August 29, 2007 CBP Bulletin Notice on Certain Stemmed Tobacco
In the August 29, 2007 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (Vol. 41, No. 36), CBP published a notice proposing to revoke a classification ruling and treatment as follows:
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Proposed modification of ruling; proposed revocation of treatment. CBP is proposing to revoke a ruling on the classification of certain stemmed tobacco. 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 revocation, or any party involved with a substantially identical transaction, should advise CBP by September 28, 2007, the date that written comments on the proposed ruling is 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.
Certain stemmed tobacco. The merchandise consists of two types of tobacco. One type of tobacco is described as cigar filler half leaves that have been hand torn, broken or mangled. The other type is said to be cigar wrapper tobacco cut to shape by die cutting. The proposed modification only concerns the cigar filler half leaves, the classification of the cigar wrapper tobacco would remain unchanged.
CBP is proposing to issue HQ H014019 in order to modify HQ 083490, and reclassify the hand torn, broken or mangled cigar filler half leaves in HTS2401.20.60, which provides for "unmanufactured tobacco: threshed or similarly processed: from cigar leaf," rather than in HTS 2401.20.29. (originally 2401.20.40) as "unmanufactured tobacco: not threshed or similarly processed: cigar binder and filler."
CBP reviewed its rulings on tobacco and now proposes that the classification decision in HQ 083490 with regard to the hand torn, broken or mangled cigar filler half leaves is incorrect as it appears to have been based upon a belief that ''threshed'' refers only to mechanical threshing.
The phrase ''threshed or similarly processed'' is used but not defined in the tariff. Because neither the tariff nor the Explanatory Notes define "threshing," CBP cites several other sources including Tobacco: Production, Chemistry and Technology, ed. by D. Layten Davis and Mark T. Nielsen, (Blackwell Science, Oxford, England, 1999), and Tobacco Encyclopedia, Verlagsgruppe Rhein Main Gmbh & Co. KG (Malnz, Germany, 2000), as well as other prior CBP rulings on tobacco (HQ 084808, dated September 12, 1989, and HQ 073512, dated February 3, 1984) to support the position that hand threshing qualifies as "threshing" or other "similar processing."
CBP now proposes that the cigar filler half leaves were "threshed" or "similarly processed," and therefore should be properly classified in HTS 2401.20.60 as "unmanufactured tobacco partly or wholly stemmed/stripped: threshed or similarly processed: from cigar leaf."
proposed: 2401.20.60, duty-free; current: 2401.20.29, duty-free
August 29, 2007 CBP Bulletin (Vol. 41, No. 36) available athttp://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/toolbox/legal/bulletins_decisions/bulletins_2007/