H336525

H336525 February 10, 2026 OT:RR:CTF:FTM H336525 MJD CATEGORY: Classification TARIFF NO.: 2106.90.64; 2106.90.66 Center Director Agriculture & Prepared Products CEE U.S. Customs and Border Protection 6601 N.W. 25 St. Miami, FL 33122 ATTN: Mercedes Jacobs, Import Specialist Re: Application for Further Review of Protest No. 1803-23-102495; Milky Ghee Dear Center Director: This is reference to the Application for Further Review (“AFR”) of Protest No. 1803-23- 102495, timely filed on November 21, 2023, by Venable LLP on behalf of [Tambo Trading LLC.], (“Protestant”), regarding the tariff classification of Milky Ghee under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”). Venable LLP requested that certain information submitted in connection with this request be treated as confidential. Inasmuch as this request conforms to the requirements of 19 C.F.R. § 177.2(b)(7), the request for confidentiality is approved. The items specified will not be released to the public and will be withheld from the published version of this decision. FACTS: The merchandise at issue is Milky Ghee. According to Protestant, Milky Ghee is “a versatile, easy and tasty swap for butter or oils. It is a type of clarified butter, with a more lactic flavor.” The production process of the Milky Ghee consists of manufacturing 900.1 kilos of ghee from 1200.133 kilos of butter then blending 900.1 kilos ghee with 9.1 kilos skimmed powder milk which results in a final product consisting of 99 percent ghee and 1 percent skimmed powder milk. Specifically, the composition breakdown of the Milky Ghee is as follows: 1. Fat (Butter fat) min. 99.7% 2. Humidity max. 0.2 % 3. Raw protein < 0.2 % 4. Ashes < 0.1% 5. Carbohydrates < 0.1% The subject merchandise covers one entry, entry no. XXXXXXXX131, entered on May 19, 2023, under subheading 2106.90.66, HTSUS, which provides for “[f]ood preparations not elsewhere specified or included: Other: Other: Other: Containing over 10 percent by weight of milk solids: Other, dairy products described in additional U.S. note 1 to chapter 4: Other.” U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) liquidated this entry on October 16, 2023, under subheading 0405.90.20, HTSUS, which provides for “[b]utter and other fats and oils derived from milk; dairy spreads: Other: Other,” stating that “… ghee is specifically provided for in subheading 0405.90 per subheading note 2. CBP does not consider skim milk a non-milk ingredient/additive.” On November 21, 2023, Protestant filed a protest and AFR regarding the tariff classification of the Milky Ghee claiming that the product is classified under subheading 2106.90.66, HTSUS, as entered. ISSUE: What is the tariff classification of the Milky Ghee? LAW AND ANALYSIS: Initially, we note that the matter is protestable under 19 U.S.C. § 1514(a)(2) as a decision on classification. The protest was timely filed, within 180 days of liquidation of the first entry. (Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2004, Pub. L. 108-429, § 2103(2)(B)(ii), (iii) (codified as amended at 19 U.S.C. § 1514(c)(3) (2006)). Further Review of Protest No. 1803-23-102495 is properly accorded to Protestant pursuant to 19 C.F.R. § 174.24(a) because Protestant alleges that the decision protested is inconsistent with prior CBP rulings concerning substantially similar merchandise. Classification under the HTSUS is determined in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (“GRIs”). GRI 1 provides that the classification of goods shall be determined according to the terms of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relative section or chapter notes. In the event that the goods cannot be classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, and if the headings and legal notes do not otherwise require, the remaining GRIs 2 through 6 may then be applied in order. The 2023 HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows: 0405 Butter and other fats and oils derived from milk; dairy spreads: 2106 Food preparations not elsewhere specified or included: 2 * * * Subheading Note 2 to Chapter 4, HTSUS, provides the following: For the purposes of subheading 0405.10 the term “butter” does not include dehydrated butter or ghee (subheading 0405.90). * * * The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (“ENs”) constitute the official interpretation of the Harmonized System at the international level. While neither legally binding nor dispositive, the ENs provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the HTSUS and are generally indicative of the proper in interpretation of these headings. See T.D. 89-90, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (Aug. 23, 1989). The General ENs to Chapter 4, HTSUS, provides, in pertinent, the following: This Chapter covers: (I) Dairy products: (A) Milk, i.e., full cream milk and partially or completely skimmed milk. (B) Cream. (C) Buttermilk, curdled milk and cream, yogurt, kephir and other fermented or acidified milk and cream. (D) Whey. (E) Products consisting of natural milk constituents, not elsewhere specified or included. (F) Butter and other fats and oils derived from milk; dairy spreads. (G) Cheese and curd. The products mentioned at Items (A) to (E) above may contain, in addition to natural milk constituents (e.g., milk enriched in vitamins or mineral salts), small quantities of stabilising agents which serve to maintain the natural consistency of the product during transport in liquid state (disodium phosphate, trisodium citrate and calcium chloride, for instance) as well as very small quantities of anti-oxidants or of vitamins not normally found in the product. Certain of these products may also contain small quantities of chemicals (e.g., sodium bicarbonate) necessary for their processing; products in the form of powder or granules may contain anticaking agents (for example, phospholipids, amorphous silicon dioxide) * * * The ENs to heading 04.05, HTSUS, provides the following: This heading covers: (A) Butter. 3 This group covers natural butter, whey butter and recombined butter (fresh, salted or rancid, including canned butter). Butter must be derived exclusively from milk and must have a milkfat content of 80 % or more but not more than 95 % by weight, a maximum milk solids-not-fat content of 2 % by weight and a maximum water content of 16 % by weight. Butter contains no added emulsifiers, but may contain sodium chloride, food colours, neutralising salts and cultures of harmless lactic-acid-producing bacteria. (See Note 3 (a) to this Chapter). Butter obtained from goat’s or sheep’s milk is also covered by this group. (B) Dairy spreads. This group covers dairy spreads, i.e., spreadable emulsions of the water-in-oil type, containing milkfat as the only fat in the product, and having a milkfat content of 39 % or more but less than 80 % by weight (see Note 3 (b) to this Chapter). Dairy spreads may contain optional ingredients such as cultures of harmless lactic-acid-producing bacteria, vitamins, sodium chloride, sugars, gelatine, starches; food colours; flavours; emulsifiers; thickening agents and preservatives. (C) Other fats and oils derived from milk. This group covers fats and oils derived from milk (e.g., milkfat, butterfat and butteroil). Butteroil is the product obtained by extracting the water and non-fat content from butter or cream. This group further includes dehydrated butter and ghee (a kind of butter made most commonly from the milk of buffaloes or cows), as well as products consisting of a mixture of butter and small quantities of herbs, spices, flavourings, garlic, etc. (provided they retain the character of the products falling in this heading). The heading does not cover fat spreads containing fats other than milkfats or containing less than 39 % by weight of milkfat (generally heading 15.17 or 21.06). * * * The ENs to Heading 21.06, HTSUS, provide, in pertinent part, the following: Provided that they are not covered by any other heading of the Nomenclature, this heading covers: … (

Initially, we note that the matter is protestable under 19 U.S.C. § 1514(a)(2) as a decision on classification. The protest was timely filed, within 180 days of liquidation of the first entry. (Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2004, Pub. L. 108-429, § 2103(2)(B)(ii), (iii) (codified as amended at 19 U.S.C. § 1514(c)(3) (2006)). Further Review of Protest No. 1803-23-102495 is properly accorded to Protestant pursuant to 19 C.F.R. § 174.24(a) because Protestant alleges that the decision protested is inconsistent with prior CBP rulings concerning substantially similar merchandise. Classification under the HTSUS is determined in accordance with the General Rules of Interpretation (“GRIs”). GRI 1 provides that the classification of goods shall be determined according to the terms of the headings of the tariff schedule and any relative section or chapter notes. In the event that the goods cannot be classified solely on the basis of GRI 1, and if the headings and legal notes do not otherwise require, the remaining GRIs 2 through 6 may then be applied in order. The 2023 HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows: 0405 Butter and other fats and oils derived from milk; dairy spreads: 2106 Food preparations not elsewhere specified or included: 2 

* * * Subheading Note 2 to Chapter 4, HTSUS, provides the following: For the purposes of subheading 0405.10 the term “butter” does not include dehydrated butter or ghee (subheading 0405.90). * * * The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (“ENs”) constitute the official interpretation of the Harmonized System at the international level. While neither legally binding nor dispositive, the ENs provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the HTSUS and are generally indicative of the proper in interpretation of these headings. See T.D. 89-90, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (Aug. 23, 1989). The General ENs to Chapter 4, HTSUS, provides, in pertinent, the following: This Chapter