Country of Origin Marking for Sunglasses and Water Bottles

N208450 March 28, 2012 MAR-2 OT:RR:NC:N4:414 CATEGORY: MARKING Mr. James Akins 550 W. Main Street Suite 825 Knoxville, TN 37902 RE: Country of Origin Marking for Sunglasses and Water Bottles Dear Mr. Akins: This is in response to your undated letter received on March 8, 2012 requesting a ruling on whether the marking requirements are met if an article itself is properly marked with the country of origin but the sealed disposable container in which the article is packaged is not marked. Your initial letter dated January 16, 2012 stated that the packaging would be printed paperboard packaging. Samples provided with this request for a ruling consist of sunglasses packaged in unprinted paperboard packaging and a water bottle packaged in unprinted paperboard packaging. 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. If an imported article is to be sold at retail in its imported form, the purchaser at retail is the ultimate purchaser. In this case, the ultimate purchaser of the imported sunglasses and the imported water bottle is the consumer who purchases the product at retail. Section 134.24(a) states that disposable containers or holders are the usual ordinary types of containers or holders, including cans, bottles, paper or polyethylene bags, paperboard boxes, and similar containers or holders which are ordinarily discarded after the contents have been consumed. The marking requirements for sealed disposable containers of imported merchandise are set forth in section 134.24(d)(2), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.24(d)). This section provides that “disposable containers or holders of imported merchandise, which are sold without normally being opened by the ultimate purchaser shall be marked to indicate the country of origin of their contents.” You stated in a conversation with this office that the individual sunglasses packaged in paperboard packaging and the individual water bottles packaged in paperboard packaging will be removed from the master shipping carton. The individual paperboard packaging for the sunglasses and the water bottles will be sealed and labeled with United States Postal Service mailing labels and mailed to the ultimate purchaser. Under these circumstances, since the disposable containers in which the sunglasses and the water bottles are individually packaged will be sealed, the disposable containers must be marked with the country of origin of the contents. 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 Barbara Kiefer at (646) 733-3019. Sincerely, Thomas J. Russo Director National Commodity Specialist Division