Newly Released CBP HQ Rulings for Oct. 4
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Oct. 4 with the following headquarters rulings (ruling revocations and modifications will be detailed elsewhere in a separate article as they are announced in the Customs Bulletin):
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H315391: Application for Further Review of Protest Number 0401-20-102492; GSP; AMPET; PET Resin Chips; Double Substantial Transformation
| Ruling: The raw ingredients undergo a substantial transformation in Pakistan when they are transformed into PET resin chips, and therefore, the imported crystallized PET resin chips would be considered a “product of” Pakistan for the purposes of the GSP. Further, the AMPET undergo a second substantial transformation and and could be counted toward the 35 percent value-content requirement for the purposes of the GSP. |
| Issue: Whether the imported PET resin chips are eligible for preferential tariff treatment under the GSP |
| Item: Crystallized PET resin chips imported directly from Pakistan. These PET resin chips are used in the production of thermoplastic products such as thermoforming sheets and strapping sheets. The PET resin chips were manufactured in Pakistan from materials from seven countries. A melt-phase polymerization treatment created uncrystallized amorphous PET resin chips (“AMPET” or “amorphous chips”) with an intrinsic viscosity equal or below 0.63 deliciters per gram used to manufacture bottle grade PET resin, PET resin chips, and biaxially oriented PET films for packaging. To convert the AMPET into PET resin chips, the AMPET were heated in large cylindrical reaction towers. |
| Reason: The PET resin chips are imported directly from Pakitsan. During the melt-phase polymerization treatment in Pakistan, the raw materials reacted together and were substantially transformed into a different substance, AMPET, with a new name, character and use, which subsequently formed PET resin chips with a new character and use. Therefore, the PET resin chips are a “product of” Pakistan for the purposes of the GSP. The amorphous chips underwent a double substantial transformation in Pakistan when used to make the crystallized PET resin chips. Thus, the AMPET amount to over 97 percent of the value of the PET resin and the direct costs that occurred in Pakistan, and the 35 percent value-content requirement is met. |
| Ruling Date: Aug. 6, 2021 |
H316296: Application for Further Review of Protest No. 2704-20-149105; Classification of “Gluten-Free Pasta”
| HTS: 1902.19.2090, free, "Pasta, whether or not cooked or stuffed (with meat or other substances) or otherwise prepared, such as spaghetti, macaroni, noodles, lasagna, gnocchi, ravioli, cannelloni; couscous, whether or not prepared: Uncooked pasta, not stuffed or otherwise prepared: Other: Exclusively pasta: Product of a country other than an EU country.” |
| Issue: Whether the pasta is classified in heading 1902 for pasta, or heading 2008 as fruit, nuts and other edible parts of plants, otherwise prepared or preserved |
| Item: Uncooked, dried pastas of mainly soy bean (legume) flour |
| Reason: Although pasta is traditionally produced using flours of wheat, maize, rice, and/or potatoes, this does not mean that any “pastas” made from non-traditional flours are automatically excluded from classification therein. In the contemporary understanding is the recognition that various foodstuffs may be made by either traditional or non-traditional ingredients to conform to the ever-changing desires and/or needs of the modern consumer. One such modification has been the culinary emergence and popularity of gluten-free products, marketed as a healthier alternative to traditional products and to those with dietary restrictions pertaining to gluten. As such, while flour derived from soybeans may not explicitly be listed within the ENs to heading 1902, an understanding of ejusdem generis dictates that soybean flour would be of the same kind as the wheat, maize, rice, and/or potato flour enumerated within the EN if virtually identically processing produces an ultimate product which is popularly understood, identified, and used as “pasta.” |
| Ruling Date: Aug. 3, 2021 |