COUNTRY OF ORIGIN MARKING OF IMPORTED DISPOSABLE INDUSTRIAL WORK COVERALLS. Ultimate Purchaser; 19 U.S.C. 1304 (a)(3)(D); 19 CFR 134.32(d); 19 CFR 134.1(d); HQ 708401; C.S.D. 89-89.

HQ 734304 January 28, 1992 MAR-2-05 CO:R:C:V 734304 ER CATEGORY: MARKING Mr. Sheldon Cohen, Treasurer Magid Glove & Safety Manufacturing Co. 2060 North Kolmar Avenue Chicago, IL 60639 RE: COUNTRY OF ORIGIN MARKING OF IMPORTED DISPOSABLE INDUSTRIAL WORK COVERALLS. Ultimate Purchaser; 19 U.S.C. 1304 (a)(3)(D); 19 CFR 134.32(d); 19 CFR 134.1(d); HQ 708401; C.S.D. 89-89. Dear Mr. Cohen: This is in response to your letter of August 13, 1991, in which you request a ruling regarding the country of origin marking requirements for disposable industrial work coveralls. FACTS: In your letter and by subsequent telephone conversation on January 15, 1992, with your import manager, Sam Lewis, Magid Glove and Safety Manufacturing Company confirmed that it imports the industrial coveralls in cartons, each of which contains 25 pieces. The coveralls are sold and shipped by the importer directly and exclusively to individual plants where they are given to employees free of charge for use on the job. There are no sales of less than a full carton. The coveralls are shipped to the industries in the original unopened carton, each of which is marked with the country of origin. All cartons are received at the industrial plants marked and unopened. ISSUE: Whether disposable coveralls which are imported in boxes marked with the country of origin and sold by the importer in this manner directly to industrial plants for the use of its employees are excepted from individual marking. LAW AND ANALYSIS: Section 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1304), provides that, unless excepted, every article of foreign ori- gin imported into the United States 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 United States the English name of the country 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. Among the exceptions to country of origin marking is 19 U.S.C. 1304(a)(3)(D), also provided for in section 134.32(d), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.32(d)). That section provides that articles for which the marking of their containers will reasonably indicate the country of origin of the articles may be excepted from country of origin marking. However, for the exception to apply Customs must be satisfied that the articles will reach the "ultimate purchaser" in the original, properly marked containers in which the articles were imported. Section 134.1(d), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.1(d)), defines the "ultimate purchaser" as generally the last person in the United States who will receive the article in the form in which it was imported. In a previous case bearing a striking factual similarity to the one at hand, Customs ruled that an industrial plant is considered the ultimate purchaser when it purchases sets of industrial gloves packed in their original marked container directly from the importer and distributes the goods free of charge for use by its employees on the premises. HQ 708401 (February 22, 1978) and see C.S.D. 89-89 ( March 18, 1989). It is our opinion that the circumstances you describe are substantially the same as those in HQ 708401 and accordingly that the industrial plant is the ultimate purchaser of the coveralls and that the industrial work coveralls may be excepted from individual country of origin marking as set forth below. HOLDING: Disposable industrial work coveralls may be excepted from individual country of origin marking pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 1304 (a)(3)(D) and 19 CFR 134.32(d), so long as they are imported in a properly marked container and Customs officials at the port of entry are satisfied that the coveralls will be used only in the manner described above and that the ultimate purchaser, the industrial plant, will receive the coveralls in their original unopened marked container. Sincerely, John Durant, Director Commercial Rulings Division