HQ 962263

January 17, 2000

CLA-2 RR:TE 962263 jsj

CATEGORY: Classification

TARIFF NO.: 4202.92.9026

Area Port Director

U.S. Customs Service

1000 Second Avenue

Suite 2100

Seattle, Washington

98104-1049

Re: Application for Further Review of Protest No. 3001-98-100179;
Redelivery Notice; Classification of Violin Bow Case; Subheading
4202.92.9026.

Dear Sir or Madam:

The purpose of this correspondence is to address the Application for
Further Review of Protest Number: 3001-98-100179. The Importer of Record
and Protesting Party is Entertainment Music Marketing Corporation. The
Protesting Party is represented by Mares Shreve & Associates, Inc.

The Customs Service issued a Notice to Redeliver to Entertainment Music
Marketing Corporation. The Notice to Redeliver was based on the Customs
Service's classification of the merchandise in subheading 4202.92.9026,
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated (HTSUSA),
which requires a textile category 670 visa. The importer did not produce
a visa at the time of entry of the merchandise.

A review of the Notice to Redeliver and the Protest indicates that the
Protest was timely filed pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 1514 (c) (3) (West 1999 &
Supp. 2000) and 19 C.F.R. 174.12 (e) (2). The Notice to Redeliver was
issued on June 4, 1998. The Protest was filed on June 26, 1998, within
ninety days of the decision of the Customs Service to require redelivery
of the merchandise or the production of a category 670 visa.

Correspondence from Mares Shreve & Associates dated June 11, 1998, and
the Protest filed on the behalf of Entertainment Music Marketing
Corporation on June 26, 1998, were reviewed prior to this decision. A
telephone conference was conducted with counsel for the Protestant on
August 15, 2000.

FACTS

The article in issue, identified by the Protestant as a "violin bow
bag," is manufactured of man-made textile materials. It measures
twenty-nine and one-half (29 1/2) inches in length and two and
three-fourth (2 3/4) inches in width. The interior is padded and
measures approximately two (2) inches wide, the sides being sewn
approximately one-fourth (1/4) of an inch from the exterior edge of the
article. It has an opening at one end, the top end, which has a three
(3) inch long flap that folds over and secures to the main body of the
article by hook and loop fasteners.

The "violin bow bag," according to the Entry Summary filed by Mares
Shreve & Associates as the agent for Entertainment Music Marketing, is a
product of the People's Republic of China.

ISSUE

Did the Customs Service properly issue the Notice to Redeliver to
Entertainment Music Marketing Corporation based on the failure of the
importer to provide Customs with a textile category 670 visa at the time
of entry of the merchandise ?

LAW AND ANALYSIS

Resolution of the issue of whether the Notice to Redeliver issued by the
Customs Service was proper requires a determination of whether the
merchandise, the "violin bow bag," requires a textile visa. A
determination of whether the "violin bow bag" requires a textile visa
may only be made subsequent to concluding the correct classification of
the article pursuant to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United
States Annotated. The Customs Service will, therefore, endeavor to
properly classify the merchandise in order that the ultimate issue,
whether the Notice to Redeliver was properly issued, may be resolved.

The classification of imported merchandise pursuant to the Harmonized
Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated is governed by the
General Rules of Interpretation (GRI). GRI 1 provides, in part, that
classification decisions are to be "determined according to the terms of
the headings and any relative section or chapter notes."

A review of the headings of Chapter 42, *Articles of Leather; Saddlery
and Harness; Travel Goods, Handbags and Similar Containers; Articles of
Animal Gut (Other than Silkworm Gut)*[^1], the notes of Section VIII and
Chapter Notes of Chapter 42 lead the Customs Service to conclude that
the resolution of this matter will be based on two competing subheadings
of the tariff schedule. The HTSUSA classification subheadings considered
by the Customs Service in rendering this Ruling Letter were: (1)
4202.92.5000; and (2) 4202.92.9026. Subheadings 4202.92.5000 and
4202.92.9026 of Chapter 42 provide:

4202 Trunks, suitcases, vanity cases, attache cases, briefcases, school
satchels, spectacle cases, binocular cases, camera cases, musical
instrument cases, gun cases, holsters and similar containers; traveling
bags, toilet bags, knapsacks and backpacks, handbags, shopping bags,
wallets, purses, map cases, cigarette cases, tobacco pouches, tool bags,
sport bags, bottle cases, jewelry boxes, powder cases, cutlery cases and
similar containers, of leather or of composition leather, of sheeting of
plastics, of textile materials, of vulcanized fiber, or of paperboard,
or wholly or mainly covered with such materials or with paper:

92. Other:

> With outer surface of sheeting of plastic or of textile materials:

5000. Musical instrument cases

> \* \* \* \*

90. Other:

> Other

With outer surface of textile material:

9026. Other:

> Of man-made fibers.

The issue which distinguishes the subheadings is whether the article,
the "violin bow bag," is a "musical instrument case" and properly
classified in subheading 4202.92.5000, HTSUSA, or only an "other"
container with an outer surface of man-made textile fibers "similar" to
the "\[t\]runks, suitcases, vanity cases, attache cases, briefcases,
school satchels, spectacle cases, binocular cases, camera cases, musical
instrument cases, gun cases, \[and\] holsters" enumerated in the first
aspect of the heading and properly classified in subheading
4202.92.9026, HTSUSA. It is specifically noted, in accord with the
dictates of GRI 6, that the analysis initially proceeds between the
competing subheadings at the eight digit subheading level. *See General
Rule of Interpretation 6*. The issue at the eight digit subheading level
is whether the merchandise is more specifically described as a "musical
instrument case" in subheading 4202.90.50, HTSUSA, or an "other"
container in subheading 4202.92.90, HTSUSA.

Resolution of the question of whether the "violin bow bag" is a "musical
instrument case" or an "other" container involves determining whether a
violin bow is a musical instrument pursuant to the HTSUSA. If a violin
bow, pursuant to the tariff schedule, is not a musical instrument, then
a case in which a bow is carried may not be deemed a musical instrument
case. Chapter 92 of the tariff schedule, entitled *Musical Instruments;
Parts and Accessories of Such Articles*, is of assistance in making this
determination.

Subheading 9202.10.0000, HTSUSA, and the Chapter Notes to Chapter 92
contribute in resolving the issue of whether a violin bow is a musical
instrument. A review of subheading 9202.10.0000, HTSUSA, "Other string
musical instruments (for example, guitars, violins, harps): Played with
a bow" leads to the conclusion that it is only the violin and not the
bow that is considered to be a musical instrument for classification
purposes. This conclusion is supported by a review of Note 2 of the
Chapter 92 Notes which references bows as being devices used in playing
the musical instrument.

The Explanatory Notes (EN) to Chapter 92 further aid in concluding that
violin bows are not musical instruments pursuant to the Harmonized
Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). The EN's represent the
official interpretation of the HTSUS at the international level. The
Explanatory Notes, although not law in the United States and, therefore,
not legally binding on the Customs Service in its interpretation of the
HTSUS, are considered a valuable interpretative reference. *See* T.D.
89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127-28 (Aug. 23, 1989). Explanatory Note 92.02 (A)
addresses "Instruments played with a bow" and provides that violins are
among the "chief examples" of such instruments.

The conclusion drawn from subheading 9202.10.0000, HTSUSA, the Chapter
Notes and the EN's is that violin bows are not musical instruments. If
the bow is only used to play the instrument, then it is the violin that
is the musical instrument for classification purposes. *See also*
*Subheading 9209.92.6000, HTSUSA* (addressing parts and accessories of
musical instruments, bows and other parts and accessories for string
instruments played with a bow); *Explanatory Note 92.09*.

Port Decision DD 889330 addressed a similar issue involving the
classification of a drumstick bag. The decision classified a drumstick
bag under subheading 4202.92.90, HTSUSA, concluding that the drumsticks
were accessories to drums and not musical instruments. *See also*
*Explanatory Note, Ch. 92 (2) and 92.06 (A)(2)* (providing that drums
are musical instruments sounded by striking with sticks).

Having reviewed Chapter 42, Chapter 92, the corresponding Explanatory
Notes and Port Decision DD 889330, it is the conclusion of the Customs
Service that violin bows are not musical instruments, thereby precluding
classification of the violin bow bags under consideration as "musical
instruments cases." The merchandise that is the subject of the instant
protest is properly classified as an "other" container and ultimately
classified in subheading 4202.92.9026, HTSUSA.

HOLDING

The Protest should be DENIED. The Notice to Redeliver was properly
issued.

The "violin bow bag" is classified in subheading 4202.92.9026,
Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States Annotated.

The textile category is 670.

In accordance with Section 3 A (11) (b) of Customs Directive 099
3550-065, dated August 4, 1993, Subject: Revised Protest Directive, you
are to mail this decision, together with Customs Form 19, to the
Protesant no later than 60 days from the date of this letter. Any
reliquidation of the entry or entries in accordance with this decision
must be accomplished prior to mailing the decision.

Sixty days from the date of this decision, the Office of Regulations &
Rulings will make the decision available to Customs personnel and to the
public on the Customs Service Home Page on the World Wide Web at
www.customs.gov, by means of the Freedom of Information Act, and other
methods of public distribution.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director

Commercial Rulings Division

[^1]: Titles of chapters are provided for ease of reference only. *See
    General Rule of Interpretation 1*.