The tariff classification of plastic-impregnated paperboard, used for shoe insoles, from Belgium.

NY 884474 May 14, 1993 CLA-2-48:S:N8:234 884474 CATEGORY: Classification TARIFF NO.: 4823.90.8500; 4811.31.2050 Ms. Susan R. McCabe The Hipage Company, Inc. 227 E. Plume Street Norfolk, Virginia 23510 RE: The tariff classification of plastic-impregnated paperboard, used for shoe insoles, from Belgium. Dear Ms. McCabe: In your letter dated March 29, 1993, on behalf of Georgia Bonded Fibers, Inc. (Buena Vista, VA), you requested a tariff classification ruling. A sample was submitted and will be retained for reference. It is a piece of black paperboard in the form of a 21 1/2 x 28 cm rectangular sheet with rounded corners. One side is repetitively printed, in white, with the name "Bontex," and with numerous arrows accompanied by the word "cut." A label affixed to the sample identifies it as "Bontex 38 Soft," and you describe it as "carbon filled, impregnated paperboard" of a kind used primarily in the production of insoles for shoes. The New York Customs Laboratory has analyzed the sample and finds it to be an uncoated sheet of paperboard having a thickness of 2.75 mm and weighing 1768 grams per square meter. The lab further indicates that the product is composed of cellulosic pulp fibers (at least some of which appear to have been chemically bleached), and that it is impregnated with a plastics material. The applicable subheading for the above-described impregnated paperboard, when imported in sizes comparable to the sample, will be 4823.90.8500, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for other (than certain enumerated) paper or paperboard, cut to size or shape. The rate of duty will be 5.3%. If the material is imported in larger sizes, i.e., in rectangular sheets with one side exceeding 36 cm and the other exceeding 15 cm in an unfolded state, the applicable subheading will be 4811.31.2050, which provides for other (than certain enumerated) paper and paperboard, coated, impregnated or covered with plastics (excluding adhesives): bleached, weighing more than 150 gsm: 0.3 mm or more in thickness. The rate of duty will be free. This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Section 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177). A copy of this ruling letter should be attached to the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If the documents have been filed without a copy, this ruling should be brought to the attention of the Customs officer handling the transaction. Sincerely, Jean F. Maguire Area Director New York Seaport