Imported Hemp Wraps Classifiable as 'Other' Vegetable Products, CBP HQ Rules
Hemp wraps for use with non-tobacco legal herbal smoking mixtures are classifiable as "other" vegetable products, CBP said in a recently released ruling. The ruling came in response to an internal advice request, originally initiated over imports of wraps by Crown Distributing. The wraps were described by the requester as lacking tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and were intended for use only with non-tobacco legal herbal smoking mixtures.
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Crown believed the product to be properly classified under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 5603.92.0090 as “Nonwovens, whether or not impregnated, coated, covered or laminated: Other: Weighing more than 25 g/m2 but not more than 70 g/m2: Other,” and the product was previously entered under that subheading. However, the CBP laboratory at the Laboratories and Scientific Services Directorate determined that the hemp wraps are not constructed with textile fibers and so could not meet the definition of “nonwoven” in the explanatory note to HTS heading 5603.
CBP then discussed three other classification possibilities: heading 4813 as "Cigarette paper," heading 4706 as "Pulps of fibers derived from recovered paper," and heading 1404 as "Vegetable products not elsewhere specified."
The explanatory notes to both chapters 47 and 48 define paper as being made from felted-together cellulosic fibers obtained from vegetable materials. CBP's laboratory determined that the hemp wraps are constructed of cellulosic material that was not felted. CBP agreed that the wraps were not classifiable under either chapter 47 or 48 as they were not of paper.
CBP noted that HTS heading 1404 is a basket provision and that the merchandise would only be classifiable there if it was a vegetable product not classifiable elsewhere. However, since the wraps were found not to fit into the three other possibilities, CBP determined heading 1404 was appropriate, specifically subheading 1404.90.90 as "Vegetable products not elsewhere specified or included: Other: Other."