The country of origin marking for a woman’s imported pullover from Bangladesh

N261167 February 23, 2015 MAR-2-:OT:RR:NC:N3:359 CATEGORY: Marking Mr. Harry J. Gonnelly Import Commodity Group LTD. 500 Merrick Road Lynbrook, NY 11563 RE: The country of origin marking for a woman’s imported pullover from Bangladesh Dear Mr. Gonnelly, This is in response to your letter dated, January 22, 2015, on behalf of your client NTD Apparel Inc., requesting a ruling on whether, the proposed method of the origin marking and location is an acceptable country of origin marking for an imported woman’s pullover. A sample was submitted with your request for review and will be returned. Style QE859, which you refer to as a “top”, is a woman’s pullover constructed from 60% cotton and 40% polyester interlock knit fabric. The outer surface of the garment’s fabric measures more than nine stitches per two centimeters counted in the direction that the stitches were formed. The pullover features a round banded collar, short hemmed sleeves, an EMOJI pressure heat transfer on the front panel, a hemmed front bottom that reaches the waist and a hemmed shirt-tail rear bottom extending to below the waist. A pink heat seal label is applied to the inside center rear neckline of the garment mid-way between the shoulder seams. The label shows a heart symbol with the word 2KUHL, the country of origin as “Made in Bangladesh and the importer’s name, in plain block letters on a contrasting (black) background. The marking statute, 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 U.S., shall be marked in a conspicuous place as legibly, indelibly, and permanent as the nature of the article (or 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. As provided in section 134.41(b), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.41(b)), the country of origin marking is considered conspicuous if the ultimate purchaser in the U.S. is able to find the marking easily and read it without strain. Section 134.1(d), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.1(d)) defines the “ultimate purchaser” generally as the last person in the United States who will receive the article in the form in which it is imported. Since the garment is intended for retail sale, the retail customer is considered the ultimate purchaser for the purpose of country of origin marking. In Treasury Decision 54640(6) (1958), Customs determined that country of origin marking appearing on the inside center of the neck of a shirt, mid-way between the shoulder seams or in that immediate area, is conspicuous within the meaning of 19 U.S.C. 1304. In HQ 562700 (June 10,2003), Headquarters stated that a screen printed label located in the center of the rear neckline of a finely knit garment showing the country of origin in contrasting colors and in a lettering size that was clearly legible and conspicuous satisfied the marking requirement of Section 304 of the Tariff Act. Consequently, the heat seal applied to the inside center rear neckline, mid-way between the shoulder seams of style QE859, is considered legible, permanent and conspicuous and satisfies the marking requirements of Section 304 of the Tariff Act (19 CFR 1304). 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 Renee M. Orsat at renee.orsat@cbp.dhs.gov. Sincerely, Gwenn Klein Kirschner Director National Commodity Specialist Division