Ruling of the Week 2015.26: "Where Have I Been" Edition

[Updated because I either cannot spell, type, or proofread. The post is substantively the same.]

Life and work sometimes intervene to prevent me from being a full-time blogger. So, I missed a couple rulings. Sorry about that, I do my best.

I'm scanning rulings now for something of interest and stumbled on NY N266542 which is moderately NSFW and amusing to the 12 year old boy still stuck in my head. It involves a harness used when mommy and daddy love each other very much. The tariff classification is 6307.90.98 as an other made up textile article. The ruling is only of interest in a prurient way.

Another one that caught my eye is N266838 (Aug. 4, 2015) concerning the tariff classification of used vegetable cooking oil. The product comes from the Ivory Coast and is classified in 1518.00.40 as animal or vegetable oil chemically modified and inedible, not elsewhere specified or included. I'm not sure whether use in cooking results in chemically modified oil or that the oil is inedible in its imported condition. There was a second ruling on similar facts with the oil coming from Hungary.

What I think is interesting about this ruling is that it could be the start of an interesting business model. The oil was imported to be turned into biodiesel fuel. I wonder whether the rest of the world has enough left-over cooking oil to keep refineries going in the U.S. This would give us a whole new way to exploit oil reserves in other countries without actually having to drill for it.

The last ruling I'll note is NY N266719 (Aug. 4, 2015), in which Customs and Border Protection classified a tri-fold tabletop nativity scene made of metal panels depicting Mary and Joseph flanking the baby Jesus. The importer thought this should be classified as a Christmas item, which made sense to me. However, there is an eo nomine provision for nativity scenes in 9505.10.30, which is a festive articles provision and is duty free. Clearly, this item passes my Rabbinical Test for festive articles. That will be an important test to bear in mind as we approach the holidays.

Comments

Sandberg Phoenix & Von Gontard said…
Excellent blog, it's hard to find a blog about legality that's updated as frequently as you update yours.
Oct 2, 2015, 12:12:00 PM
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