Newly Released CBP HQ Rulings for Feb. 17

February 22, 2022 |Customs Rulings

The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Feb. 17 with the following headquarters rulings (ruling revocations and modifications will be detailed elsewhere in a separate article as they are announced in the Customs Bulletin):

H321804: Instruments of International Traffic; 19 U.S.C. § 1322(a); 19 C.F.R. § 10.41a; 19 C.F.R. § 10.41b; container

Ruling: The subject Orion containers are IITs.

Issue: whether the subject Orion containers are IITs within the meaning of 19 C.F.R. § 10.41a and 19 C.F.R. § 10.41b

Items: Orion containers, re-usable containers for use in the international transportation of temperature-sensitive goods requiring the maintenance of specific temperature ranges between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius, 15 and 25 degrees Celsius, and less than 0 degrees Celsius. These containers will be produced by Sonoco’s ThermoSafe organization. Currently, the containers are assembled in Plainfield, Indiana. The containers consist of: (1) the customer’s container, such as a corrugated, payload/core pack box, (2) reusable plastic bottles with refrigerant material surrounding the customer’s container, (3) Vacuum Insulated Panels composed of reusable silica core material encased in a metalized or white polymer barrier film that provides thermo-protection and insulation, (4) a reusable black box made of durable expanded polypropylene plastic foam. The EPP box will contain a clear windowpane cutout with a separate EPP plastic foam insert permanently glued into the cutout, and a unique QR code and permanent container serial number, (5) the Orion container itself inside a corrugated, cardboard box.

Reason: Lift vans, cargo vans, shipping tanks, skids, pallets, caul boards, and cores for textile fabrics, arriving (whether loaded or empty) in use or to be used in the shipment of merchandise in international traffic are hereby designated as “instruments of international traffic.” The requirement that an article be “substantial” is a requirement for an article to be an IIT pursuant to CBP decisions.

Ruling Date: Feb. 16, 2022