June 22 CBP Bulletin Proposed Ruling Action on Plush Night-Lights
In the June 22, 2011 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (Vol. 45, No. 26), CBP published a notice that proposes to revoke two rulings regarding the tariff classification of certain plush animal night-lights.
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Comments on Proposed Ruling Actions due July 22
CBP states that any party who has received a ruling or decision on the merchandise that is subject to the proposed revocations, or any party involved with a substantially identical transaction, should advise CBP by July 22, 2011, the date that written comments on the proposed ruling are due. Furthermore, CBP states that an importer's failure to advise CBP of such rulings, decisions, or substantially identical transactions may raise issues of reasonable care on the part of the importer or its agents for importations subsequent to the effective date of the final decision in this notice.
Proposed Revocations
CBP is proposing to revoke the two rulings below, and any rulings on this product that may exist but have not been specifically identified. CBP is also proposing to revoke any treatment it has previously accorded to substantially identical transactions.
Plush Animals with Lights
| Item: Two novelty night-lights. The "Twilight Turtle" is a battery-operated turtle-shaped night-light composed of textile plush body parts. The upper portion of its body is covered with a perforated plastic shell, which depicts the pattern of constellations, and covers LED light bulbs. The "Kozy Light" consists of a circular-shaped plastic LED night-light that is incorporated within the torso of a plush stuffed animal in the form of a monkey. |
| Current: 9405.40.80, 3.9% (Other electric lamps and lighting fittings) |
| Proposed: 9503.00.00, free (Other toys) |
| Reason: CBP finds1 that the Twilight Turtle is classifiable as a toy in heading 9503 using General Rule of Interpretation I (GRI 1), and therefore, is precluded from classification under heading 9405, a catch-all provision for lamps and lighting fittings that are not elsewhere specified or included in the HTS. |
| Proposed for revocation: NY L83764 (Twilight Turtle) and NY K88764 (Kozy Light) Proposed new ruling: HQ H128417 |
1CBP sources state that it has a backlog of revocations, many of which concern similar articles. Therefore, CBP's proposed rulings may revoke multiple rulings while using one ruling as the lead revocation, and its analysis and holding will be applied to certain similar rulings. In this case, CBP used the Twilight Turtle ruling as the lead revocation, but the analysis in HQ H128417 and the proposed revocation would also apply to the Kozy Light.