NY 0859229 - The tariff classification of three cheeses from Hungary. - United States International Trade Commision Rulings

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NY 859229

February 26, 1991

CLA-2-04:S:N:N1:229

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 0406.90.8060 (9904.10.54)

Mr. Gabor Ruzsan
The Valco Group
62 Marwood Road N.
Port Washington, NY 11050

RE: The tariff classification of three cheeses from Hungary.

Dear Mr. Ruzsan:

In your letter, received in late December, 1990, you requested a tariff classification ruling.

The cheeses in question are designated "BAN" CHEESE (MINI "BAN" CHEESE), SMOKED "PARENYICA" CHEESE, and SMOKED "HAM" CHEESE. A sample of "BAN" MINI CHEESE, also described as a Kashkaval Hajdu type cheese, was packed in a retail cryovac wrapper in a cylindrical form approximately 8 centimeters in diameter and 4.75 centimeters in height. Information supplied indicates that "BAN" cheese will be packed in mini wheels of either 0.25 kilograms or in larger wheels of 8 kilograms each. This cheese was rindless, pale yellow in color, and had a mild, milky taste. The interior of the cheese appeared to have a layered construction, as if rolled or cut from layers of stretched curd. The fat content of "BAN" CHEESE is said to be 45 percent minimum on a dry basis and the dry matter content to range from 53 to 55 percent. A Laboratory analysis reported that the sample, a cow's milk cheese, contained, by weight, 42.7 percent moisture, 24.8 percent fat (43.2 percent on a dry basis), 24.3 percent protein, and 3.1 percent salt, with a pH of 5.6.

SMOKED "PARANYICA" CHEESE is a small cylindrical cheese with a brown exterior typical of a smoked cheese and a pale yellow interior. This cheese consists of a continuous strip of cheese rolled into a cylinder and then tied with thin cheese "strings". This cheese will be packaged in wheels of about 0.25 kilograms each and are said to contain 47.5 percent minimum fat in the dry matter, with a dry matter content of 57 percent minimum. A Laboratory analysis found one sample, a cow's milk cheese, to consist, by weight, of 41 percent moisture, 27.8 percent fat (47.9 percent on a dry basis), 24.8 percent protein, and 2.2 percent salt, with a pH of 6.1.

SMOKED "HAM" CHEESE is a smallish, yellow cheese with a brownish exterior typical of smoked cheese. This ham-shaped cheese is about 18 centimeters in length, about 10 centimeters wide in the thick part and about 3.5 centimeters wide in the thinner part. The weight of each cheese is said to be about one kilogram, with a minimum fat content, by weight, of 47 percent on a dry basis, and a minimum solids content of 55 percent. A sample cheese appeared to be formed from cheese strips. Laboratory analysis of a sample found the cheese to be made from cow's milk and to consist, by weight, of 37.8 percent moisture, 28.8 percent fat (46.3 percent on a dry basis), 26.3 percent protein, and 2.8 percent salt, with a pH of 6.1.

The applicable subheading for "BAN" CHEESE (MINI "BAN" CHEESE), SMOKED "PARENYICA CHEESE", and SMOKED "HAM" CHEESE will be 0406.90.8060, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for Other cheese...containing cow's milk (except soft-ripened cow's milk cheese). The rate of duty will be 10 percent ad valorem.

Articles classifiable in HTS subheading 0406.90.8060 are subject to quota quantity restrictions listed in subchapter IV of Chapter 99 in HTS subheading 9904.10.54, which limits the amount of such cheese which may be imported from countries (including Hungary) with no specific quota allocation to an annual quota quantity of 201,635 kilograms. Additionally, an import license, issued to the importer by the United States Department of Agri- culture, will be required at the time such merchandise is entered for consumption into the United States.

This ruling is being issued under the provisions of Section 177 of the Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 177).

A copy of this ruling letter should be attached to the entry documents filed at the time this merchandise is imported. If the documents have been filed without a copy, this ruling should be brought to the attention of the Customs officer handling the transaction.

Sincerely,

Jean F. Maguire
Area Director

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