| TOP |
| 7th Report of Market Access Ombudsman Council (March 18, 2002) |
1. Complainant: Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry
2. Ministry concerned: Ministry of Finance
3. Complaint:
The customs tariff classification of jugs, a part of coffeemakers, falls into the category of Glassware and miscellaneous (7013.39) when they are imported for sale individually.
The jug is attached with a coffeemaker lid and its outer appearance clearly shows that it is a part of coffeemaker. Therefore, it should be classified as Coffeemaker (8516.71) under the Customs Tariff Classification.
(Second complaint)
Our complaint is not about the tariff code or the tariff rate of jugs. Rather, it is a request for improvement or abolition of government regulations concerning import.
Our request is that coffeemaker jugs "should be classified as part of coffeemakers, not as glassware," because if classified as part of coffeemakers, the jug becomes duty-free.
We treat the jug as a part of coffeemakers. It is expressed as 8516 in the invoices from our suppliers.
We want to ask 1] why jugs imported as a part of coffeemakers are classified as group 7013.39, while jugs imported in a set with coffeemakers are duty free, and 2] why the ministry cannot move toward deregulation.
4. Corresponding Policy of the Ministries concerned:
(1) Under the regulations of the Customs Tariff Table, the article in question (jug) is a glassware item (coffee pot) for containing percolated coffee and therefore is classified as group 7013.39 table or kitchen glassware.
(2) The above classification can be confirmed from the Explanatory Notes prepared by the Harmonized System (HS) Committee of the Customs Cooperation Council (CCC). The Explanatory Notes, which were prepared to facilitate the interpretation of CCC nomenclature, says that among the items in group 70.13 (1) are table or kitchen glassware such as cups, goblets, tankards, decanters, baby bottles, pitchers, jugs, plates, salad bowls, sugar bowls, sauce jars, fruit bowls, cake bowls, hors d'oeuvre plates, bowls, pots, egg cups, butter dishes, oil or vinegar bottles, table or cooking plates, stewpans, casseroles, trays, saltshakers, sugar sprinklers, knife rests, mixers, table hand bells, coffee pot and coffee filters, candy jars, graduate kitchen utensils, plate warmers, table mats, some parts of whisks, coffee mill cups, cheese plates, lemon squeezers, water containers.
(3) The classification of tariffs is internationally unified under the HS Convention (International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System). Under the current system, we classify coffeemaker jugs as group 7013.39. Therefore, if coffeemaker jugs are to be classified into the same category as coffeemakers as the complainant calls for, first of all, we have to seek international consent in accordance with the procedures for modification of the classification.
(Second corresponding policy)
(1) The classification of tariffs is internationally unified under the HS Convention (International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System). Since Japan is a member of the HS Convention, we are obliged to classify tariffs based on the regulations of the Convention.
(2) With regard to coffeemaker jugs, we classify jugs imported in a set with coffeemakers as group 8516.71 in view of the coffeemaker property of the good in question, in accordance with the HS Convention classification rules concerning set goods.
(3) On the other hand, jugs imported separately from coffeemakers are classified as group 7013.39 in view of their glassware property, as they were not in a set with coffeemakers at the time when they are imported. This classification method is in line with the view of the HS Committee that internationally unifies rules based on the HS Convention. It is also specified in group 70.13 of the Explanatory Notes prepared by the HS Committee to facilitate interpretation of the CCC nomenclature. The details of the classification are open to the public.
5. Remarks
The complainant accepted this policy.