# Tariff Classification of Headbands and Similar Articles > Briefs, arguments, decisions, and more. URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/fr%3A94-9439 ## Record - **Collection:** Federal Register - **Document type:** Uncategorized Document - **Published:** April 20, 1994 ## Text 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 --- Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/fr%3A94-9439. Public record. Not legal advice.