TN 37072-2170
RE: The tariff classification, country of origin and status under the United States-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement (U.S.-Colombia TPA) of instant coffee mix from Malaysia
Dear Ms. Davenport:
In your letter dated January 23, 2015, on behalf of you client, Dolgencorp, Inc., you requested a tariff classification ruling. You provided samples and ingredient breakdown for our review. Samples were reviewed and disposed of. The subject merchandise, Colcafé “3 in 1” Coffee, is said to contain 50.0 percent creamer from Malaysia, 37.3 percent sugar from Malaysia, 12.0 percent instant coffee from Colombia, and less than one percent of the following: instant gum from France and aspartame from Japan. The product is an instant coffee mix containing “3 in 1”; coffee, cream and sugar that is manufactured and packaged in Malaysia. Colcafé “3 in 1” Coffee is packed in a retail sized cardboard box containing 6 individual instant coffee packets each weighing .53 ounces. The consumer will add one packet to hot water to make a beverage.
The applicable subheading for Colcafé “3 in 1” Coffee will be 2101.12.5400, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for extracts, essences and concentrates, of coffee, and preparations with a basis of these extracts, essences or concentrates or with a basis of coffee...other...articles containing over 10 percent by dry weight of sugar described in additional U.S. note 3 to chapter 17...described in additional U.S. note 8 to chapter 17 and entered pursuant to its provisions. The general rate of duty will be 10 percent ad valorem. If the quantitative limits of additional U.S. note 8 to chapter 17 have been reached, the product will be classified in subheading 2101.12.5800, HTSUS, and dutiable at the rate of 30.5 cents per kilogram plus 8.5 percent ad valorem. In addition products classified in subheading 2101.12.5800, HTSUS, will be subject to additional duties based on their value, as described in subheadings 9904.17.49 to 9904.17.65, HTSUS.
Your inquiry also requests a ruling on the country of origin and eligibility for preferential tariff treatment under the United States-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement (U.S.-Colombia TPA) of Colcafé “3 in 1” Coffee produced in Malaysia.
General Note 34(b), HTSUS, sets forth the criteria for determining whether a good is originating under the U.S.-Colombia TPA, as follows: For the purposes of this note, subject to the provisions of subdivisions (c), (d), (n) and (o) thereof, a good imported into the customs territory of the United States is eligible for treatment as an originating good of Colombia or of the United States under the terms of this note if– (i) the good is wholly obtained or produced entirely in the territory of Colombia or of the United States, or both; (ii) the good is produced entirely in the territory of Colombia or of the United States, or both, and-- (A) each of the nonoriginating materials used in the production of the good undergoes an applicable change in tariff classification specified in subdivision (o) of this note; or (B) the good otherwise satisfies any applicable regional value-content or other requirements set forth in such subdivision (o); and satisfies all other applicable requirements of this note and of applicable regulations; or (iii) the good is produced entirely in the territory of Colombia or of the United States, or both, exclusively from materials described in subdivisions (i) or (ii), above.
Colcafé “3 in 1” Coffee does not meet the requirements of HTSUS General Note 34(b) and will not be entitled to a free rate of duty under the Colombia TPA.
With regard to country of origin, 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. Pursuant to 19 CFR Section 134.1(b), the country of origin is the country of manufacture, production or growth of any article of foreign origin entering the U.S. Further work or material added to an article in another country must effect a substantial transformation in order to render such country the country of origin within the meaning of Part 134 of the regulations.
Based on the information provided, all of the manufacturing, processing and packaging of the product, Colcafé “3 in 1” Coffee, the country of origin for marking purposes is Malaysia.
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 is subject to The Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 (The Bioterrorism Act), which is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Information on the Bioterrorism Act can be obtained by calling FDA at 301-575-0156, or at the Web site www.fda.gov/oc/bioterrorism/bioact.html.
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 Frank Troise via email address: [email protected].
Sincerely,
Gwenn Klein Kirschner
Director
National Commodity Specialist Division