Designation of steel wire lumber slings as instruments ofinternational traffic

HQ 110692 January 5, 1990 BOR-7-07-CO:R:P:C 110692 KVS CATEGORY: Carriers Mr. T.W. Maguire Seaborn Marine Services (B.C.), Inc. 7867 Express Street Suite 205 Burnaby, British Columbia CANADA V5A 1S7 Re: Designation of steel wire lumber slings as instruments of international traffic Dear Mr. Maguire: This is in response to your letter of December 1, 1989, in which you request that we designate certain steel wire lumber slings as instruments of international traffic. FACTS: You state that your company services and disperses steel wire slings used for transporting lumber to an American client, who actually owns the slings. You describe the slings as consisting of 6 main strands, each composed of 24 or 26 individual strands of steel wire. These six main strands are then twisted around a core of either hemp or fiber material. The sling is formed when two loose ends are "swagged" or joined together by an aluminum sleeve. These sleeves are permanently marked with the manufacturer's name, the date of manufacture, and safe work load. It is asserted that the slings have a life expectancy of at least 10 years. You state that following service and inspection by your firm, the lumber slings are transported to U.S. ports by container. Upon arrival, they are discharged from the containers and used in pairs to load ships with packages of lumber. You state that the slings will remain around the packages of lumber during the voyage and will be used to discharge the lumber from the vessel. The slings will then be removed from the lumber packages and shipped back to your company for servicing. -2- ISSUE: Whether steel wire slings which are used to lade and unlade lumber from vessels may be designated as instruments of international traffic within the meaning of 19 U.S.C. 1322(a) and section 10.41a of the Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.41a). LAW AND ANALYSIS: Section 322(a), Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1322(a)), provides that "[v]ehicles and other instruments of international traffic, of any class specified by the Secretary of the Treasury, shall be excepted from the application of the customs laws to such extent and subject to such terms and conditions as may be prescribed in regulations or instructions of the Secretary of the Treasury." The Customs Regulations issued under the authority of section 322(a) are contained in section 10.41a (19 CFR 10.41a). Section 10.41a(a)(1) specifically designates lift vans, cargo vans, shipping tanks, skids, pallets, caul boards, and cores for textile fabrics as instruments of international traffic. Section 10.41a(a)(1) also authorizes the Commissioner of Customs to designate other items as instruments of international traffic in decisions to be published in the weekly Customs Bulletin. Once designated as instruments of international traffic, these items may be released without entry or the payment of duty, subject to the provisions of section 10.41a. To qualify as an "instrument of international traffic" within the meaning of section 322(a), Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1322(a)), and the regulation issed thereunder (19 CFR 10.41a et seq.), an article must be used as a container or holder. The article must be substantial, suitable for and capable of repeated use, and used in significant numbers in international traffic. In requesting that wire lumber slings be designated as instruments of international traffic, you rely on Treasury Decision 80-145. In that decision, we ruled that steel lumber slings with permanently affixed identification plates that were used to hold steel products together from the time of their manufacture until they reach their point of unlading or ultimate destination in the United States were instruments of international traffic within the meaning of section 322(a), Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1322(a))(emphasis added). -3- As we indicate, Treasury Decision 80-145 allows cargo slings to be designated as instruments of international traffic only for a very specific use. Under the facts before us, the wire lumber slings are not placed on the lumber at the time of manufacture but are "discharged from the containers and used in pairs to load ships with packages of lumber". Furthermore, there is nothing to indicate that the slings are used to hold, contain, or secure the lumber during transportation. Therefore, the slings under consideration do not fall within the use allowed by Treasury Decision 80-145. Since the use under the facts before us does not fall within the specific circumstance contemplated by Treasury Decision 80-145, we must look elsewhere to make our decision. Customs Service Decision 79-395 also addresses the use of steel cargo slings. In the facts in that case, slings made of steel cable were used to hold and contain imported steel pipes while the pipes were laded and unladed. After the steel pipe was discharged in the United States, the slings were returned to the vessel and carried to the foreign port of lading and were again wrapped around pipes for importation into the United States. In that decision, we ruled that steel cargo slings used to lade and unlade steel pipes from a vessel were not substantial containers or holders and did not qualify as instruments of international traffic (see also Legal Determination 79-0243, and Customs Letter Ruling 103887 MJN (dated April 20, 1979)). In the facts before us, the steel wire lumber slings under consideration are used "so that our customers may use the steel lumber slings for loading of their ships...". This use is clearly within the use contemplated by Customs Service Decision 79-395, which refuses to designate slings so used as instruments of international traffic. HOLDING: Steel wire slings which are used to lade and unlade lumber from a vessel are not substantial containers or holders and may not be designated as instruments of international traffic within the meaning of 19 U.S.C. 1322(a) and section 10.41a of the Customs Regulations (19 CFR 10.41a). Sincerely, B. James Fritz Chief Carrier Rulings Branch