Border Brokerage Co. v. United States

57 Cust. Ct. 177, 1966 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1802
Procedural entryThis page is a short order in Border Brokerage Co. v. United States. Read the opinion of the Court — 52 Cust. Ct. 204
United States Customs Court·Decided September 8, 1966·No. C.D. 2757·Published

Opinions

Wilson, Senior Judge:

The merchandise involved in this protest is covered by two entries and consists of certain fish described on the invoices as frozen true cod blocks, exported by British Columbia Packers, Ltd., Vancouver, Canada. The importation covered by entry bio. 05-6912 was entered at Seattle, Wash., on June 5, 1959, and that covered by entry No. 05-7403 was entered at Los Angeles, Calif., on June 30, 1959. The imported fish was classified under paragraph 717 (b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified, as “Fish, fresh or frozen, boned, divided into portions, filleted, sliced, or skinned, nspf,” and assessed with duty at 2% cents per pound.

The plaintiff claims that the imported merchandise is similar in all material respects to the fish blocks involved in the case of The Lee Herrmann Co., a/c The Goldwater Seafood Corp. v. United States, 43 Cust. Ct. 49, C.D. 2101, the record in which was incorporated in the present proceedings. In The Lee Herrmann case, supra, the involved merchandise consisted of certain haddock blocks and cod blocks. The record disclosed that the fish blocks there in question, unlike fillets of frozen and fresh fish, were not composed of whole pieces of fish but comprised various pieces of fish together with bits of trimmings in block form and that they were not sold for direct consumption as imported but were only used for further processing into fish sticks or fish portions. The court therein held the merchandise not dutiable under paragraph 717 (b) of the tariff act as fish “filleted,” “skinned,” “boned,” “sliced,” or “divided into portions,” as classified, but that the merchandise was properly dutiable under paragraph 720(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified, at the rate of 1 cent per pound, as “Fish, prepared or preserved, not specially provided for: * * * In bulk or in immediate containers, weighing with their contents more than fifteen pounds each,” as claimed. It is, therefore, contended that the importation is dutiable at the rate of 1 cent per pound only under paragraph 720 (b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as modified by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, T.D. 51802, as “Fish, prepared or preserved, not specially provided for: * * * In bulk or in immediate containers, weighing with their contents more than fifteen pounds each.”

Plaintiff first raised the question of quota but during the proceedings abandoned that claim. Under the original protest, no specific claim was made under paragraph 720(b). However, counsel for [179]*179plaintiff was permitted to amend the protest so as to claim the imported fish classifiable at 1 cent per pound under paragraph 720(b), as modified, supra.

It is conceded by the Government that the plaintiff’s proof is sufficient to establish that the merchandise covered by entry No. 05-6912 is controlled by The Lee Herrmann case, supra. The only issue left for determination is, therefore, whether the imported merchandise entered at Los Angeles, entry No. 05-7403, is controlled by the incorporated case.

No witness was produced by the plaintiff who saw the imported fish at the port of Los Angeles nor was any witness produced who could identify the merchandise. The plaintiff relies upon the testimony of Donald Petrie, quality control manager for B.C. Packers, Ltd., who was formerly quality control supervisor of Imperial Cannery, a processing plant belonging to B.C. Packers and William D. Cameron, accountant at Seaport Fish Co., Inc., formerly accountant for the Ruppert Fish Co., doing business as Seaport Fish Co. in Seattle. Mr. Petrie testified that he had supervised the operations of B.C. Packers, Ltd., in 1959 when they produced certain preserved fish designated true cod blocks; that, from 1950 to 1962, he was supervisor of that company’s operations as well as in charge of quality control. He described the process followed in the preparation of fish by the B.C. Packers, as follows:

Q. Now, would you describe the process of making the blocks?— A. The fish are filleted, skinned, boned, put into a form, pressed, frozen, and then put into paper bags. Also going into this form are cut pieces from the fillet wrapping line and trim pieces to a rate of 5 percent in our case.
Q. After they are placed into the form then what happens to them? — A. They are placed in the plate freezers and frozen under pressure to make a homogeneous mass. [R. 13.]

The witness further testified as follows:

Q. Now, what is the purpose of packing the fish bits and pieces in this manner?- — A. This merchandise is used for either further processing or for use in the fish sticks or fish portions where the blocks are sawn into regular shapes. The pressure makes them homogeneous so that in the sawing processing they won’t come apart.
Q. Is there any other commercial use that you know of ? — A. No, just that. [R. 14.]

If the merchandise described by Mr. Petrie had been identified definitely as the merchandise entered at the port of Los Angeles under entry No. 05-7403, then it would appear to the court that the plaintiff would be entitled to prevail. However, the fact that such merchandise-was packed in Canada is not sufficient to establish that it was the [180]*180same merchandise as that covered by this protest under entry No. OS-6912. The following testimony given by Mr. Petrie indicates the inadequacy of his testimony to identify the merchandise entered at Los Angeles:

Judge Wilson: Do you have any information concerning a shipment of such merchandise to the United States ?
The Witness: They are put up for resale.
Judge Wilson : I asked if you have personal knowledge of it ?
The Witness: Of this particular lot ?
Judge Wilson: Or of any shipments made to the United States of this fish ?
The Witness : I know they are put up and they are sold into the states.
Judge Wilson: Were they packed for shipment to the United States ?
The Witness: Some are. Not the whole total production but some production is, yes. [E. 15.]
Q. Well, of the production that you supervise, Mr. Petrie, is part of that packing exported to the United States ? — A. Yes.
Q,. And who are the buyers to whom you export in the United States? — A. Seaport Fish.
Q. Seaport Fish. Where are they located? — A. In Seattle.
Q. And who else ? To whom else did you ship in the states ? — A. Fuller Brothers in Santa Eosa, and we also ship to our plant in Los Angeles.
Q. What is the name of your plant ? — A. Certi-Fresh Seafoods.
Judge Wilson: Where is the man that received this merchandise? Don’t you have a witness who is familiar with the merchandise that was received here ?
MR. Tuttle : No, we don’t.
Judge Wilson: Has he gone out of business or something?
Me. Tuttle: Well, his business at this point has been — Two men are out and he has been pressed with his business operation. [E. 15-17.]

Later, counsel for the plaintiff called another witness, Walter B.

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Border Brokerage Co. v. United States, 57 Cust. Ct. 177, 1966 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1802 (cusc 1966).

57 Cust. Ct. 177 (Border Brokerage Co. v. United States) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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11 Ct. Cust. 38 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1921)
Lee Herrmann Co. v. United States
43 Cust. Ct. 49 (U.S. Customs Court, 1959)