Hoyt v. United States

52 Cust. Ct. 7, 1964 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1446
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedJanuary 13, 1964
DocketC.D. 2426
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 52 Cust. Ct. 7 (Hoyt 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
Hoyt v. United States, 52 Cust. Ct. 7, 1964 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1446 (cusc 1964).

Opinion

DoNLON, Judge:

The issue here is the same as the issue which was before the court in S. Blondheim & Co. et al. v. United States, 49 Cust. Ct. 8, C.D. 2352, there decided adversely to plaintiff’s claim.. The merchandise is the same. The record before us is somewhat different.

The question is whether sausage casings, made of an outer casing of natural hog bung lined with viscon, a synthetic material, are or are not the sausage casings for which Congress made eo nomine free entry provision, paragraph 1755, Tariff Act of 1930. In the earlier Blondheim case, we held that plaintiff had not shown that these are natural' sausage casings, such as Congress intended in the paragraph 1755 free entry provision.

It is conceded that these are sausage casings, that they are sewn, and that each casing consists of a hog bung (natural) outer casing with a lining of viscon (synthetic).

The record in the earlier case has been incorporated in the record here. (E. 6.) There are several newly introduced exhibits.

Plaintiff adduced on trial the testimony of Mr. Charles J. Hoerner, who had testified in the prior litigation. In his testimony in that case, Mr. Hoerner identified himself as vice president, in charge of sales, of the plaintiff firm.

Plaintiff also adduced in this case the testimony of Mr. Robert M. Levaco, who identified himself as a long-time associate of Oppenheimer [9]*9Casing Co., currently located in the San Francisco office as manager in charge of its operations on the west coast and in the far Western States.

The newly adduced evidence is intended, according to the statement of plaintiff’s counsel, to clarify certain of Mr. Hoerner’s testimony at the prior trial, chiefly with respect to the “functions” of the natural casing and of the synthetic lining in the merchandise of this litigation.

Mr. Hoerner testified as to various types of sausage casings, including those sewn and those unsewn, those lined, those unlined, and also as to casings that are lined with a natural animal substance and those that are lined with synthetic material, such as the casings of this litigation. There also are casings that are made wholly of synthetic material.

Plaintiff urges, in its argument, that the synthetic lining of these sausage casings is a minor feature; that these casings, so lined, are equally as “efficient” as are natural casings, either with or without liners; that they are bought and sold as sewed natural sausage casings; that they possess all of the physical characteristics of natural sausage casings and are almost indistinguishable from those natural sausage casings which have a natural liner.

To the extent that plaintiff’s argument and testimony, as to the functions of the viscon lining used in conjunction with the natural outer casing, seem to relate to classification according to use, they are irrelevant to the issue before us. It may be that, in recounting the facts of record in the earlier case, we misled counsel when we summarized the testimony that had been adduced by plaintiff. This included evidence as to “purpose” of the viscon lining. Our decision did not rest either on function of that lining, or on its efficiency in use, in comparison with the function or efficiency of casings made wholly of natural materials.

The fact that casings are used as sausage casings is, of course, not the sole determining fact under paragraph 1755. If it were, even those sausage casings that are made wholly of artificial materials would be so classified. Our appeals court has held that they are not so classified. Brecht Corp. v. United States, 25 CCPA 9, T.D. 48977.

In construing an eo nomine enumeration, it is the meaning of the term in 1930 that prevails. Davies Turner & Co. v. United States, 45 CCPA 39, C.A.D. 669. This rule is distinct from the rule which plaintiff here asserts, namely, that an eo nomine provision embraces also merchandise which was not known to commerce at the time of enactment. The two principles of customs law were aptly and succinctly stated by Judge Worley, speaking for a unanimous court, as follows:

This case involves two well-established principles of customs law, one, that the meaning of an eo nomine designation in a tariff act must be determined as of [10]*10;the date of enactment of the act, Smillie & Co. v. United States, 12 Ct. Cust. Appls. 365, T.D. 40520; United States v. O. Brager-Larsen, 36 C.C.P.A. (Customs) 1, C.A.D. 388, and cases there cited; the other, that tariff acts are made for the future as well as the present, and will embrace merchandise which was not known to commerce at the time of their enactment. United States v. Paul J. Downing et al., 16 Ct. Cust. Appls. 556, T.D. 43294; Newman v. Arthur, 109 U.S. 132, 27 L. Ed. 883. [Davies, Turner & Co., supra, atp. 41.]

Discussing the relation of these two principles, Judge Worley pointed out that the meaning of an eo nomine provision is determined as of the date of enactment and, when meaning has been so determined, that meaning will embrace subsequently created articles which fall within it. Quoting from Smillie & Co., supra, the judge emphasized that, as to articles not known at the time of enactment but which come into being later, the statute will be held to apply if the article possesses an essential resemblance to the ones named in the statute in those particulars which the statute establishes as the criteria of classification.

Plaintiff concedes that sausage casings made of a natural outer casing with a viscon, or synthetic, lining were not known in 1930, when the Tariff Act of 1930 was enacted. (Plaintiff brief, p. 11.)

Sausage casings made of artificial materials were known in 1930, and prior thereto. The casings of J. E. Bernard & Co. v. United States, 17 CCPA 398, T.D. 43834, were made of parchment paper. They were entered under the Tariff Act of 1922.

We do not understand that plaintiff argues a commercial meaning for sausage casings. Indeed, plaintiff’s argument is predicated on the 1930 common meaning, extended to include casings that were not then known.

Webster’s New International Dictionary, second edition, does not define the term “sausage casing,” but does so indirectly in definitions of “sausage” and of “frankfurter,” as follows:

sausage, * * * Meat (esp. pork) minced and highly seasoned and commonly forced into a tubular ease made of the prepared intestine of some animal, which is tied shut, usually at short intervals to form a string of plump cylindrical sections with rounded ends; also, one of these sections. [Emphasis supplied.]
frankfurter, * * * A highly seasoned beef and pork sausage stuffed in sheep ■easvngs, linked, and smoked. [Emphasis supplied.]

Liverwurst, an article of food identified in the record as one in the making of which these casings are used, is defined as a “sausage •containing a large proportion of liver.”

Plaintiff’s witness, Mr. Charles J. Hoerner, stated his understanding of what a sausage casing is, as follows:

Q. Would you define, or would you state your understanding of the word :[sie]

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Related

M. H. Garvey Co. v. United States
65 Cust. Ct. 434 (U.S. Customs Court, 1970)
Borneo Sumatra Trading Co. v. United States
64 Cust. Ct. 185 (U.S. Customs Court, 1970)
Hoyt, Shepston & Sciaroni, S. Blondheim & Co. v. United States
52 C.C.P.A. 101 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1965)

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Bluebook (online)
52 Cust. Ct. 7, 1964 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 1446, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hoyt-v-united-states-cusc-1964.