The country of origin of Razor Clams

N352231 September 4, 2025 OT:RR:NC:N5:231 CATEGORY: Origin Javier Alonso Conservas Portomar S.L.U. Pol. Ind. del Pousadoiro Parcela 2-3 Vilagarcía de Arousa 36617 Spain RE: The country of origin of Razor Clams Dear Mr. Alonso: In your letter dated August 11, 2025, you requested a country of origin ruling on razor clams. The subject merchandise is Canned Razor Clams in Olive Oil. The merchandise consists of live clams harvested in Ireland. The clams are shipped live to Spain where the clams are cooked in their shells, after which the meat is manually extracted, placed into cans, and covered in olive oil of Spanish origin. The cans are then hermetically sealed, marked with batch numbers, and subjected to thermal sterilization before exportation to the United States. You seek a determination as to the country of origin of the above-described product. When determining the country of origin, the substantial transformation analysis is applicable. See, e.g., Headquarters Ruling Letter (“HQ”) H301619, dated November 6, 2018. The test for determining whether a substantial transformation will occur is whether an article emerges from a process with a new name, character, or use different from that possessed by the article prior to processing. See Texas Instruments Inc. v. United States, 681 F.2d 778 (C.C.P.A. 1982). This determination is based on the totality of the evidence. See National Hand Tool Corp. v. United States, 16 C.I.T. 308 (1992), aff’d, 989 F.2d 1201 (Fed. Cir. 1993). In the present case, although the clams are subjected to significant processing in Spain (cooking, shelling, preservation in an oil medium and canning), these operations do not constitute a substantial transformation. Accordingly, the finished good is a product of Ireland for marking purposes. The holding set forth above applies only to the specific factual situation and merchandise description as identified in the ruling request. This position is clearly set forth in Title 19, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Section 177.9(b)(1). This section states that a ruling letter is issued on the assumption that all of the information furnished in the ruling letter, whether directly, by reference, or by implication, is accurate and complete in every material respect. In the event that the facts are modified in any way, or if the goods do not conform to these facts at time of importation, you should bring this to the attention of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and submit a request for a new ruling in accordance with 19 CFR 177.2. Additionally, we note that the material facts described in the foregoing ruling may be subject to periodic verification by CBP. Please note that seafood is subject to the Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) requirements administered by the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). We advise you to check with that a gency for their further guidance on your scenario. Contact information for AMS is as follows: USDA-AMS-LS-SAT Room 2607-S, Stop 0254 1400 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20250-0254 Tel. 202.720.4486 Website: www.ams.usda.gov/COOL Email address for inquiries: COOL@usda.gov This merchandise is subject to The Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 (The Bioterrorism Act), which is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Information on the Bioterrorism Act can be obtained by calling the FDA at 301-575-0156, or at the Web site www.fda.gov/oc/bioterrorism/bioact.html. This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Part 177 of the Customs and Border Protection 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, please contact National Import Specialist Ekeng Manczuk at ekeng.b.manczuk@cbp.dhs.gov. Sincerely, (for) Denise Faingar Acting Director National Commodity Specialist Division