COUNTRY OF ORIGIN MARKING OF IMPORTED HEARING AID COMPONENT BLANKS; ARTICLE 509

N067950 July 17, 2009 MAR-2 OT:RR:NC:N4:405 CATEGORY: MARKING Harold AverillCorrigan Dispatch Company Box 3610Brownsville, TX 78523-3610 RE: COUNTRY OF ORIGIN MARKING OF IMPORTED HEARING AID COMPONENT BLANKS; ARTICLE 509 Dear Mr. Averill: This is in response to your letter dated July 6, 2009, on behalf of Starkey Laboratories Inc., requesting a ruling on the country of origin marking requirements for imported “parts of hearing aids” which are assembled from U.S. components in a NAFTA country. You state, “All assembly is done by hand and is force fit, no gluing or welding of any kind.” While you refer to them as parts of hearing aids, you state, “Once in the US the plastic base of the completed component is cut to fit the hearing aid.” A marked sample was not submitted with your letter for review. 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. Part 134, Customs Regulations (19 CFR Part 134) implements the country of origin marking requirements and exceptions of 19 U.S.C. 1304. The country of origin marking requirements for a “good of a NAFTA country” are also determined in accordance with Annex 311 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (“NAFTA”), as implemented by section 207 of the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (Pub. L. 103-182, 107 Stat 2057) (December 8, 1993) and the appropriate Customs Regulations. The Marking Rules used for determining whether a good is a good of a NAFTA country are contained in Part 102, Customs Regulations. The marking requirements of these goods are set forth in Part 134, Customs Regulations. Section 134.45(a)(2) of the regulations, provides that “a good of a NAFTA country may be marked with the name of the country of origin in English, French or Spanish. Section 134.1(g) of the regulations, defines a “good of a NAFTA country” as an article for which the country of origin is Canada, Mexico or the United States as determined under the NAFTA Marking Rules. In this case, you state that U.S. component(s) are exported to a NAFTA country where they are assembled prior to being re-imported into the U.S. The rules for determining when, for marking purposes, the country of origin of an imported good is one of the parties to “NAFTA” are set forth in Part 102, Customs Regulations. Part 102 of the regulations, sets forth the “NAFTA Marking Rules” for purposes of determining whether a good is a good of a NAFTA country for marking purposes. Section 102.11 of the regulations, sets forth the required hierarchy for determining country of origin for marking purposes. Applying the NAFTA Marking Rules set forth in Part 102 of the regulations to the facts of this case, we find that the imported hearing aid component blank is a good of the United States for marking purposes. Accordingly, it will not be required to have any country of origin marking pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 1304 when imported into the United States. This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 181 of the Customs Regulations (19 CFR Part 181). 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 J. Sheridan at (646) 733-3012. Sincerely, Robert B. Swierupski Director National Commodity Specialist Division