Classification of a children's pencil case carried on thebody

HQ 084868 September 13, 1989 CLA-2 CO:R:C:G 084868 HP CATEGORY: Classification TARIFF NO.: 4202.92.4500 Ms. Justine Makarevich Import Administration Manager Airway Industries Airway Park Ellwood City, PA 16117 RE: Classification of a children's pencil case carried on the body Dear Ms. Makarevich: This is in reply to your letter of May 30, 1989, to our Baltimore office, concerning the tariff classification of children's pencil pouches, produced in Mexico, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA ). Other articles referenced in your letter have been covered in NYRL 841844. Reference exporter Productos Para Viaje, S.A. FACTS: The merchandise at issue consists of a children's pencil pouch case of nylon, designed to be worn around the waist. The item will be constructed of an outer surface of plastic sheeting of reinforced, laminated plastic. It has a zipper across the front, and an elastic band sewn to a tab on each side. The pouch is slipped over the head of the child and pulled down to the waist area. ISSUE: Whether the pencil pouch is an article normally carried in the pocket or handbag? LAW AND ANALYSIS: Subheadings 4202.31 through 4202.39, HTSUSA, provide for articles of a kind normally carried in the pocket or in the handbag. These subheadings are a carryover from the Tariff Schedules of the United States (TSUS) provision for flat goods, Schedule 7, Part 1, Subpart D, TSUS. Flat goods were defined as "small flatwares designed to be carried on a person." Id. We subsequently interpreted this provision as goods "designed to be carried on a person, either in the pocket or in a handbag," HRL 072002 of February 15, 1983, attached (emphasis added), thus further conforming the earlier definition with the present HTSUSA subheading. Indeed, we have previously classified soft zippered pencil pouches under the provision for flat goods. HRL 066390 of October 20, 1980. Were the instant merchandise constructed without the elastic band designed to fit around the waist, it is our opinion that the pencil pouch would be classifiable as an article normally carried in the pocket or handbag. With the strap, however, we feel that such classification would be inappropriate. The instant article is obviously not intended to be carried as such, but to be worn on the body while the child is in school. Therefore, the pencil pouches are not classifiable as articles normally carried in the pocket or handbag. See HRL 072002, supra, stating that belt-type cassette carriers, constructed to attach to the belt of the user, are "precluded from being classified under the provision for flat goods because they are not designed to be carried on a person, either in the pocket or in a handbag." Subheading 4202.92, HTSUSA, provides for travel, sports and similar bags, with an outer surface of plastic sheeting or of textile materials. The General Rules of Inter pretation (GRI's) to the HTSUSA govern the classification of goods in the tariff schedule. GRI 1 states, in pertinent part: ... classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes .... Goods which cannot be classified in accordance with GRI 1 are to be classified in accordance with subsequent GRI's, taken in order. Additional U.S. Note 1 to Chapter 42, HTSUSA, states: For the purposes of heading 4202, the expression " travel, sports and similar bags" means goods, other than those falling in subheadings 4202.11 through 4202.39, of a kind designed for carrying clothing and other personal effects during travel, including backpacks and shopping bags of this heading, but does not include binocular cases, camera cases, musical instrument cases , bottle cases and similar containers. We note that the exemplars above include backpacks. Backpacks are worn on the body through the use of attaching straps. It is a well accepted function of backpacks to transport, while on college campuses, books and other educational essentials. The instant pencil pouches perform a similar function; i.e., the transportation of school supplies and other personal effects in a device worn on the body. Therefore, the pouches are a similar container to travel and sports bags, as defined in Additional U.S. Note 1, supra. HOLDING: As a result of the foregoing, the instant merchandise is classified under subheading 4202.92.4500, HTSUSA, as articles similar to those enumerated in heading 4202 and not covered by any other heading of Chapter 42, with outer surface of plastic sheeting or of textile materials, travel, sports and similar bags, other. The applicable rate of duty is 20 percent ad valorem. Sincerely, John Durant, Director Commercial Rulings Division