A. V. Olsson Trading Co. v. United States

33 Cust. Ct. 93, 1954 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 577
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedSeptember 23, 1954
DocketC. D. 1641
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 33 Cust. Ct. 93 (A. V. Olsson Trading Co. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Customs Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
A. V. Olsson Trading Co. v. United States, 33 Cust. Ct. 93, 1954 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 577 (cusc 1954).

Opinion

Ekwall, Judge:

The merchandise involved herein was imported from Sweden on or about June 19, 1951, and is described on the invoices as “ Tty-King’ Crisp Bread Light Thin.” The shipment also included a product which is described on the invoices as “ ‘By-King’ Crisp Bread Brown Medium.” Both products were entered free of duty under paragraph 1623 of the Tariff Act of 1930 as bread, leavened with yeast, but the collector classified the former as baked articles under paragraph 733, as modified by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, T. D. 51802, at 10 per centum ad valorem, on the advisory classification of the appraiser and on a laboratory report to the effect that yeast was not present in sufficient quantity to be considered the leavening agent. It is claimed in the protest that By-King, light, thin, is bread which has been yeast leavened and is entitled to free entry under paragraph 1623.

The. pertinent provisions of the tariff act and its modifications are as follows:

Pab. 733 [as modified by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, T. D. 51802]. Biscuits, wafers, cake, cakes, and similar baked articles, and puddings, all the foregoing by whatever name known, whether or not containing chocolate, nuts, fruits, or confectionery of any kind, 10% ad val.
Pab. 1623 [Tariff Act of 1930]. Bread: Provided, That no article shall be exempted from duty as bread unless yeast was the leavening substance used in its preparation. [Free.]
Pab. 1623 [as modified by the Annecy Protocol of Terms of Accession to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, T. D. 62373, and the President’s proclamation of April 27, 1950, T. D. 52462], Hard crisp bread made from rye flour and not more than 5 per centum of wheat flour, if any, with yeast as the leavening substance used in its preparation. [Free.]

The case was heard in San Francisco and in New York for a total of 9 days, resulting in a record of 1,381 pages, together with numerous exhibits. The witnesses called by the plaintiff were:

Gosta Walter Oscarsson, vice president of A. V. Olsson Trading Co., Inc., plaintiff and importer herein;
T. V. Terling, importer and part owner of Scandia Commercial Co. since 1925;
Z. S. Brown, examiner of merchandise at San Francisco;
Franz S. David Karp, doctor of chemistry and technical director of A. B. Wasa Spisbrodsfabrik, Filipstad, Sweden, manufacturer of the imported merchandise, who has been with that firm for 16 years and had previously been engaged in the manufacture of chocolate products and biscuits and wafers; and
Kenneth Morgareidge, doctor of biochemistry and food technologist, chief chemist for 2}i years with the Food Research Laboratories, Long Island City,. N. Y., and previously engaged in clinical chemistry and teaching, and as biochemist and production supervisor of National Oil Products Co.

Defendant called:

[95]*95James C Thomson, head of the Quality Control Department of the Globe Division of Pillsbury Mills, flour miller and feed manufacturer, who has been with the firm for 10 years and has charge of four chemical laboratories which perform baking tests on products from the flour mills;
Dallas Virginia Mick, chemist employed by the United States Customs Laboratory at San Francisco;
Kenneth E. Garrison, production manager of Ralston-Purina Co., maker of Ry-Krisp and cereals, employed by that firm for 22 years;
John B. Dallas, district sales manager of Ralston-Purina Co; and
Thomas Robert Schweitzer, chemist, employed by Ward Baking Co., manufacturer and distributor of bread and cakes, for 28 years, engaged in research and baking tests in connection with the firm’s products and the ingredients used therein.

At the trial, samples of the two varieties of Ry-King were introduced into evidence as plaintiff’s exhibits 1 and 1-B and 2 and 2-B. Ry-King, light, thin, the merchandise involved herein, consists of a crisp baked article about 3fi inches long, 1% inches wide, and three-sixteenths to one-fourth of an inch thick. It has uneven top and bottom surfaces, with a pattern of small holes, some of which go through the article. One surface is whitish and the other a light tan. It is light and porous, having two crusts and an open texture in between. Ry-King, medium, brown, consists of a somewhat similar baked article, about 4% inches long, 2% inches wide, and five-sixteenths of an inch thick. It has an uneven surface top and bottom, with a pattern of holes, most of which do not go through. It is of a medium-brown color, has two crusts with porous material between, but is heavier and denser than Ry-King, light, thin.

Dr. Karp described the method of production of Ry-King, fight, thin (hereinafter referred to as Ry-King) as follows: The ingredients are 100 percent rye flour, yeast, salt, and water. Normally, yeast in the amount of 2 percent is used, but the quantity varies according to the sugar content of the flour and may be as little as 0.9 percent. The water content also varies with the characteristics of the flour and ranges from 50 to 63 percent, based on the weight of the dough. The ingredients are mixed in a closed kneading machine for 40 minutes. No air is beaten in. After the dough is dusted with flour, it goes into a molding machine where cakes 2.5 mm. thick and about 300 mm. in length and width are formed. The dough is punched with small holes to make it possible for the produced gases to escape, to create separate little buns between the holes, and to hold the layers together. The material is then placed on a net conveyor, where it remains for 30 minutes, during which time its temperature rises from 20° C. (68° F.) to 32° C. (89° F.), and it increases in thickness to 3 mm. The dough is carried through the ovens on steel netting and is baked for 10 minutes at temperatures ranging from 325° C. (617° F.) at the beginning to 150° C. (302° F.) at the end. On leaving the oven, the articles are 5 to 5% mm. thick and about 290 mm. in length and width. [96]*96They are conveyed to the top of the oven where they dry for several hours. Then, they are cut into the small pieces which form the finished product.

Two issues are presented by this case: First, whether Ey-King is “bread,” as that term is used in the tariff act, and, second, whether yeast was the leavening substance used in its preparation. We shall consider these questions separately, referring to the testimony pertinent to each.

Mr. Oscarsson testified that he was familiar with the merchandise involved herein and that his firm imports about 700 to 800 tons a year. He has seen such merchandise since childhood; it is used as bread instead of soft bread, in this country mostly by people of Scandinavian descent. In Swedish, it is called Spisbrod, Spisknackebrod, Delikatess Knáckebrod, and Delikatess Kuvertbrod. The Ey-King involved herein is the same type of product as Delikatess Knáckebrod and Delikatess Kuvertbrod. Such crisp bread is used more frequently in Sweden than in the United States, constituting one-third of the total amount of bread consumed in Sweden.

Mr.

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Related

United States v. Nordic Baking & Importing Co.
47 C.C.P.A. 78 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1960)
Nordic Baking & Importing Co. v. United States
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Bluebook (online)
33 Cust. Ct. 93, 1954 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 577, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/a-v-olsson-trading-co-v-united-states-cusc-1954.