COUNTRY OF ORIGIN MARKING OF IMPORTED NONPRESCIPTION LENSES AND FRAMES USED TO PRODUCE READING GLASSES

N296043 May 4, 2018 MAR-2 OT:RR:NC:N2:208 CATEGORY: MARKING Mr. Rick Van Arnam Barnes, Richardson & Colburn, LLP 100 William Street, Suite 305 New York, NY 10038 RE: COUNTRY OF ORIGIN MARKING OF IMPORTED NONPRESCIPTION LENSES AND FRAMES USED TO PRODUCE READING GLASSES Dear Mr. Van Arnam: This is in response to your letter dated April 3, 2018, on behalf of FGX International, Inc. (FGX), requesting a ruling on whether imported reading glasses components are required to be individually marked with the country of origin if they are later to be processed in the United States (U.S.) by a U.S. manufacturer. FGX requests an exemption from country of origin marking for nonprescription lenses and for frames imported from various countries. Samples of reading glasses frames and lenses were furnished with the request for a ruling. The imported goods are reading glasses frames and nonprescription lenses. The frames will be imported into the U.S. from China or Taiwan. The frames undergo inspection to check color, dimensions, plating adhesions, and crosshatch pain adhesion. The lenses will also be imported from China or Taiwan. After importation, the nonprescription lenses are inspected for size, lens curvature, distortion, color, adhesion, impact resistance, and pupillary distance. In the U.S., the lenses are assembled into the frames, creating finished nonprescription reading glasses. The finished reading glasses are inspected to insure the product is defect-free, packaged, and put into inventory. FGX wishes to import the reading glasses frames and lenses without individually marking the country or origin on each frame or nonprescription lens. They believe that a substantial transformation occurs in the United States after importation. Section 134.35, Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.35), is cited which provides that the manufacturer or processor in the US who converts or combines the imported article into a different article having a new name, character or use will be considered the ultimate purchaser of the imported article within the meaning of Section 304 (a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, and that the article is excepted from individual marking. The outermost containers of the imported articles must be marked with the country of origin. 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. Section 134.41(b), Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.41(b)), mandates that the ultimate purchaser in the U.S. must be able to find the marking easily and read it without strain. Section 134.1(d), defines the ultimate purchaser as generally the last person in the U.S. who will receive the article in the form in which it was imported. 19 CFR 134.1(d)(1) states that if an imported article will be used in manufacture, the manufacturer may be the ultimate purchaser if he subjects the imported article to a process which results in a substantial transformation of the article. The case of U.S. v. Gibson-Thomsen Co., Inc., 27 C.C.P.A. 267 (C.A.D. 98) (1940), provides that an article used in manufacture which results in an article having a name, character or use differing from that of the constituent article will be considered substantially transformed and that the manufacturer or processor will be considered the ultimate purchaser of the constituent materials. In such circumstances, the imported article is excepted from marking and only the outermost container is required to be marked. 19 CFR 134.35 is noted. The determinative issue in this case, therefore, is the identity of the ultimate purchaser of the imported components. CBP has consistently held that inserting non-prescription lenses into imported frames to make completed, non-prescription glasses, will effect a substantial transformation of the imported frames. As a result, the ultimate purchaser of the frames is considered to be the manufacturer that inserts the lenses into the frames. In this case, the imported reading glasses frames and nonprescription lenses are substantially transformed into an article with a new name, character or use as a result of the U.S. processing, and therefore the U.S. manufacturer is the ultimate purchaser of the imported components. Under 19 CFR 134.35 only the containers that reach the ultimate purchaser are required to be marked with the country of origin. This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 CFR Part 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 Lisa Cariello at lisa.a.cariello@cbp.gov. Sincerely, Steven A. Mack Director National Commodity Specialist Division