Country of Origin Marking Guidance for Containers of Imported Fruit Juice Concentrate

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Customs Service Treasury Decisions

19 CFR Part 134

[T.D. 97-79]

Country of Origin Marking Guidance for Containers of Imported

Fruit Juice Concentrate

AGENCY: U.S. Customs Service, Department of the Treasury.

ACTION: Policy statement.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The purpose of this document is to remind the public of the

existing Customs Service's interpretation of the application of the

country of origin marking law to imported fruit juice concentrate.

Customs has previously published guidance on application of the marking

law to imported juice concentrate in Treasury Decision (T.D.) 89-66. In

recognition of the fact that accounting for all minor foreign sources

on the label may make compliance with the marking law prohibitively

expensive, fruit juice processors have been permitted to comply with

marking requirements by ``major supplier marking.'' Customs permits

``major supplier marking'' as an acceptable method of compliance.

Processors may list up to ten countries if they account for at least 75

percent of foreign concentrate used. Additionally, the sources listed

on a juice container must indicate the sources actually used in that

lot, not the sources used in a representative past importing period.

The full name of the country of origin must be used unless Customs has

authorized abbreviations which unmistakably reflect the country of

origin to the ultimate purchaser.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Cohen, Special Classification

and Marking Branch (202-482-6980).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

In accordance with 19 U.S.C. 1304, and 19 CFR Part 134, Customs

ensures that imported fruit juice concentrate entering the U.S. in

large containers, e.g., tanker cars and multi-gallon drums, is properly

marked to show country of origin. However, the country of origin

marking requirements set forth in this document are those pertaining to

labeling that must appear on packages of concentrated or reconstituted

fruit juice containing imported concentrate that reach ultimate

purchasers. The purpose of this document is to remind the public of

these requirements.

Customs Service Decision (C.S.D.) 85-47 (Headquarters Ruling Letter

(HRL) 728557, dated September 4, 1985) held that containers of orange

juice in frozen concentrated or reconstituted forms which contain

imported concentrate, must be marked on the labels with the foreign

country of origin of the products. This decision was based on the

determination that the imported foreign orange juice concentrate used

in the production of frozen concentrated or reconstituted orange juice

is not substantially transformed after undergoing further processing in

the U.S., including blending with other batches of orange concentrate,

addition of water, oils and essences, pasteurization or freezing, and

repacking. Customs determined that the frozen concentrated or

reconstituted orange juice did not emerge from the processing as a new

article with a new name, character, and use. United States v. Gibson-

Thomsen Co., 27 C.C.P.A. 267, (C.A.D. 98) (1940).

By a notice published in the Federal Register on July 30, 1986 (51

FR 27195), Customs announced that the country of origin marking

requirements of orange juice set forth in C.S.D. 85-47, later upheld

substantively in National Juice Products Association v. United States,

10 Ct. Int'l Trade 48, 628 F. Supp. 978 (1986), were extended to

include all other imported fruit juice concentrate which undergoes

processing in the U.S. similar to that performed on orange juice

concentrate. Therefore, all frozen concentrated or reconstituted fruit

juices made with foreign concentrate processed in a manner similar to

that described in C.S.D. 85-47 must be marked to indicate the country

of origin of the foreign concentrate. This position has been in effect

since February 1, 1987. T.D. 86-120 (51 FR 23045 (June 25, 1986)).

Customs does not require ``all sources marking'' on containers of

juice made with imported concentrate. Customs allows ``major supplier

marking'' as an acceptable method of compliance for marking of imported

juice concentrate. Major supplier marking permits processors to list up

to ten foreign sources to account for 75 percent or more of imported

concentrate. Customs concluded from previous consultations with those

in the juice industry that in the majority of circumstances, five or

fewer sources will account for at least 75 percent of foreign

concentrate present in a lot, and that in virtually all cases, ten or

fewer sources will account for 75 percent of the foreign concentrate.

If ten sources do not amount to 75 percent of foreign concentrate, then

all foreign sources must be listed. For purposes of complying with this

requirement, ``lot'' is defined as it is in Food and Drug

Administration regulations, 21 CFR 146.3(h)(1)(i), as ``[a] collection

of primary containers or units of the same size, type, and style

manufactured or packed under similar conditions and handled as a single

unit of trade.'' ``Manufactured or packed under similar conditions'' is

defined, for purposes of compliance with 19 U.S.C. 1304, as all the

containers or units containing the same blend of foreign concentrates.

The listing of foreign sources must consist of the countries

contributing the greatest percentages adding up to at least 75 percent.

For example, processors may not skip over an ``undesirable'' source

contributing 10 percent in order to list the next two

``unobjectionable'' sources contributing five percent each. However,

the order within the list need not change based on ranking. For

example, if a processor is blending foreign concentrates from two

countries contributing 60 and 15 percent, respectively, and the two

countries reversed proportions, the same label could be used on both

lots.

In addition, Customs reminds the public that section 134.45,

Customs Regulations (19 CFR 134.45), provides that:

Except as otherwise provided in * * * this section, the markings

required by this part shall include the full English name of the

country of origin, unless another marking to indicate the English

name of the country of origin is specifically authorized by the

Commissioner of Customs * * *.

Only authorized abbreviations which unmistakably indicate the name

of a country, such as ``Gt. Britain'' for ``Great Britain'' or

``Luxemb'' and ``Luxembg'' for ``Luxembourg'' are acceptable and

variant spellings which clearly indicate the English name of the

country of origin, such as ``Brasil'' for ``Brazil'' and ``Italie'' for

``Italy,'' are acceptable. Rulings may be obtained from the

[[Page 49598]]

Customs Service regarding what country abbreviations are acceptable for

purposes of compliance with the marking statute. Customs notes that it

is incorrect to abbreviate the word ``concentrate'' to ``conc'' when

disclosing the origin of juice concentrate since the ultimate purchaser

will not unmistakably identify ``conc'' as an abbreviation for the word

``concentrate.''

Summary

Imported fruit juice concentrate which is imported into the U.S.

and used in the production of concentrated or reconstituted fruit juice

is not substantially transformed after undergoing further processing in

the U.S. Accordingly, all such imported concentrate is subject to the

country of origin marking requirements of 19 U.S.C. 1304, and 19 CFR

Part 134. Processors may use ``major supplier marking'' in preparing

labels for containers of juice made with imported concentrate. If a

processor obtains 75 percent or more of the imported concentrate used

in a particular lot from ten or fewer countries, only those countries

need be revealed. The full name of the country of origin must be used

unless Customs has authorized abbreviations which unmistakably indicate

the country of origin of the concentrate to the ultimate purchaser.

Drafting Information

The principal author of this document was David E. Cohen, Office of

Regulations and Rulings, U.S. Customs Service. However, personnel from

other offices participated in its development.

Date: September 17, 1997.

Stuart P. Seidel,

Assistant Commissioner, Office of Regulations and Rulings.

[FR Doc. 97-25134 Filed 9-22-97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4820-02-P