Country of Origin Marking Requirements for Wearing Apparel

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Customs Service

Country of Origin Marking Requirements for Wearing Apparel

AGENCY: Customs Service, Department of the Treasury.

ACTION: Proposed change of practice; solicitation of comments.

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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that Customs proposes to change

the practice regarding the country of origin marking of wearing

apparel. Customs previously has ruled that wearing apparel, such as

shirts, blouses, coats, sweaters, etc., must be marked with the name of

the country of origin by means of a fabric label or label made from

natural or synthetic film sewn or otherwise permanently affixed on the

inside center of the neck midway between the shoulder seams or in that

immediate area or otherwise permanently marked in that area in

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some other manner. Button tags, string tags and other hang tags, paper

labels and other similar methods of marking are not acceptable. The

proposed change set forth herein would evaluate the marking of such

wearing apparel on a case-by-case basis in order to determine whether

the requirements of 19 U.S.C. 1304 are satisfied.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before January 16, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Written comments (preferably in triplicate) may be addressed

to the Regulations Branch, Office of Regulations and Rulings, U.S.

Customs Service, Franklin Court, 1301 Constitution Avenue NW.,

Washington, D.C. 20229. Comments submitted may be inspected at the

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

Service, Franklin Court, 1099 14th Street NW., Suite 4000, Washington,

D.C.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Monika Rice, Special Classification

and Marking Branch, Office of Regulations and Rulings (202-482-6980).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Section 304 of the 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.

The primary purpose of the country of origin marking statute is to

``mark the goods so that at the time of purchase the ultimate purchaser

may, by knowing where the goods were produced, be able to buy or refuse

to buy them, if such marking should influence his will.'' United States

v. Friedlaender & Co., 27 CCPA 297, 302, C.A.D. 104 (1940). The clear

language of section 1304 requires ``permanent'' and ``conspicuous''

marking, and to this end 19 CFR 134.41 provides, in part, that the

degree of permanence should be at least sufficient to insure that in

any reasonably foreseeable circumstance, the marking shall remain on

the article until it reaches the ultimate purchaser unless it is

deliberately removed, and that the ultimate purchaser in the U.S. must

be able to find the marking easily and read it without strain.

In T.D. 54640(6), 93 Treas. Dec. 301 (1958), Customs determined

that on and after October 1, 1958, wearing apparel, such as shirts,

blouses, coats, sweaters, etc., must be legibly and conspicuously

marked with the name of the country of origin by means of a fabric

label or label made from natural or synthetic film sewn or otherwise

permanently affixed on the inside center of the neck midway between the

shoulder seams or in that immediate area or otherwise permanently

marked in that area in some other manner. Button tags, string tags and

other hang tags, paper labels and other similar methods of marking were

not considered acceptable after October 1, 1958. The requirement in

T.D. 54640(6) that the country of origin marking should appear on the

inside center of the neck midway between the shoulder seams or in that

immediate area is consistent with the Textile Fiber Products

Identification Act as enforced by the Federal Trade Commission.

Subsequently, T.D. 55015(4), 95 Treas. Dec. 3 (1960), extended T.D.

54640(6), to allow the country of origin marking of reversible garments

to be looped around the hanger. On the basis of this extension, Customs

has allowed ladies reversible jackets to be marked with a cardboard

hang tag affixed to the neck area by means of a plastic anchor tag.

Customs noted that since the jacket was reversible, a fabric label sewn

into the jacket could damage the jacket when the label was removed.

Headquarters Ruling Letter (HRL) 731513 dated November 15, 1988.

Similarly, in HRL 733890 dated December 31, 1990, Customs allowed

women's reversible silk tank tops to be marked with a cloth label,

showing the country of origin and other pertinent information sewn into

a lower side seam, and a hang tag which also provided the required

information attached at the neck. See also HRL 734889 dated June 22,

1993.

In order to allow more flexibility in achieving the objectives of

the marking statute, Customs is now proposing to change its position

and modify that portion of T.D. 54640(6) relating to the requirement of

a fabric label or label made from natural or synthetic film sewn to the

article, and the disallowance of button tags, string tags and other

hang tags, paper labels and other similar methods of marking. Rather,

Customs proposes to evaluate the country of origin marking of wearing

apparel, such as shirts, blouses, coats, sweaters, etc., on a case-by-

case basis to determine if it is conspicuous, legible, indelible, and

permanent to a degree sufficient enough to remain on the shirt until it

reaches the ultimate purchaser. The portion of T.D. 54640(6) relating

to the requirement of placing the country of origin marking at the

inside center of the neck of a shirt midway between the shoulder seams

or in that immediate area, shall remain in effect.

It should be noted that this proposed change in practice does not

exempt textile fiber products imported into the U.S. from the labeling

requirements of the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act enforced

by the Federal Trade Commission.

Authority

This notice is published in accordance with Sec. 177.9, Customs

Regulations (19 CFR 177.9).

Comments

Before adopting this proposed change in position, consideration

will be given to any written comments timely submitted to Customs.

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, Franklin Court, 1099 14th Street NW., Suite 4000,

Washington, DC.

George J. Weise,

Commissioner of Customs.

Approved: October 24, 1995.

Dennis M. O'Connell,

Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.

[FR Doc. 95-28265 Filed 11-15-95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4820-02-P