Atlantic Coast Fisheries Corp. v. United States

6 Cust. Ct. 415, 1941 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 94
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedJune 3, 1941
DocketC. D. 506
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 6 Cust. Ct. 415 (Atlantic Coast Fisheries Corp. 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
Atlantic Coast Fisheries Corp. v. United States, 6 Cust. Ct. 415, 1941 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 94 (cusc 1941).

Opinion

Walkee, Judge:

The merchandise which forms the subject of these suits against the United States consists of four kinds of oils as follows: (1) fish-liver oil mixed with soya-bean oil (protest 979956-G), (2) concentrated fish-liver oil mixed with soya-bean oil (protests 975630-G, 972965-G, 972966-G), (3) fish-liver oil mixed with sesame oil (protests 979958-G, 979959-G), and (4) plain or crude fish-liver oil (protests 979958-G, 979959-G, 992967-G). The mixed oils were assessed with duty by the collector at the rate of 25 per centum ad valorem under the provision in paragraph 57 of the Tariff Act of 1930 for—

—Combinations and mixtures of animal, vegetable, or mineral oils or of any of them * * * not specially provided for * * *.

plus 3 cents per pound under the provision in section 601 (c) (8) of the Revenue Act of 1932 as amended by section 701 of the Revenue Act of 1936, reading, so far as pertinent, as follows:

* * * fish oil * * * 3 cents per pound; * * * any article, merchandise, or combination * * * 10 per centum or more of the quantity by ■weight of which consists of * * * one or more of the products specified above in this paragraph * * * a tax at the rate or rates per pound equal to that proportion of the rate or rates prescribed in this paragraph * * * in respect of such product or products which the quantity by weight of the imported article, merchandise, or combination, consisting of * * * such product or products, bears to the total weight of the imported article, merchandise, or 'combination * * *.

The fish-liver oil without admixture was assessed with duty at the rate of 20 per centum ad valorem under the provision in paragraph 52 of the Tariff Act of 1930 for — •

* * * all other animal and fish oils * * * not specially provided

plus a tax at the rate of 3 cents per pound under the provision in the revenue act, supra, for—

* * * fish oil * * * whether or not refined, sulphonated, sulphated, hydrogenated, or otherwise processed * * *.

[417]*417Plaintiff Ras abandoned all claims made in tbe protests save the-claim that the merchandise is properly dutiable at the rate of 10 per centum ad valorem under the provision in paragraph 34 of the Tariff Act of 1930 for—

* * * drugs of vegetable or animal origin; any of the foregoing which are-natural and uncompounded drugs and not edible, and not specially provided for, but which are advanced in value or condition by shredding, grinding, chipping, crushing, or any other process or treatment whatever beyond that essential to the proper packing of the drugs and the prevention of decay or deterioration pending manufacture * * * Provided, That the term “drug” wherever used in this Act shall include only those substances having therapeutic or medicinal properties and chiefly used for medicinal purposes: And provided further, That no-articles containing alcohol shall be classified for duty under this paragraph.

and the claim that since the merchandise is more properly classifiable-as drugs no tax is applicable under section 701 of the Revenue Act of 1936. It is noted, however, that the claim for exemption from the-tax imposed under the revenue aet, supra, was not made in protests-975630-G and 992967-G.

We will take up first the question of the classification of the oils in. issue under the Tariff Act of 1930. Jay Albert Raynolds, a chemist in the employ of the plaintiff, was the only witness called. Mr. Ray-nolds, whose work was in connection with the production and refining of fish-liver oils and testing them for their vitamin content, testified that he was familiar with all of the oils at bar. As to the fish-liver oil mixed with soya-bean oil the witness testified that it consisted of a-vitamin product containing 65,000 units of vitamin A per gram and about 1.95 per centum of free fatty acid. The latter amount was-excessive and it was necessary to refine the product. The soya-bean oil, he said, is used as an agent in extracting oil from the livers and serves as a preservative of the vitamin content of the oil as well, bufc-does not add to the value ¿s a therapeutic agent.

Mr. Raynolds testified that the oil in question, has therapeutic properties and is commonly known as a medicine or drug, being used solely because of its vitamin content; that it is a natural drug of animal origin, not compounded, not containing alcohol, and that it is inedible. In its imported condition, he said, it could not be used for any purpose but had to be refined and filtered.

The fish-liver oil mixed with sesame oil is the same as that mixed with soya-bean oil, according to the witness, the sesame oil performing the same functions in relation thereto that the soya-bean oil performs, and Mr. Raynolds stated that his testimony with relation to the fish-liver oil mixed with soya-bean oil applied with equal force to the fish-liver oil mixed with sesame oil.

The same is also true with relation to the concentrated fish-liver oil mixed with soya-bean off, save that the product was processed to in[418]*418crease the vitamin content, that is to say, an inert portion of the fish-liver oil was removed and thereby the concentration of the therapeutic agent, vitamin A, was proportionately increased.

The plain or crude fish-liver oil contained no other oil mixed therewith but in all other respects the testimony of the witness as to the mixed oil applied as well thereto.

In Parke, Davis & Co. v. United States, T. D. 47282, this court held certain halibut livers, shown by the testimony to be used exclusively in the production of halibut-liver oil, a medicine having preventive and curative value, to be properly classifiable as crude drugs of animal.origin and entitled to free entry under paragraph 1669 of the Tariff Act of 1930. Later, in D. C. Andrews & Co., Inc. v. United States, T. D. 49190, it was held that halibut-liver oil in the condition in which it was extracted from halibut livers, requiring further treatment for the purpose of preservation and purification before being fit for medicinal use, was properly classifiable as a drug of animal origin advanced in value or condition under paragraph 34, supra, rather than under the provision in paragraph 52, supra, for fish oils not specially provided for. In Dr. Salbro Emy v. United States, 3 Cust. Ct. 437, Abstract 42416, it was held that swordfish-liver oil and tuna fish-liver oil were likewise dutiable as drugs advanced under the provisions of paragraph 34, supra.

In the brief filed on behalf of the defendant it is argued that, as it is necessary to refine and filter the oils in question after importation in order to use them for the purpose for which they are intended, they are not drugs in their condition as imported, citing the well-known rule that the classification of imported merchandise must be determined upon the basis of its condition as and when imported.

The statute itself defines the term “drug” as follows:

* * * the term “drug” wherever used in this Act shall include only those substances having therapeutic or medicinal properties and chiefly used for medicinal purposes.

That the oils in question have therapeutic properties we believe is .amply established by the record.

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Protests 981716-G of Atlantic Coast Fisheries Corp.
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Bluebook (online)
6 Cust. Ct. 415, 1941 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 94, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/atlantic-coast-fisheries-corp-v-united-states-cusc-1941.