February 14, 2007 CBP Bulletin Notice on NAFTA Country of Origin of Roasted Coffee
In the February 14, 2007 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (CBPBulletin)(Vol. 41, No. 8), CBP published a notice proposing to modify a country of origin ruling and revoke a treatment as follows:
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Proposed modification of ruling; proposed revocation of treatment. CBP is proposing to modify one ruling regarding the country of origin of roasted coffee. CBP is also proposing to revoke any treatment it has previously accorded to substantially identical transactions.
CBP states that any party who has received a contrary written ruling or decision on the merchandise that is subject to the proposed ruling modification, or any party involved with a substantially identical transaction, should advise CBP by March 16, 2007, the date that written comments on the proposed rulings are due. Furthermore, CBP states that an importer's failure to advise CBP of such rulings, decisions, or substantially identical transactions may raise issues of reasonable care on the part of the importer or its agent for importations subsequent to the effective date of the final decision in this notice.
In addition, CBP states that this notice covers any rulings on the subject merchandise that may exist but have not been specifically identified.
Roasted coffee. At issue is raw, or green, coffee from Country A imported into Canada where it is roasted and then shipped to the United States for consumption.
CBP is proposing to issue HQ W968185 in order to modify NY R03084, to correct the country of origin determination for the subject roasted coffee to Canada, rather than Country A.
According to CBP, 19 CFR 102 contains the NAFTA marking rules, which are also used for determining the country of origin of NAFTA goods. Pursuant to 19 CFR 102.11(a)(3), CBP states that the tariff shift rules and other requirements of 19 CFR 102.20(b) are to be used to determine the country of origin of the coffee. Specifically, the following tariff shift rule applies:
- 1.21 - 0901.22: A change to subheading 0901.21 through 0901.22 from any subheading outside that group.
The subject raw, or green, coffee would be classified in subheading 0901.11. The subject roasted coffee is classified in subheading 0901.21. Thus, the applicable tariff shift above has been met, and the country of origin of the roasted coffee is Canada according to NAFTA rules of origin.
(CBP adds that there is a special exemption from marking requirements for certain coffee, tea and spices (See Section 14 of the Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 1996, Pub. L. 104-295, 110 Stat. 3514 (October 11, 1996), and the roasted coffee is among the products included in this statutory marking exemption. Therefore, neither the roasted coffee nor its container is required to be marked with the foreign country of origin.)
February 14, 2007 CBP Bulletin (Vol. 41, No. 8) available athttp://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/toolbox/legal/bulletins_decisions/bulletins_2007/