Tariff Classification of Headbands and Similar Articles

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Customs Service

19 CFR Part 177

Tariff Classification of Headbands and Similar Articles

AGENCY: Customs Service, Treasury.

ACTION: Proposed interpretive rule; solicitation of comments.

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SUMMARY: At its Tenth Session the Harmonized System Committee of the

Customs Cooperation Council approved certain amendments to the

Explanatory Notes concerning the classification of textile headbands.

One of these amendments states that textile headbands are excluded from

Heading 9615 of the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System.

In past rulings, Customs has classified certain textile headbands in

Heading 9615 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States

(HTSUS). In application of these amendments to the Explanatory Notes,

we believe that textile headbands are excluded from Heading 9615,

HTSUS, and are classifiable in Section XI, HTSUS. This document invites

comments on the classification of textile headbands.

In addition, in the past we have classified ponytail holders and

similar articles in Heading 9615, HTSUS. In view of the decision by the

Harmonized System Committee and our reexamination of the issue, we are

of the opinion that only hair care accessory items of rigid or semi-

rigid construction should be classified in Heading 9615, HTSUS.

Ponytail holders and similar hair care accessories, not of rigid or

semi-rigid construction, comprised of textile materials, should be

excluded from Heading 9615, HTSUS, and classified as clothing

accessories of section XI, HTSUS. Therefore, we are also inviting

comments on the classification of ponytail holders and similar hair

care accessories.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before June 20, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Comments (preferably in triplicate) may be submitted to the

U.S. Customs Service, Office of Regulations and Rulings, Regulations

Branch, Franklin Court, 1301 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC

20229. Comments may be viewed at the Office of Regulations and Rulings,

Franklin Court, 1099 14th Street NW., suite 4000, Washington, DC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Craig Clark, Commercial Rulings

Division, U.S. Customs Service, (202) 482-7050.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Section XI of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States

(HTSUS) provides for textiles and textile articles. Heading 6117,

HTSUS, provides for other made up clothing accessories, knitted or

crocheted. Heading 6217, HTSUS, provides for other made up clothing

accessories, not knitted or crocheted. Heading 9615, HTSUS, provides

for combs, hair-slides and the like, hairpins, curling pins, curling

grips, hair-curlers, and the like, other than those of Heading 8516,

and parts thereof.

At its Tenth Session the Harmonized System Committee of the Customs

Cooperation Council examined the classification of knitted headbands

and approved the following three amendments to the text of the

Explanatory Notes:

1. Explanatory Note to Heading 61.17 (page 845, new item (12)):

``Headbands, used as protection against the cold, to hold the hair in

place, etc.''

2. Explanatory Note for exclusions to Heading 63.07 (page 868, last

paragraph, new item (e): ``Knitted headbands (heading 61.17).''

3. Explanatory Note to Heading 96.15 (page 1611, new last paragraph):

``This heading excludes textile headbands (Section XI).''

According to the decision of the Harmonized System Committee,

knitted headbands are classified as clothing accessories of Heading

6117, HTSUS. In addition, textile headbands are excluded from

classification in Heading 9615, HTSUS, and instead, are to be

classified as textile articles of Section XI, HTSUS.

The Explanatory Notes to the Harmonized Commodity Description and

Coding System (Harmonized System) constitute the official

interpretation of the scope and content of the tariff at the

international level. They represent the considered views of

classification experts of the Harmonized System Committee. While not

treated as dispositive, the Explanatory Notes are to be given

considerable weight in Customs interpretation of the HTSUS. It has

therefore been the practice of the Customs Service to consult the terms

of the Explanatory Notes when interpreting the HTSUS.

In the past, Customs has classified many headbands wholly of

textile materials in Heading 9615, HTSUS, with the exception being

headbands made of terry knit fabric, which were classified in Heading

6117, HTSUS. The rationale for these decisions was that textile

headbands met the definition of the term hair-slides and the like. We

now believe that in application of the recent amendments to the

Explanatory Notes, textile headbands do not fall within the scope of

Heading 9615, HTSUS, and are excluded from that heading. We are

inviting comments regarding this proposed classification change.

The type of article considered by the Harmonized System Committee

and classified in Heading 6117, HTSUS, was a soft knitted textile

headband, without any underlying foundation of plastic, metal, etc.

Some headbands have a mixed construction, e.g., a plastic base and a

textile covering. Based on the amendments to the Explanatory Notes and

the views expressed by other customs administrations, we believe that

headbands of mixed construction, having a rigid or semi-rigid

foundation, would meet the definition of the term hair-slides and the

like and remain classified in Heading 9615, HTSUS. Those headbands of

soft construction and made primarily of textile materials would be

considered textile headbands and thus would be excluded from Heading

9615, HTSUS.

Accordingly, while we have previously classified many ponytail

holders and similar articles in Heading 9615, HTSUS, the evidence of

record supports a finding that the term hair-slides and the like of

Heading 9615, HTSUS, refers to articles of rigid or semi-rigid

construction. This view is consistent with the Explanatory Notes to

Heading 9615, HTSUS, which state that hair-slides and the like are

usually made of plastics, ivory, bone, horn, tortoise-shell, metal,

etc. Soft ponytail holders and similar hair care accessories made of

textile materials should therefore be excluded from Heading 9615,

HTSUS, and be classified as clothing accessories of section XI, HTSUS.

Consequently, we are also inviting comments on the classification of

ponytail holders and similar hair care accessories.

Comments

Before making a determination on this matter, Customs invites

written comments from interested parties on this issue. Comments

submitted will be available for public inspection in accordance with

the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552), Sec. 1.4, Treasury

Department Regulations (31 CFR 1.4), and Sec. 103.11(b), Customs

Regulations (19 CFR 103.11(b)), on regular business days between the

hours of 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at the Regulations Branch, U.S. Customs

Service, Office of Regulations and Rulings, Franklin Court, 1099 14th

Street NW., suite 4000, Washington, DC.

Approved: March 31, 1994

George J. Weise,

Commissioner of Customs.

John P. Simpson,

Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.

[FR Doc. 94-9439 Filed 4-19-94; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4820-02-P