COUNTRY OF ORIGIN MARKING OF IMPORTED CAPS

NY G81490 September 29, 2000 MAR-2 RR:NC:3:353 G81490 CATEGORY: MARKING Ms. Janie Ogg Phoenix Int’l. Freight Services, Ltd. 10601 NW Ambassador Drive Suite K Kansas City, MO 64153 RE: COUNTRY OF ORIGIN MARKING OF IMPORTED CAPS Dear Ms. Ogg: This is in response to your letter dated September 8, 2000, on behalf of B&M Associates D/B/A Adams Fashion Headwear, requesting a ruling on whether the proposed marking “Made in Bangladesh” is an acceptable country of origin marking for imported caps if another marking “Designed in the U.S.A.” appears on the article, which is a country or locality other than the actual country of origin of the article. A marked sample was submitted with your letter for review and will be returned to you. The submitted sample is a baseball-style cap that has a folded 1 x 1¼ inch label sewn to the inside band that is marked “Made in Bangladesh” along with the fiber content; the reverse side has care instructions. You propose to add the words “Designed in the U.S.A.” to a 2 ½ x 1¼ inch label that currently reads “Adams, New York-Paris-Milan” and place it directly over the country of origin/care label. The marking statute, section 304, Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1304), provides that, unless excepted, every article of foreign origin (or its container) imported into the U.S. 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 U.S. the English name of the country of origin of the article. Section 134.46, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.46), deals with cases in which the words “United States,” or “American,” the letters “U.S.A.,” any variation of such words or letters, or the name of any city or locality in the United States, or the name of any foreign country or locality other than the country or locality in which the article was manufactured or produced, appears on an imported article or its container, and those words, letters or names may mislead or deceive the ultimate purchaser as to the actual country of origin. In such a case, there shall appear, legibly and permanently, in close proximity to such words, letters, or name, and in at least a comparable size, the name of the country of origin preceded by “Made in, Product of,” or other words of similar meaning. In order to satisfy the close proximity requirement, the country of origin marking must generally appear on the same side(s) or surface(s) in which the name or locality other than the actual country of origin appears. The placing of the 2½ x 1¼ inch “Designed in the U.S.A.” label over the 1 x 1¼ inch “Made in Bangladesh” folded label would completely cover the country of origin marking and does not meet the requirement of 19 U.S.C. 1304 and 19 CFR Part 134 because the marking would not be conspicuous. The proposed marking of imported cap, as described above, does not satisfy the marking requirements of 19 U.S.C. 1304 and 19 CFR Part 134 and is not an acceptable country of origin marking for the imported cap. You may decide to place the statements “Designed in the U.S.A.” and “Made in Bangladesh” on the same label. If so, the statement “Made in Bangladesh, Designed in the U.S.A.”, would be acceptable because the requirements of 19 C.F.R. §134.46 are met, and this would be an acceptable country of origin marking. However, it may not be marked with the marking “Designed in the U.S.A., Made in Bangladesh” as this marking would not comply with 19 C.F.R. §134.46, and would not be an acceptable country of origin marking. This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 CFR Part 177). A copy of the ruling or the control number indicated above should be provided with the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If you have any questions regarding the ruling, contact National Import Specialist Kenneth Reidlinger at 212-637-7084. Sincerely, Robert B. Swierupski Director, National Commodity Specialist Division