Pets Aren't Personal Effects or Inanimate Objects; Pet Carriers Not Classifiable in Heading 4202, CIT Says
Pet carriers cannot be classified in heading 4202 of the tariff schedule as travel, sports or similar bags because pets are living things, not inanimate objects, the Court of International Trade said in a Feb. 12 decision. Pet carriers do not meet a test set in 2005 by the Federal Circuit for classification in heading 4202, CIT said, though it declined to rule on where the pet carriers should be classified until it gets more information, including on the materials that make up the pet carriers.
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The importer, Quaker Pet Group, claimed the pet carriers should have been classified by CBP in heading 6307 as made up textile articles, dutiable at 7%. The agency had liquidated the pet carriers as travel, sports and similar bags of heading 4202, which carries a 17.6% duty. The pet carriers, typically imported under the Sherpa brand, are made of cloth and mesh and are used for transporting dogs, cats and other pets.
Quaker cited Additional U.S. Note 1 to Chapter 42, which defines travel, sports and similar bags as goods designed for carrying clothing and personal effects, to support its argument that the pet carriers are not classifiable in heading 4202. CIT agreed that pets are not personal effects in that “dogs and cats are not normally worn or carried on the person, nor are they similar inanimate objects ‘such as keys, an identification card, or a wallet or watch.’” But “even though a pet is not a personal effect -- and therefore, the pet carriers are not similar to a travel or sport bag -- that does not automatically exclude the pet carriers from heading 4202, as the pet carriers could be similar to another type of bag explicitly listed, such as a suitcase,” the court said.
Federal Circuit precedent, on the other hand, does preclude pet carriers from classification in heading 4202, CIT said. In a 2005 decision on goods imported by Avenues in Leather, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that “the common characteristic or unifying purpose of the goods in heading 4202 consist[s] of organizing, storing, protecting, and carrying various items.” The word “items” refers to inanimate objects, CIT said. “Pets are living beings, and thus not things or items. Therefore, the pet carriers in question do not fulfill the criteria propounded in the Avenues in Leather case for classification under heading 4202,” CIT said.
Though classification in heading 4202 is incorrect, CIT said it lacked the information required to say whether the pet carriers should be classified in heading 6307, as requested by Quaker. For example, the court needed to know more about “the materials comprising each style of pet carrier or any procedure through which the products were assembled or otherwise made up.” The court ordered Quaker and the government to propose a timeline for further proceedings, noting it may also consider whether the pet carriers are classifiable alongside leashes and similar dog equipment of heading 4201.
(Quaker Pet Group v. U.S., Slip Op. 18-9, CIT # 13-00393, dated 02/12/18, Judge Katzmann)
(Attorneys: Alan Goggins of Barnes Richardson for plaintiff Quaker Pet Group; Monica Triana for defendant U.S. government)