THE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN MARKING OF HERBS AND SPICES

N005846 February 8, 2007 MAR-2 RR:E:NC:SP:231 CATEGORY: MARKING Ms. Jane L. Taeger Samuel Shapiro & Company, Inc. 100 North Charles Street (Suite 1200) Baltimore, MD 21201 RE: THE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN MARKING OF HERBS AND SPICES Dear Ms. Taeger: This is in response to your letter dated January 23, 2007 requesting a ruling on whether certain imported herbs and spices are required to be marked with their country of origin. Your letter was submitted on behalf of your client, Fuchs North America, Inc. (Owings Mills, MD). Samples were not submitted with your letter for review. You state that your client imports various spices and herbs (for example, black pepper, cinnamon, basil, etc.) from various countries. The goods are imported in bulk, ranging from 50-pound cartons to 1000-pound sacks. Some products are sold by Fuchs North America to commercial customers, such as food manufacturers, in the same packages in which they are imported. Other products are processed by grinding and/or blending by Fuchs North America prior to sale to their commercial customers. Fuchs North America’s products are not sold directly to retail customers. You state further that the imported products fall within the subheadings of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) listed below. We note that, effective February 3, 2007, some of the tariff numbers have changed. Where applicable, we have indicated the new numbers parenthetically. 0904.11 0904.12 0904.20 0905.00 0906.10 (now 0906.11 and 0906.19) 0906.20 0907.00 0908.10 0908.20 0908.30 0909.10 0909.20 0909.30 0909.40 0909.50 0910.10 0910.20 0910.30 0910.40 (now 0910.99.05, 0910.99.06 and 0910.99.07) 0910.50 (now 0910.99.10) 0910.91 0910.99 1207.40 1207.50 1207.91 1404.90 (now 1404.90.9090 only) 0712.90.60 1209.91.2000 1211.90.2000 1211.90.9040 (formerly 1211.90.8040) (now 1211.90.9140) 1211.90.9050 (formerly 1211.90.8050) (now 1211.90.9150) 1211.90.9090 (formerly 1211.90.8090) (now 1211.90.9190) 2006.00.3000 2918.13.2000 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. As provided in section 134.41(b), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.41(b)), the country of origin marking is considered conspicuous if the ultimate purchaser in the U.S. is able to find the marking easily and read it without strain. However, Section 14 of the Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 1996, Pub. L. 104-295, 110 Stat. 3514 (October 11, 1996) amended the country of origin marking statute (19 U.S.C. 1304) to exempt imports of certain specified coffee, tea and spices from the marking requirements of 19 U.S.C. 1304 subsections (a) and (b). Goods provided for in all of the above-listed tariff numbers are among those products included in this statutory marking exemption. Therefore, neither these products (i.e., those properly classifiable in the subheadings you list or, where applicable, in the corresponding new subheadings) nor their containers are required to be marked with the foreign country of origin. 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 Nathan Rosenstein at 646-733-3030. Sincerely, Robert B. Swierupski Director, National Commodity Specialist Division