HQ 952678

December 30, 1992

CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 952678 KCC

CATEGORY: Classification

TARIFF NO.: 6802.91.05

District Director

U.S. Customs Service

101 East Main Street

Norfolk, Virginia 23510

RE: Protest No. 1401-92-100098; marble; Additional U.S. Note 1

to Chapter 69; processing necessary to facilitate

installation; slabs; HRL 950125; HRL 951047; beveling

Dear Sir:

This is in response to the Application for Further Review of

Protest No. 1401-92-100098 dated July 7, 1992, which pertains to

the tariff classification of marble products under the Harmonized

Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).

FACTS:

The articles under consideration are described on the

invoice as \"Arabescato Marble DIMS. 12\"x12\"x3/8\" - Polished,

Calibrated, Beveled.\" Upon importation into the U.S., the

arabescato marble entry was liquidated under subheading

6802.91.15, HTSUS, which provides for \"Worked monumental or

building stone (except slate) and articles thereof, other than

goods of heading 6801; mosaic cubes and the like, of natural

stone (including slate), whether or not on a backing;

artificially colored granules, chippings and powder, of natural

stone (including slate)\...Other\...Marble, travertine and

alabaster\...Marble\...Other.\"

The protestant, Dernis International Marketing, contends

that the arabescato marble, is properly classified under

subheading 6802.91.05, HTSUS, which provides for \"\...Marble\...

Slabs.\"

ISSUE:

Is the arabescato marble classified under subheading

6802.91.15, HTSUS, as other marble, or under subheading

6802.91.05, HTSUS, as marble slabs?

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

The classification of merchandise under the HTSUS is

governed by the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs). GRI 1,

HTSUS, states in part that \"for legal purposes, classification

shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and

any relative section or chapter notes\....\"

The marble in this case is properly classified within

Chapter 68, making the Chapter 68 notes applicable to this

classification. Additional U.S. Note 1 to Chapter 68 states:

For purposes of heading 6802, the term \"slabs\" embraces

flat stone pieces, not over 5.1 cm in thickness, having

a facial area of 25.8 cm2 or more, the edges of which

have not been beveled, rounded or otherwise processed

except such processing as may be needed to facilitate

installation as tiling or veneering in building

construction.

Thus, edge working such as beveling would preclude classification

of merchandise as \"slabs\" in subheading 6802.91.05, HTSUS, unless

this processing is merely necessary to facilitate installation.

Additional U.S. Note 1 to Chapter 68, does not provide a specific

measurement for a process which would be acceptable to facilitate

installation.

In order to determine the extent of the processing which

would be acceptable for a slab, Customs in New York sought

information from the marble and limestone industry. Based on

this information, Customs determined that the edges, sides or

corners of a piece of marble need only be cut or processed to

1/32 of an inch to facilitate installation. Customs further

determined that any cut which is greater, either deeper or wider,

than 1/32 of an inch is not made merely to facilitate

installation, but rather is made in part for appearance or

beauty. Therefore, Customs determined that the cut of 1/32 of an

inch is a reasonable standard for distinguishing \"slabs\" from

marble which is a product worked beyond the definition of \"slabs\"

found in Additional U.S. Note 1 to Chapter 68. See, Headquarters

Ruling Letter (HRL) 950125 dated January 7, 1992, which held that

the marble was classified under subheading 6802.91.15, HTSUS, as

other marble because the edges were cut more than 1/32 of an inch

in spite of the protestant\'s contention that the edges were only

\"eased.\"

\"Easing\" is a minimal operation performed to remove rough

cut edges from the marble. The tile edge finishing operation is

not a high precision process. Therefore, the amount of material

removed from the edges is dependent upon the pressure applied and

can vary from tile to tile or even along an edge. Therefore, it

is difficult, if not impossible, to establish an exact figure,

such as 1/32 of an inch, as a standard for determining the limit

on the amount of processing which is needed to facilitate

installation.

Simply examining whether more than 1/32 of an inch of edge

is removed is too rigid and does not allow for the non-precision

edge finishing operation found in the tile industry. However, to

facilitate the proper classification of articles as slabs or

other marble pursuant to Additional U.S. Note 1 to Chapter 68, it

is necessary to have an established standard. After gathering

further information from the marble and limestone industry, we

conclude that certain types of marble may have to be eased as

much as 3/32 of an inch in order to facilitate installation.

This 3/32 of an inch standard will allow for varying degrees of

hardness of different stones and will allow for the industry\'s

non-precision edge finishing operation found in \"easing\" the

articles for handling purposes. See, HRL 951047 dated September

17, 1992.

Therefore, if the edge is eased not wider or deeper than

3/32 of an inch, then the stone articles will be determined to

have been processed to facilitate installation and classified as

slabs under subheading 6802.91.05, HTSUS, pursuant to Additional

U.S. Note 1 to Chapter 68.

Laboratory Report No. 4-93-20182-001, dated December 9,

1992, which examined the arabescato marble found that the white

stone sample measuring 30 x 30 x 1 cm is of marble and is not

agglomerated stone. The edges of the sample were found to be

beveled to 0.0310 to 0.0495 of an inch which is less than 3/32 of

an inch (3/32 = 0.09375). Based on the laboratory report, the

arabescato marble is properly classified under subheading

6802.91.05, HTSUS, as \"\...Other\...Marble, travertine and

alabaster\...Marble\...Slabs.\"

HOLDING:

The marble is properly classified under subheading

6802.91.05, HTSUS, as \"Worked monumental or building stone

(except slate) and articles thereof, other than goods of heading

6801\...Other\...Marble, travertine and alabaster\...Marble\...

Slabs.\"

This protest should be granted. A copy of this decision

should be attached to the Customs Form 19 and provided to the

protestant as part of the notice of action on the protest.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director