NY 849681 - The tariff classification of ASIAGO PRESSATO cheese from Italy. - United States International Trade Commision Rulings

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NY 849681

May 9, 1990

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

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 0406.90.8060 (9904.10.54)

Mr. Guido Bettini, Chairman
Consorzio per la Tutela del Formaggio Asiago 36100 Vicenza - Corso Fogazzaro, 18
C.C.I.A.A. Vincenza n. 148240 c/c postale 10291367
Partita IVA n. 00703580241
Italy

RE: The tariff classification of ASIAGO PRESSATO cheese from Italy.

Dear Mr. Bettini:

In your letter dated February 8, 1990, you requested a tariff classification ruling.

ASIAGO PRESSATO is a cow's milk cheese made from whole milk in cylindrical forms, flat on either end, with a height of 11 to 15 centimeters, a diameter of 30 to 40 centimeters and a weight of from 11 to 15 kilograms.
The cheese rind is described as regular and thin, and the interior of the cheese as white or straw-yellow in color, with regular mechanical openings. This cheese is said to be ripened from 20 to 40 days and to have a minimum fat content of 44 percent by weight in the dry matter. A sample slice of Asiago Pressato cheese, analyzed by the Customs Laboratory at New York, was found to contain, by weight, 38.5 percent moisture, 28.5 percent butterfat (46.2 percent on a dry basis), 27.3 percent protein, and 2.6 percent salt, with a pH of 5.7.

The applicable subheading for ASIAGO PRESSATO, aged 20 to 40 days and with butterfat and moisture content as described above, will be 0406.90.8060, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), which provides for other cow's milk cheese (other than soft-ripened cow's milk cheese and cow's milk cheese containing not over 0.5 percent by weight of butterfat) not more specifically provided for. 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 the European Economic Community to an annual quota quantity of 20,456,000 kilograms (of which 353,000 are reserved for Portugal). Additionally, an import license, issued to the importer by the United States Department of Agriculture, will be required at the time such merchandise is entered for consumption into the United States.

Your inquiry does not provide enough information for us to give a classification ruling on ASIAGO D'ALLEVO. Aged Asiago, as you are aware, is a Grana type cheese. Italian Grana type cheese made from cow's milk is classifiable under a special heading in the tariff, and takes a different import license than that required for cheese classified under HTS 0406.90.8060. Your request for a classification ruling on ASIAGO D'ALLEVO "MEZZANO" and ASIAGO D'ALLEVO "VECCHIO" should include the following:

1. a sample half-wheel of Asiago d'Allevo "Mezzano".

2. a sample half-wheel of Asiago d'Allevo "Vecchio".

3. an explanation of the ripening period for Asiago "Vecchio". What is the range for the ripening period,--for example, is it from nine months to one year, nine months to two years, etc.?

3. a statement of the butterfat content in the dry matter for both cheeses at the end of the ripening period, when these cheeses are ready to be marketed.

4. a statement of the moisture content for both cheeses at the end of the ripening period.

5. a statement as to whether these cheeses will bear any special marking to indicate that they were manufactured under the auspices of the Consorzio per la Tutela del Formaggio Asiago, or by one of its member companies. If these cheeses will be so marked, please indicate the type of marking that will be used, including an explanation of any numbers, letters, or other symbols which will appear as part of the marking.

6. Please provide a listing of the member companies, with addresses, of the Consorzio per la Tutela del Formaggio Asiago.

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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