>> CALENTHIA BANKS: Good afternoon,
ladies and gentlemen. My name is Lynn
banks with Office of Trade relations.
Today's webinar is the world of pasta,
history and tariff classification. And
it is part of the education commodity
specific 2023 webinar series. We have
an anticipated duration of one hour for
today's webinar. We do have a few
housekeeping items. Everyone will be
kept on mute during the presentation so
that we can keep the line clear of any
background noise. If you have any
questions or comments, we invite you to
type them into the chat box at any time
during the presentation. And we will
try to answer as many questions as we
can from the chat box at the end of the
presentation.
The Continuing Education credit code
will be placed in the chat box
throughout the presentation. So you can
collect that information there. And
today's webinar is being recorded and it
will be posted to CBP.gov in the coming
weeks. Our presenter today is National
Import Specialist, Mr. Timothy
Petrulonis. And Mr. Timothy Petrulonis,
over to you, thank you.
>> TIMOTHY PETRULONIS: Thank you
very much. Good morning, good
afternoon, and welcome, everybody. My
name is Timothy Petrulonis also known as
National Import Specialist are 228. I'm
one of four food analyst who oversee the
cultural food tariff heading chapters 1
through 4. Today, I plan to provide an
overview of tariff classification of
pasta. On this screen, you'll see my
contact information on this page. And
I'll be putting up again at the end of
this presentation. At any point, please
do not hesitate to reach out to us with
any questions or concerns that you may
have. Please take a moment to read the
CBP and Office of Trade directorate.
It's one of 11 program offices within
Customs and board of protection. And
field ops, air, marine, and United
States border patrol just to name a few.
Office of Trade facilitates legitimate
trade and enforce U.S. laws and protects
the American economy to ensure consumer
safety and to create a level playing
field for American businesses.
I do need to briefly go over this
disclaimer, the material contained in
this presentation is for general
information purposes and intended to
provide guidance and information to the
trade commission. Because there are
many complicated factors that may be
involved in Customs issues, and reporter
or anybody in the trade that wish to
obtain a ruling under CBP ruling under
C.F.R. part 177 or obtain guidance from
product experts and matters such as
license and license broker, attorney, or
U.S. consultants. Any audio-visual
media, including images, video, or sound
contained within this presentation is
either public domain or was obtained
through the appropriate Copyright
license and is included solely to
provide context for the content
provided. Audio-visual media is
provided for educational purposes only
and does not represent endorsement or
approval by Customs or any creators or
products. Further copying or
distribution of any Copyright material
may require permission from the original
creator. Once again, I bring this up at
every webinar. But this is reminder
that member of the trade community may
consider obtaining a binding ruling
under 19 C.F.R. part 177., they're free
service that Customs provides that
offers the official position of Customs
with respect to a particular set of
fabricates for a perspective transition
or issue.
The national commodity specialist
division offers binding rulings for
classification, marking, country of
origin and trade agreement. And
generally provide a response within 30
days from the date of submission of each
request. But many of these requests are
responded to sooner.
Please see the link at the bottom of
the slide. E-rulings link for further
information that will take you to the
e-rulings portal. At the end of this
presentation, I'm going to provide a
list of the common questions that the
food NIS, specifically myself, may need
as part of the submission process that
will help us expedite any request you
may submit in the future.
The link to this webinar and all the
webinars conducted by my peers for the
respective commodities will be posted at
this link. It generally takes the web
masters in our office few weeks to vet
and post for approval. And lastly, as
questions arise, the Customs online
search system known as CROSS is updated
regularly and is a good resource for
classification. CROSS is the official
location for perspective to facts and
transactions, once a ruling is issued,
it is binding until modified or revoked.
However, I always recommend apply the
general rules of interpretation to the
specific set of facts that you are
reviewing first and use CROSS as a tool
for research to support your decision
after the fact. Please feel free to
enter any questions in the chat box as
you think of them, as we move forward in
this presentation. And at the end of
this webinar, I will try to answer them
as best I can in the order that they
were received.
Alternatively, you can always send
me an email to have a more product
specific individualized conversation.
And once again, I'll put that link up
with our contact information at the end
of the presentation. So today, today's
topic will first include discussing
high-level overview of the sections and
chapters of the agricultural areas of
the tariff in which pasta and related
products may be classified. Next, I'm
going to delve into a brief history of
pasta for background purposes, followed
by discussing the 4 digit heading that
provides for pasta EO nom anyway and
heading. And summarize antidumping and
duties associated with pasta. The U.S.
and EU Pasta Certification Program and
not a pasta, and lastly, I'm going to
finish up with hopefully considered a
tariff classification knowledge check,
which will, I hope will be fun.
This slide, I'm going to go over the
structure of the harmonized tariff
system specifically sections 1 through
4. Chapters 1 through 24, which the
food NIS and including myself oversee.
I'm sure on this presentation, we have
people very skilled with the harmonized
tariff, and those who are not, so I
wanted to cover some basics. So as I've
said, sections 1 through 4 make up the
whole agricultural and prepared products
area and they're divided into chapters
as you see here. 24 in total. Chapters
are first grouped into sections based on
similar material and organized
according to the level of processing.
They progress from primary or basic
articles to more technically complex
articles. So for example, the
vegetable's name in the initial heading
provided for within section 2, Chapter 7
provide for those named vegetable in a
fresh or chilled condition as heading in
the chapter specifically Chapter 7
progress, the evolution of a vegetable
advances from what's considered a
primary article to one that is slightly
more technically complex. The headings
representing some of the concluding ones
of Chapter 7, for example, heading 07,
12, and 0713 provide for quote-unquote
"technically advanced variation" of
those products within the limits of the
allowable processing in comparison to
the products of the initial heading of
the chapter. So kind of broad example
of what I just detailed. Heading 0702
and, 0703, and onions, chilled, and
garlic, and fresh or chilled
respectively. While in contrast,
heading 0712 at the end of the schapt
provides dry importation of those named
vegetables in the proceeding heading of
the chapter. Whether whole, cut,
sliced, broken or in powder, but not
further prepared. Chapter 20 in Section
4 specifically headings 2004 and 2005
provide for the vegetables prepared or
preserved beyond the scope of what is
allowable according to the tariff in
section 2, Chapter 7.
I bring this up, these examples
because later in the presentation, some
of these vegetables in a milled form may
be used in the manufacture of pasta and
can be crucial in assisting with tariff
classification.
So with that background out of the
way, I'm going to provide a brief
history of pasta. This is a long and
complex one with many different theories
about its origin. Commonly held believe
is pasta originated in Italy. But
there's evidence to suggest it may have
been invented in China or Middle East.
Pasta like noodle comes from China
where they have been found in
archaeological sites dating back to the
4th century BC where tomorrow showing
group of people making pasta. These
noodles were made from wheat, flour, and
water and cooked in a broth or a soup.
While there's evidence to suggest pasta
may have been originated in the Middle
East. First Century AD, scholar wrote
about food call Lange non-which is made
from flour and water and cooked in a
pot. And these food were similar to the
modern-day pasta we know now and it was
possible it was brought to Italy by
Roman soldiers who traveled to the
Middle East. First documented evidence
of pasta in Italy dates back to the 12th
Century from the cookbook from the time
period, there's a recipe for a DHS
called macaroni which was made from
wheat, flour, and water. And this is
similar to the modern-day macaroni now
and it was likely the ancestors of many
of the pasta dishes we know and love
today. According to the national pasta
association, popular legend, Marco Polo
introduced pasta to Italy after the
exploration of far east in the late 13th
Century. Let's not forget about
mythology. Greek mythology Greek God
are Vulcan introduced the known as first
spaghetti tea. But how did this DHS
that I personally love make its way to
the United States? Pasta is said to
have made its way to the New World
through English who discovered it while
touring Italy. Colonialist brought it
to America. The English practice of
cooking noodles one-half hour and then
smothering it with cream, sauce and
cheese. The Brooklyn waterfront in the
mid-1800s owned by French immigrant
Antoine Duraga simply housed machinery
powered by one horse and pasta strands
of pasta was then laid on the roof for
drying. Pasta expanded to 19th Century
and pasta makers popped up across the
country. Pasta production has since
come a long way since then, and today,
pasta remains a family favorite, and I
said earlier, one of my favorite dishes
and produced in countless shapes, sizes,
with wheat, veggie, and gluten-free
options available today.
So there are many different
varieties of pasta. They're usually
sorted by size, being long, pasta long
ga, pasta corta, stuffed, ripiena. And
my personal favorite gnocchi. Some are
uniquely originally and not widely
known. Many times have different names
based on region or language. So for
example, the cut remote tall lay is
known here in the United States and
cooks often invent new shapes or create
new existing shapes for marketing
reasons. So you can divide pasta in two
categories, long pasta and short pasta.
The short variety such as penne, fusilli
and the likes, they're easier to
distinguish from each other. And while
the longer variety of pasta where things
get little confusing. So fettuccine is
a long pasta that is cut into thick
ribbons with a length of linguini and
tagiate take. And from eggs and flour
and noticeablely any taste. Fettuccine
cut the ribbon long enough for fork
full. Fettuccine can hold the shape of
cream and tomato sauces and being served
in a chunky cause. And if you're
craving pasta DHS covered in creamy
white sauce. And Mac macaroni and
longer cousin made in a similar way
using DEI and extruding machine and more
of the pasta allowed through the machine
before being cut. Cavatappi has more
exotic flare and this takes choice for
elevated take on Mac and Cheese.
Connecticut chick Lee, and cooking egg,
this is made from manufacturing conCzig
Lee to hold the pasta and shape even
though it's boiled or baked. The shell
like shape of concilli, has one cavity
on one side that can trap meat and
vegetate gee inside. If that pasta can
hold all sorts of thin or thick chunky
sauces.
However, when it comes to the
classification in the tariff, that the 4
digit heading of the tariff, the
critical point I want to stress here and
I want you to remember is that the
shapes of pasta we are commonly familiar
with on this screen or at the grocery
store do not factor into its
classification. Manufacturing process
is key element in determining the
classification, which is why I detailed
it so thoroughly in this slide here
while describing some of the examples.
Like shell pasta and fettuccine and
cavatappi and other shapes. So in the
following upcoming slides, I'm going to
detail why this narrative description of
the manufacturing process is so
important when it comes to tariff
classification.
So with that little history we
revisited and the background out of the
way, I like to transition over to what
is meant by the pasta tariff
classification purpose. So key-point I
want to stress is tariff terms do not
always align with real world examples.
And in the upcoming slides, I'm going to
do my best to explain what I mean by
this. And support this with examples.
So pasta has been formally classified by
issuance of binding rulings and number
of headings by tariff inning Chapter 4.
And in this case, pasta has been
classified in Chapter 16 which provides
for preparations of meat, fish, or
crustaceans. Heading 1901 with food
preparation, flour, growth, or meal or
starch and not included. And 2106 which
is ultimate basket provision in food
chapter for miscellaneous be food
preparation not elsewhere specified or
included. However, heading 1902 which
is depicted on this slide here is the
people Mary heading to consider and the
more specific are heading when
classifying EEO nom anyway whether or
not cooked or stuffed, macaroni, ravioli
low and so on and so forth. However,
not all products marketed or named pasta
such as the forms I said before
spaghetti, gnocchi ziti, et cetera would
be classified for more specific heading
in 1902. Why is this? Well, it's
because the explanatory notes heading to
1902 provide guidance on what types of
pasta fall within the scope of heading
of tariff classification purposes. By
stating the following.
Pasta of this heading are
unfermented products made from semolina
and key word is, et cetera here. These
semolina or flowers are first mix we had
flour and mixtured into dough and
created with other ingredients. They're
formed by extrusion, or rolling and
cutting and pressing molding or aglom
medication into specific predetermined
shapes, such as tubes, strips,
filaments, beads, granules, stars, elbow
so on and so forth. All these give rise
to the name of the finished product such
as macaroni, spaghetti, and noodles.
So Customs has uniformly applied
that pasta heading of 1902 must be
formed from semolina, rice, wheat, or
potatoes. And this was tested with the
headquarters ruling letter H1089905
which was issued back in almost 10 years
ago to the date in 2013, which involved
the classification of dry uncooked
lentil strips. 30% gar ban know bean
flour and 30% adzuki bean, and potato
starch and small amount of pea starch
and salt. And underring heading 1905
which provides for bread pastry and
other bakers wears and liquidated
understand other vegetables prepared to
preserve and. Protest came in
requesting subheading 1902-19 which
provides for pasta, whether or not
cooked or stuffed. I cite this because
this ruling is excellent source of
material and professors several
definitions of term pasta that we use to
this day. Key statement extended in the
issuance I wanted to highlight for you
when attempting to classify pasta
related product in front of you is the
following.
So when determining the meaning of
tariff terms, and whether a specific
merchandise comports with the term of
heading 1902, CBP has applied the
doctrine of noscitur a sociis. And
examination of dictionary and commercial
sources reveal that pasta has certain
characteristics that make it a pasta.
So one of those examination of
commercial sources such as the Oxford
dictionary defines pasta as thin
strands, sheets, or other shapes of
dough made from Durham, wheat, and
water. And Webster define as --
macaroni used fresh or ravioli.
Heritage dictionary defines unleavened
dough from wheat, flour and water molded
into variety of shapes and boiled. And
defines pasta contain pasta as its main
ingredient. Encyclopedia define pasta
as several starchy food paste and made
from semolina and purified from hard
wheat called Durham. Other commercial
sources confirm this interpretation and
also focus on the fact pasta is
traditionally made with semolina or
Durham. And pasta is a food made with
semolina and wheat and cooked by being
boiled. In this headquarters ruling,
determination was made subject lentil
did not COM Port with the exemplars or
examples listed in the 1902 to be
considered a pasta classification
purposes. The lentils were meant to be
baked and eat to be eaten as a snack
than main meal and eaten alone where
pasta is served. The manufacturing
information provided or revealed that
the lentils were also exreuded into a
rectangular shape, size of a cracker
that those doesn't serve well to hold in
the sauce. And lentil usht went a
manufacturing process outlined in the EN
in 1902 was determined to in sufficient
to classify as a pasta in 1902. Last
thing the factored into the decision
that lentil were not interchangeable
with pasta to the contrary, products
such as lentils were called half
products in the industry and recognized
as a separate type of product with its
own commercial identity. Half products
are dried brittle product developed by
the snack food industry to create
products puffed or otherwise expanded.
Half products are considered to have no
culinary use of pasta and will not be
sold as pasta. Rather that happen being
boiled, they're baked or fried and cause
that is puffed finish for a snack food.
Classification in heading 1902 as a
pasta requires more than being
manufactured and processed in the same
manner of pasta. The subject lentil in
this case, despite being a flour mixed
with flour needed into a dough and
extruded into shape lacked the character
of pasta for all the reasons that I just
mentioned.
As a result, the fact that its
manufacturing process was similar
described by the Explanatory Note was in
service to the heading classification of
1902. And these subject strips here,
they were classified ultimately not as a
pasta but as in heading 205 as other
vegetables prepared otherwise by
vinegar.
So what about all the modern
gluten-free pasta being prepared from
vegetables being prepared we see
commonly? Until two years ago, pasta
tariff classification purpose was
considered slowly and strictly as a food
that is made with semolina and wheat.
It wasn't until the issuance of
headquarters ruling H316296 that you see
on this slide which was issued back in
the summer of 2021 just a little over
two years ago where this official
interpretation evolved. In this
request, the items at issue involved a
classification of five different
varieties of gluten-free pasta,
specifically the varieties included
organic and Ed mom may, and mung bean,
and black bean spaghetti and most
importantly, I wanted to stress here,
this ruling expanded Customs and
explaining of Explanatory Note to
heading 1902 to respect to
non-traditional flour which were
previously excluded from classification
within. Each of the 5 varieties of
gluten-free pasta contained two critical
components. Ingredients, therefore, soy
bean, flour, and water. While some of
the varieties of gluten-free pasta also
contained other flowers such as mung
bean flour, black sesame flour, each
variety of gluten-free pasta was made
from soy bean flour. The flowers were
said to be manufactured by being
processed into a dough and undergoing
additional manufacturing to produce a
pasta by means of extrusion, drying,
cooling, and cutting. Each of the 5
variety of gluten-free pasta were
determined to be manufactured in the
same way as traditional pasta which
resulted in a product which appears
identical to pasta coming in the
traditional pasta shape, albeit with
variant in color. And march p
merchandise as pasta, which means the
dry pasta would be boiled in water
before being served alongside the
consumers. And prefer sauce or
flavoring. And gluten-free processed
the same general physical
characteristics as traditional made
pasta. Which imparts an identical
expectation of the product to the
ultimate purchaser if facilitates use as
a pasta.
So incoming to the determination on
the classification on this case of these
gluten-free pa Tass, various food
products may be composed of traditional
and non-traditional ingredients to
conform to the ever-changing needs of
modern consumer. One such trend has
been the emergence of gluten-free
product. And modernized and
interpretation of Explanatory Note to
heading 1902 with respectively to the
term, et cetera, ruling that soy bean
flour is akin to the other flowers
listed I have an the Explanatory Note
more specifically such as wheat, maize,
potato flour so that comparable amount
of manufacturing procedures are employed
in the manufacturing of pasta.
So there's a lot that we curve
considering pasta for classification.
If a product qualifies, there a number
of international 6 digit subheading
level to consider. The first is
uncooked pasta not stuffed or otherwise
prepared and containing eggs. Which is
classified in 190211. If uncooked pasta
is not stuffed or otherwise prepared and
does not contain eggs, the pasta is
classified under subheading 190219. If
the pasta is stuffed, such as ravioli or
tortellini, cooked or not, 1902.20.
Other pass not stuffed such as
precooked, fried, or steamed, in
subheading 1902.30. And couscous of
spherical granule moistened with
saltwater and fine ground with wheat
flour. EN describe as heat-treated
semolina. Also want to know pasta
package with classified subheading 19011
and depending on the egg content. And
the specific subheading for the pasta
will depend on type of pasta,
ingredients used and whether it's
stuffed. Remember key-point I want to
stress at the conclusion of this slide
is that these subheading should only be
consulted as long as they satisfy the
requirement for 4 digit heading of pasta
1902 as I talked about in the previous
slides. Pasta with similar names and
appearances but involving different
ingredients and may be classified
elsewhere. I'm going to touch on this
topic in more detail in few slides down
the road. Pasta classified in Chapter
19 may be subject to additional duties
depending upon where the pasta is
imported from. International trade
commission, ITC and U.S. Department of
Commerce are conducts subsidies of 5
years reports of statistics. Some
foreign government -- product can be
imported and sold at a lower price than
a domestic producer could sell. Could
manufacture and sell the good or same
goods for. This is called dumping. If
the DOC finds that important product is
dumpedz or substance diced and ITC finds
similar product is injured, an
antidumping or CBD may be imposed.
So the DOC instructs CBP Customs to
assess anti-Customs to offset the unfair
trade practices as result of the
Department of Commerce's review of the
pasta importation from Italy and Turkey.
Tus couple is tasked with the cash
deposit and CBD duties. So for example,
on this slide here when pasta is
classified in subheading 1902, 1920 from
Italy or Turkey with certain
manufacturers are exported or withdrawn
from the warehouse, importers are
required to submit cash deposit on
varying amounts. On this slide here, I
have the exact case numbers from each
country enumerated for A for antidumping
and C for countervailing duties. ADC
scope language that subject antidumping
and duties. And it is written by the
petitioners. And they are
representatives within the industry.
And on this slide here, I have a
description of the scope of what it
includes and what is excluded from the
slope. And for tariff purposes, this
must be based on flour or meals and
pasta be based on wheat, semolina or
meal. If it's described as a pasta,
then it's included in the scope. So the
United States European Community Pasta
Certification Program outline
classification and reporting
requirements back in fall of 1,986th,
the U.S. and EC, now the European union
entered into an agreement to solve
long-standing dispute over exports of
subsidized pasta product to the U.S.
Presidential proclamation 5712 dated
September 30, 1987 implemented the
procedure of that agreement. Condition
of that agreement included the
additional documentation for all the
Durham, wheat-based pasta imported from
countries of EU. And the documentation
of EUP1 or EUP2 form which required
listing of pasta breakdown by weight for
example, for the pasta. EUP1 for
processing regime deals with exports of
pasta to the U.S. And the EUP2
certificate for the export of pasta to
the U.S. is also issued by the EU
country for pasta exported to U.S. under
subheading 19023.11, 1902.19, and
1902.11 again. So I detailed few slides
earlier, pasta is provided for EO nam
anyway. The explanatory notes and
rulings provide guidance and serve as
excellent examples and source material
as to the type of products that would
fall within this heading. But not all
products that are called pasta are
marketed as such would be classified in
heading 1902. There are number of
rulings issued over the years that
provide examples of the types of pasta
products that would not be considered
pasta for tariff or tariff
classification purposes and heading
1902 even after the modernized approach
of classification gluten-free pastas
that was issued in the fall of 2021 that
I discussed earlier. The first example
of what would not be considered a pasta
for heading 1902 would be products made
of dough consisting of starch and water.
New York ruling letter 8902 and product
called verm Celie, whichs vermcelli and
classified in subheading, in heading
1901 as food preparation of flour,
growth, meal, and starch and not
specified or included. Pair lelg this
decision ruling to 271271 issued more
recently in 2016, and bean thread was
described as long round noodles with a
diameter of one millimeter or different
thickness composed of 78% pea starch,
and 9% mung bean starch. And including
boiling or sir identifying. Products
made from vegetable material that has
been crushed and formed, so for example,
bean stick, bean cake, et cetera would
not be considered a pasta for
classification purposes in the heading
1902 either.
Certain noodles are not pasta for
tariff classification purposes. For
example, in headquarters ruling letter
H095603 issued in the fall of 2010. And
involved rice noodle made of 76%
cornstarch. 2% right, and 22% water.
The primary issue in this case whether
the rice noodle made of starch was made
as pasta. 1902. And determination made
in that case rice noodle did not contain
semolina rice or flowers, and thus rice
noodles with not considered pasta for
heading of 1902. Rice noodles were
classified in heading 1901. Referencing
the explanatory notes which included
food prep with a basis of flour. Meal
or starch or malt extract. Which
deliefd the essential character from the
essential material by weight or volume.
Referring back to an earlier slide
of pasta shapes, Vermicelli was similar
to spaghetti tea. But in case of
Vermicelli, it was prepared from 100%
sweet potato starch. And entry was
liquidated under heading 1901 and
protest came in. It was argued the
claim classification was erroneous
because this was made directly from
flour or meal such as spaghetti tea,
macaroni, noodle, gnocchi and so forth.
The retort in the decision was that
while the Explanatory Note under 1902
you see it not include pasta to
unfermented products made from semolina
or flour, wheat, maize,, et cetera. And
details these semolinas are flours, and
mixed with other greenhouses. The
Explanatory Note notes indicate and
provide guidance. And provide guidance
that heading 1902 pasta may be derived
from a variety of vemgable matter or
grains and may be fashioned into any
shape. However, the key-point to stress
here is that no latitude regarding the
inter marrying ingredient, the pasta
must be made from pre-existing semolina
or flours. The Vermicelli in question
in this case was made from 100% sweet
potato starch and pasta is created from
the resulting starch. Classification in
heading 1902 would not apply.
Gnocchi is defined as variety of
family of dumping in Italian cuisine.
They're made from several lumps of dough
traditionally composed of wheat, flour,
egg, salt and potato. For purposes of
gnocchi at issue in New York ruling
letter N117195, issued in 2010, it was
not classified as pasta for purposes of
heading 1902. In this case it was ruled
that sweet potato smashed and butter and
classified in subheading 21069995 as
food preparations not elsewhere
specified or included. Based on the
production, on the products ingredients,
and composition and method of
production. And lastly, New York ruling
letter 872243, and 318612 issued in
2021, the product at issue contained
starches or miscellaneous powders and
consistent with heading 1902 and
Explanatory Note, the scope covered
products that could not be expanded to
include products made from or derived
from starches or powders. The final
example, but very important example I
wanted to highlight was headquarters
ruling letter H28285 here on the screen
that was actually issued earlier this
year in the winter back on January 9.
(H328285. What is not considered pasta
for classification purposes even though
it has same name and similar appearance.
The ruling involved the
classification of frozen cooked seafood
protein pasta. Pasta was primarily
composed of fish. Plain variety
consisted of 44% fish protein. The
garlic, tomato and Lemer pepper variety
contained similar percentages of fish
protein. The tariff heading under
consideration were heading 1902 as
viewed earlier provides nom anyway for
pasta and prepared or prepared fish.
And the last resort basket provision of
heading 2106 which provides food
preparation not else specified or
included. Critical issue in this case
was the large percentage of fish protein
in each product. Or review of the legal
notes reinforced the facts that no two
chapter 16 provides food preparation and
contains more than 20% by weight of
meat, fish, or crussation. And this
does not apply to stuffed products. In
this case, pasta was not described as
stuffed, so the latter part of the legal
note was mute. And cross finding notes
at issue was note one chapter 19 which
provides this note does not cover exeapt
except in the case of heading 1902, food
preparation containing 20% by weight of
sausage, meat, fish, crustacean, et
cetera. Of Chapter 16. And note 2
chapter 16, 1A, both state that the
product which contains more than 20%
weight of fish classified in Chapter 16,
however the note states that stuffed
pasta is always classified in 1902
regardless of fish used. So in order to
apply the correct legal note, which is
statutory for classification purposes,
we must first consider whether the
product at issue, these fish protein
pasta is classified as pasta under
heading 1902.
In contrast to the gluten-free
pasta, it's not derived from semolina or
flours of any time. EN heading of 1902.
Manufacturing process which was
critical of the fish protein pasta
played a critical factor in the
classification. In this case, pasta
were involved mixing cut frozen blocks
of Alaska Pollack, egg white, salt, and
flavoring. And additional ingredients
depending on the flavor profile until
Hodgeizeed material is formed. That
material was then placed into a ball
cutter if grinded to cut a dough.
Unlike traditional pasta or gluten-free
pasta cited earlier, it's dry, cool, and
but into pasta. The fish protein pasta
in this case is a dough until it's
extruded into filaments over a cooking
belt where it's cooked and jellified
into steam. Frozen blocks of alka
Pollack and cooked with steam, the fish
protein pasta was not processed into a
flour which was then processed into a
dough. Instead, the product was
prepared as a result of mixing a series
of frozen blocks of fish with other
ingredients into homogenized mixture
formed into a dough for purpose of
extruding it into a filament in the
cooking belt. In absence of semolina or
flour that renders the product first
into a flour contemplated by EN heading
1902 for further processing into the
process, it was determined that the fish
protein could not be classified under
pasta. Despite having a similar name
and appearance to the products that fall
within the scope of this heading. Since
the legal note 1A to Chapter 19 was
covered, the next consideration was
pasta was classified as prepared fish
under 1604 or as alternatively under
food prepping. Heading 2106 provide
food preparation not otherwise specified
and I can't emphasize this point enough.
This is heading is the last heading you
should consult prior classifying
anything you're looking at application
of GRI1. When applying the GRI, you
always need to rule out every and other
more specific heading in the tariff that
may be applicable to the products you're
working with before you consider 2106.
So in the case of the fish protein pasta
here in this case, if they did not fall
within the scope of chapter 16, and
there was nothing else we can consider,
then we contact r can look at 21. But
again, the large percentage of fish
protein and how it was manufactured was
critical to the classification
determination. Citing CORE of
international trade, determination more
CORE versus United States was determined
fish as used in note 1E to Chapter 21 to
include all parts edible and unedible
and not merely fillets. The addition
was made four varieties of pasta with
result of mixture of frozen chop, and
other ingredients processed into a dough
and extruded into filament, steamed, and
then frozen. Despite the mixture of the
fish contained, fish content of the
product weight remained greater for each
of the varieties. As result, this
product could not be classified under
Chapter 1 and classification was
determined to fall within Chapter 16 and
support for the decision was made by the
CIT case and the legal notes, note 2 to
chapter 16 and precedent established by
the fish ruling I talked about. While
the fish protein was processed and not
readily identifiable to the naked eye,
it's 40% fish. Demonstrated these
products were indeed a fish product and
they were marketed as a fish in a
pasta-like shape and kept frozen or
refrigerated before used by the consumer
and were compromised of weight of more
than 40% of the Alaska Pollack.
So we covered a lot today. And I've
been in the weeds, sort of speak for the
last few slides. So as we're coming to
the end of this presentation, I wanted
to a quick knowledge check of today's
information. Please feel free to enter
true or false in the chat box. Here's
the question. All products that are
called pasta, spaghetti, gnocchi, ziti,
et cetera, and marketed as such are
classified as pasta in heading 1902
regardless of the ingredients that make
up the pasta or how they are prepared or
manufactured. So I'll give everybody
about 30 seconds to comment. I am
liking what I'm seeing. I am getting
false, false, false. For everybody that
answered false, you are 100% correct.
When it comes to tariff classification,
the vegetable or the legume as vegetable
flour that make up a product would be
akin to the other flours listed in the
Explanatory Note such as wheat, maize,
rice, or potato flour. Listed in the EN
heading 1902, if comparable
manufacturing procedures are employed in
the manufacturing of pasta.
On this screen, I have some helpful
questions that we typically ask prior to
issuing a classification ruling. Please
note these questions can be used for
many types of food products that you may
be working on, not just the pastas that
were covered in this presentation.
Having this information in the
beginning when you decide to submit a
ruling will help us avoid having to
issue a return letter for additional
information as we are strictly
eliminated to 30 days from the date of
submission to provide an official
response to each one of your ruling
requests.
Some of those common questions are
most importantly provide a complete
ingredients breakdown by weight and
presented in percentage format and
ensure it totals 100%. A narrative
description of the manufacturing product
and the manufacturing flowchart.
Hopefully, I stressed in this
presentation. The first two questions I
have here are two critical components to
tariff classification. Of course,
provide pictures, product labeling, and
instruction for use, if it's bulk or
retail sizes and what condition it's
imported? And if you have protein and
it's protein-based, provide the dry
weight of that protein and source of
that protein for us.
As I briefly alluded to earlier, our
office encourages member of the trade
and importers to consider obtaining a
binding ruling under 19 C.F.R. part 177.
Please see the link at the bottom of
this slide. You could also type in the
keywords on your preferred search engine
such as CBP e-ruling and you'll get to
this link. Again, I ask that in
addition to filling out the required
information, you provide as much
information to the questions as
possible. As I over viewed on the prior
slide to avoid any delay in our
determination in issuance of the ruling.
Here are some useful links to
today's presentation. Such as the
binding rulings program, CROSS, the
Harmonized Tariff Schedule, informed
compliance publications, and the world
Customs organization. So up on this
slide is my contact information along
with my national import associate,
Laureen Tsang. Please do not hesitate
to reach out to any of us if you have
any questions. I like to just briefly
thank the web masters and the host for
hosting this session for everyone. I
thank everybody for attending this
webinar and I hope that you found
everything informative and helpful. So
I'm going to go now and look back in the
chat box. I have about 5 or 6 minutes
left so I'm going to try to answer as
many questions as I can. But please, if
I don't get to your question or you
couldn't think of anything, please
don't hesitate to reach out to me at the
contact information on this slide.
>> CALENTHIA BANKS: We can call out
a couple of questions to you?
>> Yeah, there was a question that
was related to Customs broker license
exam question and we are not able to
comment on that. So we're not going to
address that one right here, but we have
a few other ones. One question is rice
noodles made of rice flour are pasta
still, right?
>> TIMOTHY PETRULONIS: Rice noodles
made of what?
>> Rice noodle made of rice flour
are pasta?
>> TIMOTHY PETRULONIS: I would ask
for a little more information as I
allude to in this slide. We need
complete ingredient break down and
manufacturing process. So it's not just
one ingredient such as rice flour that
makes it a pasta. Does it have the
character of a pasta? We look at the
ingredients and manufacturing process.
So what I would say that it likely may.
But please reach out to us. And you can
request a binding ruling and we'll be
happy to provide that to you via ruling
once we get more additional information.
>> Okay, great. Another question to
confirm, all shelf stable pasta is
applicable to 1902, frozen would fall
under 1905?
>> TIMOTHY PETRULONIS: Well, shelf
stable pasta and frozen pastas, I would
say latter about 1905, this provides for
baker's wears. And just like pasta to
something fall on to bakers wear. If
you have a frozen pass Tark it's not
classified under heading 1905. If you
have a frozen pasta, just like shelf
stable pasta, it may be classified under
heading 1902 under a specific
subheading, but we first have to
determine if, like I said earlier, the
ingredients that compromise the frozen
pasta, the manufacturing process,
actually, be qualify for the first four
digit heading first. And just to
enumerate on the last example in the
slide about what's not a pasta about the
fish protein pastas, all those those
were frozen or refrigerated, that didn't
preclude classification in 1902 as a
pasta. It was the fact that one of the
main facts is that they were, they
contained over 20% by weight of a fish
product, which met a CIT decision which
also satisfied the legal note which is
statutory along with the general rules
of interpretation for classification
purposes. So like I said earlier, you
have more questions about that, please
feel free to reach out to me with more
information and I can help gear you in
the more appropriate direction.
>> I think that's all we have time
for. Thank you again, everybody. I
hope this was informative. And please
feel free to reach out to our team with
any questions and please do not hesitate
to submit a binding ruling.
>> Thank you, Tim. Again, thank
you, everyone, and we do hope that you
found today's webinar informative. The
Continuing Education credit was placed
in the WebEx chat box and it will be
emailed to participants within 48 hours.
Today's webinar will be posted on
CBP.gov under the trade outreach webinar
in the coming weeks. We thank you again
afternoon. Thank you! Bye-bye.