Marking of footwear from China

N038652 October 8, 2008 MAR-2-64:OT:RR:E:NC:SP:247 CATEGORY: Marking Ms. JoniAnn Marie Newton euroWellness USA 22455 Oakville Drive Land O Lakes, FL 34639 RE: Marking of footwear from China Dear Ms. Newton: In your e-ruling request letter dated September 16, 2008 you requested a tariff classification ruling concerning the country of origin marking of footwear. You state that you are “selling” women’s leather deep cork footbed sandals. You state that the cork footbed (midsole) is made in Germany and the upper and outsole are made in China. The entire product is assembled in China. You want to indicate the country of origin by stamping on the inside upper and print on the footbed “Original German Footbed.” You have not provided a sample or photograph to illustrate how these sandals will be marked. The marking statute, section 304, Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1304), provides that, unless excepted, every article of foreign origin (or its container) imported into the U.S. shall be marked in a conspicuous place as legibly, indelibly and permanently as the nature of the article (or its container) will permit, in such a manner as to indicate to the ultimate purchaser in the U.S. the English name of the country of origin of the article. Section 134.46, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.46), deals with cases in which the words “United States,” or “American,” the letters “U.S.A.,” any variation of such words or letters, or the name of any city or locality in the United States, or the name of any foreign country or locality other than the country or locality in which the article was manufactured or produced, appears on an imported article or its container, and those words, letters or names may mislead or deceive the ultimate purchaser as to the actual country of origin. In such a case, there shall appear, legibly and permanently, in close proximity to such words, letters, or name, and in at least a comparable size, the name of the country of origin preceded by “Made in,” “Product of,” or other words of similar meaning. In order to satisfy the close proximity requirement, the country of origin marking must generally appear on the same side(s) or surface(s) in which the name or locality other than the actual country of origin appears. The proposed marking for the women’s sandals marked as you have indicated does not satisfy the marking requirements of 19 U.S.C. 1304 and 19 CFR Part 134 and is not an acceptable country of origin marking for the imported footwear. This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177). 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 Richard Foley at (646) 733-3042. Sincerely, Robert B. Swierupski Director National Commodity Specialist Division