H346403

H346403 July 18, 2025 CLA-2 RR:CTF:VSP ACH CATEGORY: Classification TARIFF NO.: 9817.00.96 Matthew A. Bock 53 State Street Suite 500 Boston, MA 02109 RE: Articles for the handicapped; Subheading 9817.00.96; Quilted Bonded Fabric Dear Mr. Bock: This is in reference to a letter dated March 24, 2025, sent on behalf of Cooley Group Holdings, Inc. (“Cooley”), seeking reconsideration of New York Ruling Letter (“NY”) N344168, dated December 19, 2024, which denied duty-free treatment under subheading 9817.00.96, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”), to quilted bonded fabric. Cooley employs an advanced extrusion-coating process to produce specialized incontinence bed pads. This process involves applying a layer of flexible vinyl polymer onto a circular knit fabric. The flexible vinyl compound is a mixture of PVC resin, plasticizers, lubricants, process aids, heat stabilizers, pigments, and fillers. The circular knit fabric is made by Cooley from 70 denier polyester yarn, selected for its resilience and performance. A second layer of flexible vinyl is extruded between the vinyl-coated circular knit and quilted fabric. The result is a waterproof, durable, and flexible vinyl layer that bonds the quilted and knit fabrics together, providing the necessary strength and waterproofing for the pad’s unique functionality. The fabric will be imported into the United States in rolls, where the product will be used to produce finished incontinence bed pads. Post-importation manufacturing consists of (1) cutting the material to shape, (2) stitching a label to the product, (3) finishing the edges of the fabric to prevent unraveling or curling, and (4) packaging the product. The finished bed pads are then sold to a single customer for distribution to institutional and hospital laundry systems and are used solely for incontinence. The Uniply incontinence bed pads are designed specifically for repeated institutional use. They must endure numerous high-temperature laundry cycles while maintaining their integrity. These bed pads are positioned under the patient, with the quilted face fabric providing optimal comfort and moisture wicking. Beneath the surface, the quilted needle punch soaker material absorbs moisture from accidents, while the dual flexible vinyl coatings create an impenetrable waterproof barrier to protect mattresses from contamination. The back of the pad features the circular knit fabric, which prevents the vinyl from sticking to itself in the dryer, a critical feature for maintaining product performance, even after 150 wash cycles. In NY N344168, CBP held that, because the imported product could have a myriad of uses at the time of importation, the quilted bonded fabric was not eligible for duty-free treatment under subheading 9817.00.96, HTSUS. Cooley believes this decision was wrong for the following reasons: • Cooley believes that CBP contradicts itself in saying the fabric’s identity is not “fixed with certainty” yet conceding that the rolls are key components of incontinence bed pads. • Cooley believes that the imported rolls of fabric should be treated as though they were complete bed pads. • Cooley believes that because items such as wound dressings and medical tapes qualify as medical articles in roll form, then bed pads in roll form should qualify as articles for the handicapped. Cooley also points out that these articles could be used for other purposes. • Cooley believes that the industrial-grade durability and laundering requirements of the bed pads make them impractical and commercially inconceivable for consumer applications and believes that CBP has never denied treatment under subheading 9817.00.96, HTSUS, based on the possibility of alternative uses rather than the actual use. Cooley also believes there is no economic incentive to purchase the fabric for “non-handicapped uses.” • Cooley believes that the fabric is not commercially viable for any use other than incontinence pads, that the final product is already visible at importation because only minor cutting and labeling remain, and that the fabric cannot be customized into multiple different products. • Cooley believes that NY N344168 contradicts other rulings holding that incontinence products designed for repeated institutional use qualify under subheading 9817.00.96, HTSUS. • Cooley believes that CBP bears the burden of proof and must show actual evidence of significant non-handicapped uses in the marketplace rather than “relying on hypothetical and unsupported scenarios.” The Nairobi Protocol to the Agreement on the Importation of Educational, Scientific and Cultural Materials of 1982, Pub. L. No. 97-446, 96 Stat. 2329, 2346 (1983) established duty-free treatment for certain articles for the handicapped. Presidential Proclamation 5978 and Section 1121 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988, provided for the implementation of the Nairobi Protocol into subheadings 9817.00.92, 9817.00.94, and 9817.00.96, HTSUS. Subheading 9817.00.96, HTSUS, covers: “Articles specially designed or adapted for the use or benefit of the blind or other physically or mentally handicapped persons; parts and accessories (except parts and accessories of braces and artificial limb prosthetics) that are specially designed or adapted for use in the foregoing articles . . . Other.” 3 CBP has issued multiple rulings stating that bed pads can qualify as articles for the handicapped. See e.g. HQ W562506, dated October 28, 2002, HQ 088279, dated March 5, 1991, HQ 087337, dated August 30, 1990. However, the issue here is whether the imported quilted bonded fabric qualifies as an article for the disabled at the time of its importation. To resolve this issue, CBP must first determine whether unfinished articles for the handicapped are eligible for duty-free treatment under subheading 9817.00.96, HTSUS. GRI 2(a) states: any reference in a heading to an article shall be taken to include a reference to that article incomplete or unfinished, provided that, as entered, the incomplete or unfinished article has the essential character of the complete or finished article. It shall also include a reference to that article complete or finished (or falling to be classified as complete or finished by virtue of this rule), entered unassembled or disassembled (emphasis added). In understanding GRI 2(a), the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System Explanatory Notes may be utilized. The Explanatory Notes, although not dispositive, are to be used to determine the proper interpretation of the HTSUS. 54 Fed. Reg. 35127, 35128 (August 23, 1989). Explanatory Note 2 (II) states “the provisions of this rule also apply to blanks unless these are specified in a particular heading… semi-manufactures not yet having the essential shape of the finished articles (such as is generally the case with bars, discs, tubes, etc.) are not regarded as blanks” (emphasis added). Therefore, unfinished articles can qualify for duty-free treatment under subheading 9817.00.96, HTSUS, but the article must have the essential character or essential shape of the qualifying, finished article. The courts have addressed the meaning of essential character with respect to GRI 2(a) in The Pomeroy Collection, Ltd. v. United States, 559 F. Supp. 2d 1374 (Ct. Int’l Trade 2008; Filmtec Corp. v. United States, 293 F. Supp. 2d 1364 (Ct. Int’l Trade 2003); and Baxter Healthcare Corp. of Puerto Rico v. United States, 22 C.I.T. 82 (1998). The court has specifically noted that the focus of the essential character analysis for purposes of GRI 2(a) is whether or not the identity of the article to be made from the imported good is fixed or certain at the time of importation. Baxter Healthcare Corp., 22 C.I.T. at 101. Following this directive, the longstanding position of CBP is that the term “essential character” for purposes of GRI 2(a) means the attribute which strongly marks or serves to distinguish what an article is; that which is indispen

for purposes of GRI 2(a) is whether or not the identity of the article to be made from the imported good is fixed or certain at the time of importation. Baxter Healthcare Corp., 22 C.I.T. at 101. Following this directive, the longstanding position of CBP is that the term “essential character” for purposes of GRI 2(a) means the attribute which strongly marks or serves to distinguish what an article is; that which is indispensable to the structure, core or condition of the article; the aggregate of distinctive component parts that establishes the identity of an article as what it is, its very essence. See HQ 967975, dated March 24, 2006. In United States v. Buss & Co., 5 Ct. Cust. App. 110, 113 (1914), the Customs court wrote: where {textiles} are imported in the piece and nothing remains to be done except to cut them apart they shall be treated for dutiable purposes as if already cut apart and assessed according to their individual character or identity. This follows, 4 

 however, only in case the character or identity of the individual articles is fixed with certainty and in case the woven piece in its entirety is not commercially capable of any other use (emphasis added). However, in Bendix Mouldings, Inc. v. United States, 73 Cust. Ct. 201, 188 F. Supp. 1193 (1974), the court stated that “no matter how close the importation is to the finished article or how dedicated it is to a single use, it remains a material until the identity of actual articles can be seen emerging with certainty from the undifferentiated material.” In Bendix, uncut wood moldings dedicated to use as picture frames but not dedicated to the making of any particular frame were not classifiable as unfinished frames but only as the material from which frames were made. See also, American Import v. United States, 26 CCPA 72 (1938) (the mere fact that 60-foot lengths of silk fishing-leader gut was exclusively used for fishing leaders did not take it out of material classification). HQ H181679, dated