CAFC Says Frozen Fruit Mixtures Properly Classified Under HTS Heading 0811
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on May 9 upheld the Court of International Trade's classification of 14 mixtures of frozen fruits and vegetables under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 0811.90.80, the residual category for "other" frozen fruit.
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CAFC Judges Todd Hughes and Leonard Stark, along with Judge Robert Schroeder of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, who was sitting by designation, held that the fruit ingredients give the mixtures their "essential character," making heading 0811 the proper heading for the products.
The suit concerns importer Nature's Touch Frozen Foods' 14 types of frozen fruit mixtures, five of which contain vegetable ingredients. CBP classified the goods under four different subheadings that fall under heading 0811, while Nature's Touch sought to classify the products under subheading 2106.90.98, which covers certain food preparations. The trade court said that all 14 mixtures should be classified under subheading 0811.90.20 as "other" frozen fruit.
Hughes, writing for the court, sided with CIT's decision. The judge assessed the trade court's determinations that the nine mixtures that contained only fruit fit under heading 0811, that the five fruit and vegetable mixtures also fit under heading 0811 and that all 14 mixtures fit under subheading 0811.90.80.
Regarding the nine fruit-only mixtures, Nature's Touch claimed that nothing in the language of heading 0811 mentions mixtures, noting that all the relevant subheadings only describe individual fruits and not mixtures. The residual category for "other" fruits must also refer to individual fruits, the importer said.
Hughes said CIT "properly considered the common and commercial meaning of 'fruit' without resorting to an analysis of the types and qualities of fruit enumerated in the relevant subheadings." The court said it agrees that the common meaning of "fruit" includes "mixed fruits," making frozen fruit mixtures properly classified under heading 0811.
In looking to whether the fruit and vegetable mixtures also fit under heading 0811, the trade court first said the mixtures don't fit under heading 0811 nor heading 2106 pursuant to GRI 1, which looks to the terms of the heading itself and associated chapter notes. However, CIT said the fruit and vegetable mixtures fit under heading 0811 pursuant to GRI 3(b), which says mixtures are classified by the component that gives them their "essential character." The trade court said it's the fruit that gives the mixtures their essential character and thus fit under heading 0811.
Hughes upheld this approach, first finding that the mixtures can't be classified under heading 0811 under GRI 1, since the mixtures aren't "described in whole by the term 'fruit.'" Nor can they be classified under heading 2106 under GRI 1, since they aren't preparations. CAFC said a "food preparation must accordingly undergo additional processing beyond what is already inherently encompassed within the term 'food.'"
And while the mixtures undergo cutting, cleaning, freezing and mixing, Hughes said this isn't enough to classify the products as preparations. The court said it reads heading 2106's explanatory note as explicitly excluding "cut plant material" that's "consumed as such" from being a preparation. In addition, chapters 7 and 8 of the HTS explicitly cover frozen fruit and vegetables, precluding these foods from being included in Chapter 20 as preparations, the court said.
The court ultimately said the mixtures fit under heading 0811 under GRI 3(b), since fruit gives them their essential character. Hughes noted that the fruit component is predominant by weight or value and that Nature's Touch itself refers to the nine mixtures as "fruit mixtures."
Lastly, Hughes sustained the trade court's decision to classify all 14 mixture types under subheading 0811.90.80, though not without quibbling with CIT about its reasoning for doing so. The trade court said the mixtures should fit under the "other" provision, since "other" means "none of the above." Hughes said that while the "other" classification is correct, "other" doesn't mean "none of the above" but rather it means "none of the preceding categories." This definition is more clear, since the products are described by the preceding categories "in part," making "none of the above" an incorrect description.
(Nature's Touch Frozen Foods (West) v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 23-2093, dated 05/09/25; Judges: Todd Hughes, Leonard Stark, Robert Schroeder; Attorneys: John Peterson of Neville Peterson for plaintiff-appellant Nature's Touch Frozen Foods (West); Brandon Kennedy for defendant-appellee U.S. government)