Affirmation of NY N346306 and NY N346309; Tariff Classification of Mushroom Substrate from China

H347082 April 9, 2026 OT:RR:CTF:FTM H347082 TSM CATEGORY: Classification TARIFF NO.: 0602.90.50 Mr. Will MacHugh Mush Love Inc. 23 Ringold River Road Mesa, WA 99343 RE: Affirmation of NY N346306 and NY N346309; Tariff Classification of Mushroom Substrate from China Dear Mr. MacHugh: This is in response to your two requests, both dated March 16, 2025, for reconsideration of New York Ruling Letters (“NY”) N346306 and N346309, issued to Mush Love Inc. on March 12, 2025. In those rulings, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) found that certain mushroom substrate was classified under subheading 0602.90.50, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”), which provides for “Other live plants (including their roots), cuttings and slips; mushroom spawn: Other: Other: Mushroom spawn.” We have reviewed NY N346306 and NY N346309, and for the reasons set forth below we affirm the referenced rulings. NY N346306 described the merchandise at issue as follows: The subject merchandise is Shiitake Mushroom Substrate. The product is composed of water, sawdust, bran, and shiitake mushroom spawn. You state the water, sawdust, and bran are combined and then pressed into a log, which is placed in a plastic bag with a filter and sterilized in an autoclave. Upon sterilization, a small amount of mushroom spawn is added to the log and incubated in a controlled environment for 1.5 - 3.0 months. Subsequently, the bag is removed to finalize the maturation process, and the log is placed in a cardboard carton with air holes and chilled for shipping. The log which weighs 1.6 - 1.8 kilograms is packed twelve to a carton for importation to the United States. The Shitake Mushroom Substrate is intended be used in commercial agriculture to produce mushrooms for consumption. NY N346309 described the merchandise at issue as follows: The subject merchandise is Mushroom Substrate Logs of two varieties. The first product is composed of water, sawdust, bran, and oyster mushroom spawn. The second product is composed of water, sawdust, bran, and lion’s mane mushroom spawn. You state that water, sawdust, and bran are combined and then pressed into logs, which are placed in plastic bags with a filter and sterilized in an autoclave. Upon completion of the sterilization process, small amounts of mushroom spawn are added to the sterilized logs and incubated in a controlled environment for 1.5 - 3.0 months to allow for maturity. Subsequently, the bags are removed to finalize the maturation process, and the logs are placed in a cardboard carton with air holes and chilled for shipping. The logs which weigh 1.35 - 1.45 kilograms are packed twelve to a carton or ten to a mesh bag for importation to the United States. The mushroom substrate logs are intended be used in commercial agriculture to produce mushrooms for consumption. In your requests for reconsideration, you argue that classification of the products at issue under subheading 0602.90.50, HTSUS, does not accurately reflect their nature based on the biological characteristics, stage of development, and alignment with the HTSUS provisions. In this regard, you claim that Mushroom Substrate Logs, consisting of fully colonized substrate fruiting Shiitake, Lion’s Mane, or Oyster mushrooms, are biologically and functionally closer to the mushrooms described in heading 0709, HTSUS, than to the mushroom spawn of heading 0602, HTSUS. In support of your position, you provide letters from three professional mycologists sharing their expert opinions on the issue. The first expert argued that unlike spawn, which is a starter material highly susceptible to contamination by bacteria or competing fungi and requires sterile conditions throughout its handling, storage, and transport, colonized substrate represents a later stage in the process and does not require sterility. Further, the expert argued that colonized substrate is just one step removed from harvested mushrooms that are the mature fruiting bodies recognized as food, because it is primed to fruit without further inoculation or intervention, and that biologically, substrate is nearly indistinguishable from a mushroom in its developmental trajectory and is commercially marketed to growers as a near-finished product ready to yield a crop. Similarly, the second expert argued that unlike spawn, the ready-to-fruit cultured substrate is more a cohesive block, where the mycelium is aged, more densely colonized, and not sensitive to temperature fluctuations, and represents the last step before giving rise to the formation of mushrooms themselves. Finally, the third expert argued that the difference between the mushroom fruitbody and the mycelium-substrate complex from which it emanates is far less pronounced than it is for plants and, therefore, the substrate blocks being imported are far from the “seed” or “spawn” designation under which they enter the United States and much closer to the finished product. 2 In your requests for reconsideration, you further contend that the mushroom substrate logs at issue are described as “edible fungi.” The request explains that Note 3 to Chapter 7 “explicitly includes ‘edible fungi’ within the scope of ‘vegetables…’” of heading 0709, HTSUS.1 You further alleged that the mushroom substrate logs at issue meet the description of “edible fungi” because they bear fresh mushrooms at importation. The requests note that Explanatory Notes (“ENs”) to heading 0709 “further confirm that … [the heading] encompasses ‘mushrooms … fresh or chilled,’ with no requirement that the mushrooms be detached from their growing medium, as long as they are in a fresh state suitable for harvest.” In addition, you reason that heading 0602, HTSUS, which covers “…mushroom spawn,” is described in the EN to heading 0602 as “mycelium… prepared for the propagation of mushrooms,” typically in a sterile medium like grain or sawdust, without fruiting bodies. 2 It is explained that the mushroom substrate at issue has advanced to the “fruiting stage” and serves as “a vehicle for delivering fresh mushrooms to the consumer.” Finally, the request claims that in NY N346306 and NY N346309, CBP “conflate[d] the substrate medium with the spawn itself, overlooking the presence of mature or developing mushrooms that define the product’s essential character under GRI 3(b), should … [the mushroom substrate at issue] be considered a composite good.” Heading 0709, HTSUS, provides for “Other vegetables, fresh or chilled.” Note 2 to Chapter 7 provides in relevant part that in heading 0709 the word “vegetables” includes, among others, edible mushrooms. Similarly, the EN to Chapter 7 also provides in relevant part that in heading 0709 the word “vegetables” includes, among others, edible mushrooms. In this regard, we note that the Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “edible” as “something that is suitable or safe to eat,” or “a food item.” 3 We further note that it is a well-established principle that goods must be classified in their condition as imported. See Mita Copystar Am. V. United States, 21 F.3d 1079, 1082 (Fed. Cir. 1994); See also HQ H197758, dated April 27, 2012; HQ H225011, dated November 5, 2013; HQ H154040, dated June 9, 2011; HQ H135335, dated April 18, 2011. Upon review, we find that as imported the products at issue are “composed of water, sawdust, bran, and mushroom spawn,” and are not suitable to be consumed as food. While your requests for reconsideration claim that “CBP … overlook[ed] the presence of mature or developing mushrooms that define the product’s essential character,” and that the ENs to heading 0709 confirm that the heading covers fresh or chilled mushrooms that may or may not be detached from their growing medium, as long as they are in a fresh state suitable for harvest, this position is not supported by the facts and expert testimony.4 Specifically, the expert opinions that were provided explicitly acknowledged that “colonized substrate is one step removed from harvested mushrooms that are the mature fruiting bodies recognized as food.” Therefore, we find that as imported the products at issue are not “edible mushrooms” within the meaning of Note 2 to Chapter 7 or EN to Chapter 7. 1 We note that Note 3 to Chapter 7 actually provides that heading 0712 covers all dried vegetables of the kinds falling in headings 0701 to 0711. This note is not relevant for the purposes of this reconsideration. 2 We note that EN 06.02 actually provides, in relevant part, as follows: “[t]he heading includes: (5) Mushroom spawn consisting of mushroom plant threads (mycelium) whether or not mixed with soil or vegetable matter.” 3 Merriam-Webster, retrieved on March 23, 2026, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/edible. 4 We further note that the EN to heading 0709 does not provide for “mushrooms … suitable for harvest.” The referenced EN simply covers, among other fresh or chilled vegetables, mushrooms. 3 Heading 0602, HTSUS, provides for “Other live plants (including their roots), cuttings and slips; mushroom spawn.” The ENs to heading 0602 further clarifies that the heading includes “mushroom spawn consisting of mushroom plant threads (mycelium) whether or not mixed with soil or vegetable matter.” While the merchandise at issue is not mixed with soil, we find that it is mixed with vegetable matter, because it consists entirely of plant-derived materials (sawdust and bran) combined with live mushroom spawn, forming an inseparable growth medium necessary for the viability and propagation of the mushroom spawn. As such, it is properly treated as vegetable-origin material forming part of the mushroom spawn at the time of importation, classified in heading 0602, HTSUS. With regard to your remark that classification under GRI 3(b) may be applicable, we note that because the terms of heading 0602, HTSUS, describe the products at issue in their entirety, the classification is based on GRI 1 and consideration of GRI 3(b) is not warranted. Accordingly, we affirm NY N346306 and NY N346309, both dated March 12, 2025, which correctly classify mushroom substrate products in heading 0602, HTSUS, and specifically under subheading 0602.90.50, HTSUS, which provides for “Other live plants (including their roots), cuttings and slips; mushroom spawn: Other: Other: Mushroom spawn.” The general, column one rate for duty is 1.4 cents per kilogram. This ruling does not address the applicability of any additional duties that may apply to the goods discussed herein. Likewise, duty rates are provided for your convenience and are subject to change. The text of the most recent HTSUS and the accompanying duty rates are provided at www.usitc.gov. Sincerely, for Yuliya A. Gulis, Director Commercial and Trade Facilitation Division 4