THE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN MARKING OF REMAILER BAGS AND BOXES

N243855 August 5, 2013 MAR-2 OT:RR:NC:N4:421 CATEGORY: MARKING Mr. John M. Strough Mohawk Global Logistics, Inc. 123 Air Cargo Road North Syracuse, NY 13607 RE: THE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN MARKING OF REMAILER BAGS AND BOXES Dear Mr. Strough: This is in response to your letter dated July 5, 2013, on behalf of your client, N.T.I. Trading Ltd., in which you requested a binding ruling on acceptable country of origin marking for remailer bags and remailer boxes. Photographs were submitted in lieu of marked samples. As you state in your letter, the remailer bags and boxes are similar to the packaging bags and boxes that are used by express couriers to ship or mail articles. N.T. I. Trading Ltd. imports various items that will be distributed as free promotional gifts. These items are sent to consumers in appreciation for activities such as subscribing to a magazine, joining a motor club or donating to a charity. You state that each promotional item is permanently marked to indicate China as its country of origin before being packed in a remailer bag or box. The bags and boxes, with their marked contents, are packaged into an export carton for shipping to the United States. The export carton is marked with the country of origin and sent directly to a fulfillment center in the United States. The promotional items, prepackaged in the remailer bags and boxes, are removed from the export carton and are shipped to individual consumers. You ask if the remailer bags and remailer boxes have to be marked with the country of origin of the contents. 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 134.1(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. 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 can read it without strain. Additionally, section 134.44 generally provides that any marking that is sufficiently permanent so that it will remain on the article until it reaches the ultimate purchaser unless deliberately removed is acceptable. As long as each promotional gift item is conspicuously, legibly and permanently marked in satisfaction of the marking requirements of 19 U.S.C. 1304 and 19 CFR Part 134, there is no need to mark the bags and boxes in which the articles will be shipped to the ultimate purchaser. 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 Joan Mazzola at (646) 733-3023. Sincerely, Deborah C. Marinucci Acting Director National Commodity Specialist Division