The country of origin marking under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) of fresh, chilled or frozen, raw pork ears of U.S. origin that are dehydrated in Canada and returned to the US; Article 509

NY F83484 February 28, 2000 MAR-2:RR:NC:2:231 F83484 Mr. Sebastien Picory Viandes Serficio, Inc. 3115 Losch Saint-Hubert, Quebec J3Y 3V6 CATEGORY: Marking Canada RE: The country of origin marking under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) of fresh, chilled or frozen, raw pork ears of U.S. origin that are dehydrated in Canada and returned to the US; Article 509 Dear Mr. Picory: In your letter, dated February 22, 2000, you requested a ruling on the country of origin marking of fresh, chilled or frozen, raw pork ears of U.S. origin that are dehydrated in Canada and returned to the United States under the NAFTA. The merchandise is comprised of fresh, chilled or frozen, raw pork ears of U.S. origin that are exported from the United States to Canada for dehydrating and then returned to the United States. During the dehydration process in Canada, raw pork ears are placed on trays, on stainless steel racks, and then transported to a dehydration chamber. The chamber utilizes a ventilation process of dry and warm air. The pork ears lose 2/3 of their original weight, and they arrive at a moisture level of 6-7 percent. After 20 hours the dehydrated pork ears are removed from the trays, packaged in bulk (200 ears per box, with polyliner), and shipped to the United States. They will be sold as pet food. The marking rules used for determining whether a good is a good of a NAFTA country are contained in Part 102, Customs Regulations. Part 102 of the Customs Regulations sets forth the “Rules of Origin” for the purposes of determining whether a good is a good of a NAFTA country for marking purposes. Section 102.11 articulates the required hierarchy for determining country of origin for marking purposes. Section 102.11(a)(3) states that the country of origin of a good is the country in which “each foreign material incorporated in that good undergoes an applicable change in tariff classification set out in Section 102.20 and satisfies any other applicable requirements of that section, and all other applicable requirements of these rules are satisfied." Section 102.20(a) articulates the tariff shifts that are required for merchandise that is classifiable in chapter 5, HTS. Applying the NAFTA Marking Rules set forth in Part 102 of the Customs Regulations to the facts of this case, we find that for marking purposes, these goods are of U.S. origin, and marking is not required. A tariff shift has not occurred, as per CR 102.20(a). Accordingly, the dehydrated pork ears of American origin, when exported from Canada, remain products of the United States for the purposes of country of origin marking. This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 181 of the Customs Regulations (19 CFR 181). This ruling letter is binding only as to the party to whom it is issued and may be relied on only by that party. 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 Thomas Brady at (212) 637-7064. Sincerely, Robert B. Swierupski Director, National Commodity Specialist Division