Entry of Leather Wallet valued less than $200; 19 CFR 10.151; 19 U.S.C.  1321

HQ 113767 November 27, 1996 QUO-1-RR:IT:EC 113767 GEV CATEGORY: Entry Matt Davies Federal Express Global Trade Services Sutherland House Matlock Road Foleshill Coventry, England CV1 4JQ RE: Entry of Leather Wallet valued less than $200; 19 CFR  10.151; 19 U.S.C.  1321 Dear Mr. Davies: This is in response to your fax of November 22, 1996, requesting a ruling concerning the importation of the above-referenced wallet. Included in your fax was a copy of an invoice from Innovations to Industry (the English vendor of the wallet), a copy of a Customs Form (CF) 7501, a fax to you from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and information from your broker regarding this matter. Our ruling on this matter is set forth below. FACTS: Innovations to Industry, the English vendor of a leather wallet valued at UKœ 6.00 (approximately US $9.00), seeks to ship the wallet to US Robotics, a company located in Los Altos, California. Conflicting advice has been received by the interested parties with respect to the applicability of Customs formal or informal entry procedures to this importation. The inapplicability of the latter necessitates the filing of a formal Customs entry and the consequent payment of a merchandise processing fee and any applicable duty. ISSUE: Whether the subject wallet is exempted from formal Customs entry. - 2 - LAW AND ANALYSIS: Section 651 of Title VI (Customs Modernization) of the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (Pub. L. 103-182, 107 Stat. 2057, 2209 (1993)), amended 19 U.S.C.  1321 to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to promulgate regulations relating to administrative exemptions from duty for certain articles, including gifts, and personal and household goods. In all other cases, the Secretary was authorized to promulgate regulations providing for a duty exemption for a specific amount, not to be less than $200. The prior law provided for a duty exemption for those articles valued less than $5.00. Interim regulations were published in the Federal Register on June 13, 1994, T.D. 94-51 (59 FR 30289), which included amending regulations concerning certain duty exemptions, e.g.,  10.151 of the Customs Regulations (19 CFR  10.151). These regulations became effective on August 23, 1994. See, T.D. 94-71 (59 FR 43283); see, also, T.D. 95-31 (60 FR 18983). Section 10.151, Customs Regulations, as amended, provides that, subject to  10.153, any shipment of merchandise imported by one person on one day and having a fair retail value not exceeding $200 will be exempt from duty, provided all other conditions of the regulation are met. It also provides that the fair retail value must be evidenced by the bill of lading (or other document filed as the entry) or manifest listing of each bill of lading, and that the merchandise subject to this exemption shall be entered under Customs informal entry procedures. (See 19 CFR subpart C, part 143, and  128.24, 145.31, 148.12 and 148.62). Section 10.153(g), Customs Regulations, provides that the exemption referred to in  10.151 is not to be allowed in the case of any merchandise of a class or kind provided for in any absolute or tariff-rate quota, whether the quota is open or closed. Although textile articles are usually subject to quota and visa restraints, no such restraints currently exist with respect to the subject wallet. Accordingly, since the documentation submitted indicates that the wallet in question has a fair retail value not exceeding $200, and since it is not subject to quota and visa restraints, pursuant to  10.151, Customs Regulations, it is exempted from formal Customs entry. - 3 - HOLDING: The subject wallet is exempted from formal Customs entry pursuant to 19 CFR  10.151. Sincerely, Chief Entry and Carrier Rulings Branch cc: Robert Anders - Trade Specialist Customs Attache American Embassy London, England