H341768

H341768 April 10, 2025 OT:RR:CTF:FTM H341768 TSM CATEGORY: Classification TARIFF NO.: 1605.21.05 Ms. Laura Oliver A.N. Deringer, Inc. 173 West Service Road Champlain, NY 12919 RE: Tariff Classification of Frozen Shrimp Dumplings Dear Ms. Oliver, This letter is in response to your request, on behalf of T&T Supermarkets (“T&T or “Requestor”), dated August 15, 2024, for a binding ruling regarding the tariff classification of certain shrimp dumplings under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”). In your request, you asked that the specific ingredient combinations and percentages contained in the shrimp dumplings 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 specified items will not be released to the public and will be withheld from the published decision. FACTS: The shrimp dumplings at issue are featured in three varieties that each contain greater than 20 percent by weight of shrimp, other ingredients such as bamboo shoot and egg powder, as well as a variety of seasonings. The dough jacket that comprises the outer shell of each dumpling variety is derived from wheat starch, potato starch, tapioca starch, water, and refined soybean oil. The dumplings will be imported for retail sale and will be shipped frozen and ready to cook. ISSUE: What is the tariff classification of the shrimp dumplings at issue? LAW AND ANALYSIS: Classification under the HTSUS is made 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 2025 HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows: 1605 Crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates, prepared or preserved * * * 1902 Pasta, whether or not cooked or stuffed (with meat or other substances) or otherwise prepared, such as spaghetti, macaroni, noodles, lasagna, gnocchi, ravioli, cannelloni; couscous, whether or not prepared * * * Note 2 to Chapter 16 provides as follows: Food preparations fall in this chapter provided that they contain more than 20 percent by weight of sausage, meat, meat offal, blood, fish or crustaceans, molluscs or other aquatic invertebrates, or any combination thereof. In cases where the preparation contains two or more of the products mentioned above, it is classified in the heading of chapter 16 corresponding to the component or components which predominate by weight. These provisions do not apply to the stuffed products of heading 1902 or to the preparations of heading 2103 or 2104 (emphasis added). * * * Note 1(a) to Chapter 19 provides as follows: This chapter does not cover: (a) Except in the case of stuffed products of heading 1902, food preparations containing more than 20 percent by weight of sausage, meat, meat offal, blood, fish or 2 crustaceans, molluscs or other aquatic invertebrates, or any combination thereof (chapter 16) * * * The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (“ENs”) constitute the official interpretation of the Harmonized System. While not legally binding nor dispositive, the ENs provide a commentary on the scope of each heading of the Harmonized System at the international level and are generally indicative of the proper interpretation of these headings. See Treas. Dec. 89-80, 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989). EN 19.02 states that: The pasta of this heading are unfermented products made from semolinas or flours of wheat, maize, rice, potatoes, etc. These semolinas or flours (or intermixtures thereof) are first mixed with water and kneaded into a dough which may also incorporate other ingredients (e.g., very finely chopped vegetables, vegetable juice or purées, eggs, milk, gluten, diastases, vitamins, colouring matter, flavouring). The doughs are then formed (e.g., by extrusion and cutting, by rolling and cutting, by pressing, by moulding or by agglomeration in rotating drums) into specific predetermined shapes (such as tubes, strips, filaments, cockleshells, beads, granules, stars, elbow-bends, letters). In this process a small quantity of oil is sometimes added. These forms often give rise to the names of the finished products (e.g., macaroni, tagliatelle, spaghetti, noodles). The products are usually dried before marketing to facilitate transport, storage and conservation; in this dried form, they are brittle. The heading also covers undried (i.e., moist or fresh) and frozen products, for example, fresh gnocchi and frozen ravioli. The pasta of this heading may be cooked, stuffed with meat, fish, cheese or other substances in any proportion or otherwise prepared (e.g., as prepared dishes containing other ingredients such as vegetables, sauce, meat). Cooking serves to soften the pasta without changing its basic original form. Stuffed pasta may be fully closed (for example, ravioli), open at the ends (for example, cannelloni) or layered, such as lasagne. * * * 3 Note 2 to Chapter 16 and Note 1(a) to Chapter 19 provide that products which contain more than twenty percent by weight of meat are classified in Chapter 16. However, consistent with the referenced Notes, stuffed pasta is classified in heading 1902, HTSUS, regardless of the meat’s weight. As such, we must first determine whether the shrimp dumplings at issue are stuffed pasta. In HQ H180095, dated September 3, 2013, we proffered several definitions of the term “pasta.”1 We cited to Webster’s College Dictionary, which defines “pasta” as “a flour paste or dough made of semolina and dried, as for spaghetti and macaroni, or used fresh, as for ravioli.” See Webster’s College Dictionary 1053 (4th Ed. 2007). We also cited The American Heritage Dictionary, which defines “pasta” as “1. Unleavened dough, made of wheat flour, water, and sometimes eggs, that is molded into any of a variety of shapes and boiled.” These definitions are consistent with EN 19.02, which defines pasta as being comprised of semolina or flour which is mixed with water and then kneaded into dough. EN 19.02 further provides that pasta may be cooked and stuffed with meat, fish or other substances, and may be moist or fresh (e.g. fresh gnocchi), or frozen (e.g. frozen ravioli). In HQ H199095, dated December 5, 2019, CBP classified frozen Asian dumplings consisting of a dough jacket derived from wheat flour and water, and stuffed with turkey, chicken, shrimp and/or fish, in heading 1902, HTSUS. In that ruling, CBP concluded that the Asian dumplings are classifiable as stuffed pasta of heading 1902, HTSUS, because Note 2 to Chapter 16 excludes them from classification in Chapter 16. In HQ H316296, dated August 3, 2021, CBP classified gluten-free pasta made from soybean flour and water in heading 1902, HTSUS. In that ruling, the manufacturing process consisting of “processing the beans into flour,” “processing the flour into dough,” “and further processing the dough into pasta” by means of extrusion, drying, cooling, and cutting, was found to be identical to the process described in the ENs to heading 1902, HTSUS, pertaining to the manufacture of pasta. Moreover, the gluten-free pasta was found to exhibit the same general physical characteristics of traditionally made pasta, in turn imparting an expectation on the part of the ultimate purchaser that the gluten-free pasta should be utilized as if it were traditionally made pasta. Consistent with the foregoing, stuffed pasta of heading 1902, HTSUS, typically consists of a semolina or flour dough jacket stuffed with meat, fish, or other substances. Moreover, stuffed pasta consisting of a vegetable flour dough jacket and stuffed with meat, fish, or o

Classification under the HTSUS is made 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 2025 HTSUS provisions under consideration are as follows: 1605 Crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates, prepared or preserved * * * 1902 Pasta, whether or not cooked or stuffed (with meat or other substances) or otherwise prepared, such as spaghetti, macaroni, noodles, lasagna, gnocchi, ravioli, cannelloni; couscous, whether or not prepared * * * Note 2 to Chapter 16 provides as follows: Food preparations fall in this chapter provided that they contain more than 20 percent by weight of sausage, meat, meat offal, blood, fish or crustaceans, molluscs or other aquatic invertebrates, or any combination thereof. In cases where the preparation contains two or more of the products mentioned above, it is classified in the heading of chapter 16 corresponding to the component or components which predominate by weight. These provisions do not apply to the stuffed products of heading 1902 or to the preparations of heading 2103 or 2104 (emphasis added). * * * Note 1(a) to Chapter 19 provides as follows: This chapter does not cover: (a) Except in the case of stuffed products of heading 1902, food preparations containing more than 20 percent by weight of sausage, meat, meat offal, blood, fish or 2 

crustaceans, molluscs or other aquatic invertebrates, or any combination thereof (chapter 16) * * * The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes (“ENs”) constitute the official interpretation of the Harmonized System. While not legally binding nor dispositive, the ENs pr