The tariff classification of bar-shaped Tipo Chanco cheese from Chile.

NY K80181 November 25, 2003 CLA-2-04:RR:NC:2:231 K80181 CATEGORY: Classification TARIFF NO.: 0406.90.9500; 0406.90.9700 Mr. Jorge Buschmann Sociedad Colectiva Comercial Jorge y Mario Meyer Buschmann Fundo Mulpulmo® Casilla 934 Osorno Chile RE: The tariff classification of bar-shaped Tipo Chanco cheese from Chile. Dear Mr. Buschmann: In your letter, dated October 13, 2003, you have requested a tariff classification ruling. The merchandise, Mulpulmo® brand, bar-shaped Chanco Cheese (Queso Barra Mulpulmo®), item LQ-2, is described as a semi-hard, ripened, semi-fat cheese. The ingredients are pasteurized cow’s milk, cheese culture, salt, calcium chloride, rennet, and annatto (if colored). The product contains, by weight, 58 percent total solids, 42 percent moisture, 40 percent fat in the dry matter, 25 percent protein, 3 percent ash, and 1.2 percent salt (calcium chloride). The pH is 5.4. The cheese is ripened for two months. Packed in vacuum-sealed bags and then in red Cryovac® bags, the cheese is available in the form of a rectangular cheese loaf, or bar, whose net weight ranges from 7.6 to 7.9 pounds. Three bars are packed per cardboard carton, each carton weighing 23.15 pounds. A sample cheese was found to be a rindless, yellow cheese, having a semi-soft (semi-hard) body, a pliable texture and a mild taste. The manufacturing process appears very similar to that for Edam cheese, however, no proprionic acid-producing bacteria were added in the starter cultures and the cheese body appears to contain slight eye hole formation. Instead of eyeholes, the interior of the cheese contains a network of air spaces and openings throughout its interior. In our opinion, cheeses represented by this sample are classifiable under the residual subheading for other cow’s milk cheese, not elsewhere specified or included. The applicable subheading for “Mulpulmo” bar-shaped Chanco Cheese, if entered under quota, will be 0406.90.9500, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for cheese and curd, other cheese, other cheeses, and substitutes for cheese, including mixtures of the above, other, including mixtures of the above (excluding goods containing mixtures of subheadings 0406.90.61 or 0406.90.63), other, other, containing cow’s milk (except soft-ripened cow’s milk cheese) described in additional U.S. note 16 to chapter 4 and entered pursuant to its provisions. The rate of duty will be 10 percent ad valorem. The applicable subheading for bar-shaped cheese, if entered outside the quota, will be 0406.90.9700, HTS, which provides for cheese and curd, other cheese, other cheeses, and substitutes for cheese, including mixtures of the above, other, including mixtures of the above (excluding goods containing mixtures of subheadings 0406.90.61 or 0406.90.63), other, other, other. The rate of duty will be $1.509 per kilogram. In addition, products classified in subheading 0406.90.9700, HTS, will be subject to additional safeguard duties based on their value, as described in subheadings 9904.06.38 – 9904.06.49. For goods classified in subheading 0406.90.9500, an import license, issued to the importer by the United States Department of Agriculture, will be required at the time that such merchandise is entered for consumption into the United States. Questions regarding licensing procedures and applications for licenses to import cheese subject to quota should be addressed to: Import Quota Manager for Dairy Products STOP 1029/Room 5531-S U.S. Department of Agriculture 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W. Washington, DC 20250-1029 Importations of this product are subject to import regulations administered by various U.S. agencies. Requests for information regarding applicable regulations administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture may be addressed to that agency at the following location: A.P.H.I.S., Veterinary Services Federal Building, Room 756 6505 Belcrest Road Hyattsville, MD 20782 This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 CFR 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 Thomas Brady at (646) 733-3030. Sincerely, Robert B. Swierupski Director National Commodity Specialist Division