[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 251 (Friday, December 30, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 82316-82317]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-33603]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

[Docket No. USCBP-2011-0025]


Final Determination Regarding Petition To Reconcile Inconsistent 
Customs Decisions Concerning the Tariff Classification of CN-9 Solution

AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland 
Security.

ACTION: Notice of final determination regarding petition to reconcile 
inconsistent customs decisions.

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SUMMARY: This document publishes a summary of a decision issued by U.S. 
Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') in response to a petition filed 
pursuant to section 177.13 of the CBP regulations requesting the 
reconciliation of inconsistent classification decisions issued by CBP 
under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (``HTSUS'') 
of a certain CN-9 solution, a hydrated ammonium calcium nitrate double 
salt that is primarily used as a

[[Page 82317]]

fertilizer but is also used for waste water treatment. In the decision, 
CBP informed the party filing the petition that the correct 
classification of the subject CN-9 Solution is under subheading 
3102.60.00, HTSUS.

DATES: The final classification decision was issued on December 16, 
2011. The classification set forth in the decision applies to all 
entries of the described CN-9 Solution for which liquidation was not 
finalized as of December 16, 2011.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tamar Anolic, Tariff Classification 
and Marking Branch, Regulations and Rulings, Office of International 
Trade, (202) 325-0036.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

I. Petition

    A petition dated June 16, 2010 \1\ was filed under section 177.13 
of the U.S. Customs and Border Regulations (``CBP'') regulations (19 
CFR 177.13), on behalf of Yara North America, Inc. (``Yara'') 
requesting the reconciliation of inconsistent classification decisions 
under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (``HTSUS'').
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    \1\ The Federal Register (76 FR 48875) notice of August 9, 2011 
erroneously listed the petition as being dated June 6, 2010.
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    Yara is a subset of Yara International ASA, a global firm 
specializing in agricultural products and environmental protection 
agents. It is a supplier of mineral fertilizers. As an importer of 
these products, Yara received inconsistent classification decisions on 
its merchandise at different ports. The petition concerned Yara's 
importation of CN-9 Solution, a hydrated ammonium calcium nitrate 
double salt that is primarily used as a fertilizer but is also used for 
waste water treatment. Yara entered the subject merchandise at the Port 
of Long Beach between January 24, 2009 and September 8, 2009, and at 
the Port of Baltimore on April 20, 2010, under subheading 3102.60.00, 
HTSUS, as ``Mineral or chemical fertilizers, nitrogenous: Double salts 
and mixtures of calcium nitrate and ammonium nitrate.'' Citing Legal 
Note 2(a)(v) to Chapter 31, HTSUS,\2\ the Port of Long Beach liquidated 
the subject merchandise as entered. Citing Legal Note 5 to Chapter 28, 
HTSUS,\3\ the Port of Baltimore liquidated the subject merchandise 
under subheading 2842.90.90, HTSUS, as ``Other salts of inorganic acids 
or peroxoacids (including aluminosilicates whether or not chemically 
defined), other than azides: Other: Other.''
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    \2\ Legal Note 2(a)(v) to chapter 31, HTSUS, provides that: 
``Heading 3102 applies only to the following goods, provided that 
they are not put up in the forms or packages described in heading 
3105: (a) Goods which answer to one or other of the descriptions 
given below: [hellip] (v) Double salts (whether or not pure) or 
mixtures of calcium nitrate and ammonium nitrate.''
    \3\ Legal Note 5 to chapter 28, HTSUS, provides that: ``Headings 
2826 to 2842 apply only to metal or ammonium salts or peroxysalts. 
Except where the context otherwise requires, double or complex salts 
are to be classified in heading 2842.''
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    Yara met the requirements as an interested party set forth in 19 
CFR 177.13(a)(2) and 19 U.S.C. 1514(c) and met the requirements 
regarding the types of decisions subject to petition set forth in 19 
CFR 177.13(a)(1) and 19 U.S.C. 1514(a). Furthermore, having filed the 
petition within 180 days of the latest decision it received from a 
port, Yara met the timeliness requirements of 19 CFR 177.13(a)(3). 
Lastly, Yara also met the requirements of 19 CFR 177.13(b)(2), and 
specifically 19 CFR 177.13(b)(2)(i) in that the petition contained a 
complete description of the inconsistent decisions of which they 
complained. The company submitted a sample that had been tested by the 
CBP laboratories. Yara requested that CBP classify the imported 
merchandise under subheading 3102.60.00, HTSUS.
    Notice of the petition, along with a request for comments, was 
published in the Federal Register (76 FR 48875) on August 9, 2011. No 
comments were received in response to the notice. This document informs 
all interested parties of CBP's decision regarding the issue raised in 
the petition.

II. Decision

    The subject merchandise is a hydrated ammonium calcium nitrate 
double salt that is used as a fertilizer. While it can also be used for 
water treatment, its primary use is as a fertilizer and its chemical 
structure is identical for both uses. As a result, it is described by 
the terms of heading 3102, HTSUS, as a nitrogenous mineral fertilizer.
    Furthermore, Legal Note 2 to Chapter 31, HTSUS, specifically lists 
this merchandise: double salts, whether or not pure, or mixtures of 
calcium nitrate and ammonium nitrate. In addition, Explanatory Note 
(EN) 31.02 confirms this interpretation. The subject merchandise is a 
fertilizer with a secondary use in waste water treatment. This 
alternate function is explicitly allowed by EN 31.02.
    The Port of Baltimore liquidated the subject merchandise under 
heading 2842, HTSUS. Legal Note 5 to Chapter 28, HTSUS, directs 
classification of double or complex salts into heading 2842, HTSUS, 
``except where the context otherwise requires.'' There is no dispute 
that the subject merchandise is a double salt, but the context here 
requires that it be classified outside heading 2842, HTSUS. In this 
case, the subject merchandise is specifically described by Legal Note 2 
to heading 3102, HTSUS, as being classified in that heading. The 
subject merchandise is also described, eo nomine, by the terms of 
heading 3102, HTSUS, as a nitrogenous mineral fertilizer. As a result, 
the context requires that it be classified there instead of heading 
2842, HTSUS.
    This notice informs all interested parties that in a decision dated 
December 16, 2011, CBP classified the subject CN-9 Solution under 
subheading 3102.60.00, HTSUS, which provides for: ``Mineral or chemical 
fertilizers, nitrogenous: Double salts and mixtures of calcium nitrate 
and ammonium nitrate.'' In accordance with 19 CFR 177.13(e), the 
decision was effective immediately upon issuance and, where applicable, 
applies to all entries for which liquidation is not final.

III. Authority

    This notice is published in accordance with section 177.13(d), CBP 
Regulations (19 CFR 177.13(d)).

    Dated: December 27, 2011.
Sandra L. Bell,
Executive Director, Regulations and Rulings, Office of International 
Trade.
[FR Doc. 2011-33603 Filed 12-29-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9111-14-P