COUNTRY OF ORIGIN MARKING OF IMPORTED MAGAZINE INSERTS (PRINTED ADVERTISEMENTS) FROM CHINA.

NY L87299 September 30, 2005 MAR-2 RR:NC:SP:234 L87299 CATEGORY: MARKING Mr. Johnny Lee BJ Customs Brokerage Co. P.O. Box 91034 Los Angeles, CA 90009-1034 RE: COUNTRY OF ORIGIN MARKING OF IMPORTED MAGAZINE INSERTS (PRINTED ADVERTISEMENTS) FROM CHINA. Dear Mr. Lee: This is in response to your letter dated August 30, 2005, submitted on behalf of Clegg Industries Inc., requesting a ruling on whether certain imported magazine inserts are required to be individually marked with their country of origin if they are later to be processed in the U.S. by a U.S. manufacturer. Samples representing the imported merchandise both before and after U.S. processing were submitted with your letter for review. They are being returned to you as requested. The imported item, whose tariff classification was the subject of New York Ruling L83108, issued to you on March 14, 2005, is identified as a “magazine insert with sound module.” It is a folded, two-leaved paper article (approximately 7½” x 10½” in closed condition) printed with pictures, text and logos constituting an advertisement for a certain line of hair-conditioning products. When the item is opened, a concealed electronic chip plays a recording of vocalists intoning the trademarked name of a touted new conditioning ingredient. The recording is only a few seconds in duration. You state that following importation, the inserts will be shipped to a bindery facility (Quadgraphics) in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, where they will be permanently bound within magazines (“Teen People”) printed in the United States. The submitted “Teen People” sample is a 146-page periodical having one of the subject inserts bound within it, near the center. You propose a scenario in which the “Made in China” marking pertaining to the imported advertising inserts will appear on the outer cartons (“master boxes”) but not on the individual inserts themselves. For the purposes of this ruling, it is assumed that the inserts will reach the Quadgraphics bindery facility in the original import cartons bearing the “Made in China” markings. 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. Part 134, Customs Regulations (19 CFR Part 134), implements the country of origin marking requirements and exceptions of 19 U.S.C. 1304. Section 134.41(b), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.41(b)), mandates that the ultimate purchaser in the U.S. must be able to find the marking easily and read it without strain. Section 134.1(d), defines the ultimate purchaser as generally the last person in the U.S. who will receive the article in the form in which it was imported. 19 CFR 134.1(d)(1) states that if an imported article will be used in manufacture, the manufacturer may be the ultimate purchaser if he subjects the imported article to a process which results in a substantial transformation of the article. The case of U.S. v. Gibson-Thomsen Co., Inc., 27 C.C.P.A. 267 (C.A.D. 98) (1940), provides that an article used in manufacture which results in an article having a name, character or use differing from that of the constituent article will be considered substantially transformed and that the manufacturer or processor will be considered the ultimate purchaser of the constituent materials. In such circumstances, the imported article is excepted from marking and only the outermost container is required to be marked. See, 19 CFR 134.35. In this case, the imported advertising inserts lose their separate identity once they are incorporated and bound with domestic printed material into magazines in the U.S. Thus, the inserts are substantially transformed as a result of the U.S. processing, and the U.S. manufacturer (bindery) is the ultimate purchaser of the imported inserts, and under 19 CFR 134.35 only the containers which reach the ultimate purchaser are required to be marked with the country of origin, i.e., "Made in China." 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 Carl Abramowitz at 646-733-3037. Sincerely, Robert B. Swierupski Director, National Commodity Specialist Division