Country of Origin; Substantial Transformation glass vase and platter.

HQ H249312 May 2, 2016 CLA-2 OT:RR:CTF:TCM H249312 MG CATEGORY: MARKING Kim A. Harper, L.C.H.B. Trade & Product Compliance Specialist 100 Pier 1 Place, Level 9 Fort Worth, Texas 76102 RE: Country of Origin; Substantial Transformation glass vase and platter. Dear Ms. Harper: This is in response to your request, dated May 21, 2012 and supplemental submission, dated February 11, 2013, requesting a binding ruling letter on the country of origin of a hand decorated glass vase SKU# 2624959 and glass platter SKU# 2624933, manufactured in Poland and Turkey, respectively, and further decorated in Italy before being imported into the United States. Both decorated and clear glass (“blank”) samples of the glass vase and platter were provided with your submission. FACTS: Your ruling request states that the glass vase is manufactured in Poland and the glass platter is manufactured in Turkey. Once manufactured, the glass vase and platter blanks are then shipped to a vendor in Italy (“Il Quadrifoglio”) where they are decorated using “old Venetian artisanal production techniques.” This technique involves the application by hand of paint, gold and silver leafing and glittering techniques performed by hand by the vendor’s master artists who turn a glass blank vase and platter into a beautiful and unique hand decorated glass vase (SKU# 2624959) and glass platter (SKU# 2624933) before importing them into the United States. The decorative process of the glass vase is described as follows: 1. The blank vase is sprayed inside with the background color. 2. Additional decorations and accent of colors are made by hand using the brush with a special long technique, which gives the specific dripped effect. The decoration is all hand made working on the inside of the vase. 3. The vase is placed in the kiln to slowly dry the color. 4. When it comes out of the kiln and is cooled, the paint is sprayed on the edge. 5. A homogeneous coat of glue is sprayed on the inside walls. 6. Silver sheets are cut and placed on the inside walls of the vase by hand. 7. Manually, with a sponge, the silver sheets are pressed to bond them to the base surface. 8. When the vase is dried, a varnish is sprayed. Each piece is then labeled and packaged the following day. The decorative process of the glass blank platter is described as follows: 1. The glass platter is placed in the kiln to warm. 2. In the following stages, the platter is hand painted by brush. In this item, there are 4 different colors and each color must dry before applying the next one. Once colored, a special varnish is applied, which mixes the colors together. 3. Preparation of The compound is prepared with gold glitter. 4. A uniform layer of the gold glitter mix is sprayed over the decoration. 5. The platter is placed in the kiln to dry. Your submission states that the work performed in Italy greatly increases the value of the glass vase and platter and that the glass articles at issue have been substantially transformed by the work performed there. In this regard, you indicate that the cost of the glass vase produced in Poland is 28% of the cost of the decorated vase and that the cost of the glass platter produced in Turkey is 24% of the cost of the decorated platter, prior to their importation into the United States. ISSUE: Whether the country of origin of the glass vase and platter is Poland and Turkey, respectively, or whether the decorative work done in Italy constitutes a substantial transformation. LAW AND ANALYSIS: Section 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1304), provides that, unless excepted, every article of foreign origin imported into the United States shall be marked in a conspicuous place as legibly, indelibly, and permanently as the nature of the article (or container) will permit, in such a manner as to indicate to the ultimate purchaser in the United States the English name of the country of origin of the article. Congressional intent in enacting 19 U.S.C. 1304 was "that the ultimate purchaser should be able to know by an inspection of the marking on the imported goods the country of which the goods is the product. The evident purpose is to mark the goods so that at the time of purchase the ultimate purchaser may, by knowing where the goods were produced, be able to buy or refuse to buy them, if such marking should influence his will." United States v. Friedlaender & Co., 27 C.C.P.A. 297, 302 (1940). Part 134 of the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Regulations implements the country of origin marking requirements and exceptions of 19 U.S.C. 1304. Section 134.1(b), CBP Regulations (19 CFR 134.1(b)), provides that: "country of origin" means the country of manufacture, production, or growth of any article of foreign origin entering the United States. Further work or material added to an article in another country must effect a substantial transformation in order to render such other country the "country of origin" for marking purposes. A substantial transformation occurs when articles lose their identity and become new articles having a new name, character and use. To determine whether a substantial transformation has occurred, each case must be decided on its own particular facts. Uniroyal, Inc. v. United States, 3 CIT 220, 224, 542 F. Supp. 1026, 1029 (1982), aff'd, 702 F.2d 1022 (Fed. Cir. 1983). In Uniroyal, Inc. v. United States, the Court of International Trade held that no substantial transformation occurred because the upper was readily recognizable as a distinct item apart from the outsole and the upper was the essence of the completed shoe. In HQ 559366, August 29, 1995, CBP reviewed the country of origin marking requirements for an ulu knife that consisted of a semi-circular blade and a handle. The ulu knife could be used in the kitchen for culinary and cutlery purposes. It also could be used as a utility knife, and it was also stated to be a collector's item. We ruled that the imported blade was not substantially transformed in the United States by the etching and assembly operations to which it was subjected. The ruling noted that CBP has distinguished between the kind and amount of further processing performed, i.e., between machining operations performed to achieve a specified form and those performed to achieve more cosmetic or minor processing operations. It reaffirmed CBP’s longstanding view that embellishment and finishing operations, such as polishing, enameling and cleaning, are not regarded as extensive processes that result in a new and different article of commerce. In HQ 734062, dated April 22, 1991, CBP ruled that cutting teeth into imported Mexican key blanks, was a minor finishing process that did not alter the keys’ basic character. Other rulings have held that further processing operations, including grinding, polishing, nickel-plating, heat-treating and assembly, were considered finishing operations that did not effect a substantial transformation. See, HQ H004649, dated March 20, 2007. Furthermore, it is a well-established policy that the decoration of imported ceramic or china articles by means of painting or decalcomania does not substantially transform articles. See, HQ 560223, dated November 25, 1997. In HQ 734052, October 17, 1991, we held that the application of decals in the United States to porcelain plates imported from Japan did not effect a substantial transformation to the plates. The ruling found that the name of the plates did not change, that the plates retained their essential identity as plates, albeit decorated ones, and that they did not undergo a substantial change in use. In this regard, we note that HQ 560223, modifies HQ 734052 only as to the country of origin of the decals and not the plates. Based on the analysis set forth in the previously cited cases and rulings, we believe that the glass vase and platter are not substantially transformed as the work done in Italy does not change the identity of the merchandise, cause a physical change in the articles, or change their character. Their name and intended use as a glass vase or platter also remains unchanged. Although the value of the merchandise increases by the work done in the second country, CBP has ruled that value alone is not dispositive in the determination of substantial transformation. See HQ 734052, citing Superior Wire v. United States, 11 CIT 608, 669 F. Supp. 472 (1987), aff’d, 867 F.2d 1409 (Fed. Cir. 1989). In some instances where the processes that occur in a second (or third, fourth, etc.) country are of an extensive nature, CBP has found a substantial transformation. For instance, in HQ 734387, dated June 8, 1992, CBP considered the country of origin of lead crystal stemware (made of a bowl, stem and foot) that was given its shape in one country and sent to Ireland for further processing. The importer considered the crystal stemware shaped in the first country a blank even though the final stemware dimensions of the blank were fixed. In Ireland, the stemware underwent an extensive labor-intensive and exacting process, entailing considerable expertise in the art of hand-cutting crystal to provide a decorative outward appearance. The process in Ireland included ink marking the stemware with the appropriate grid pattern, having a team of glass cutters variously cut the pattern on the blank, performing various finishing operations – washing and acid polishing and dipping the cut piece, which produced a glossy finish, and finally inspecting and packaging the finished consumer product (hand cut lead crystal stemware) for export to the United States. The finished stemware value was substantially higher than the blank. CBP held that the imported glassware blanks were substantially transformed functionally into formal, elegant stemware by the extensive hand cutting operation performed in Ireland. See also HQ 734653, dated October 22, 1992; compare HQ 733036, dated April 9, 1990 (no substantial transformation where hand cuts on crystal were not labor intensive, time-consuming or intricate). Also, in HQ H086295, dated March 22, 2010, we determined that crystal articles blown to shape in Slovenia were substantially transformed when they were cut, ground and finished in Germany. The process applied to the merchandise in the crystal rulings cited above is distinguishable from the process performed to the instant merchandise. While the processing was significantly extensive and sophisticated in the above-cited rulings, the processing performed in Italy on the merchandise at issue in this case, only involves the application of paint, and the application of glitter and/or foil. As such, the processing involved in Italy is not complex and does not change the identity of the glass vase and platter and, therefore, does not result in a substantial transformation. HOLDING: Based on the information provided, the hand decorated glass vase SKU# 2624959 and glass platter SKU# 2624933, manufactured in Poland and Turkey, respectively, are not substantially transformed when paint and glitter and/or foil are applied in Italy. Accordingly, the glass vase and glass platter must be individually marked to reflect Poland and Turkey, respectively, as their country of origin, in accordance with 19 CFR §§ 134.1(d)(2) and 134.11. A copy of this ruling letter should be attached to the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is entered. If the documents have been filed with a copy, this ruling should be brought to the attention of the CBP officer handling the transaction. Sincerely, Ieva K. O’Rourke, Chief Tariff Classification and Marking Branch