Thompson Hayward Chemical Co. v. United States

16 Cust. Ct. 19, 1946 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 7
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedJanuary 25, 1946
DocketC. D. 978
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 16 Cust. Ct. 19 (Thompson Hayward Chemical 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
Thompson Hayward Chemical Co. v. United States, 16 Cust. Ct. 19, 1946 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 7 (cusc 1946).

Opinion

Cline, Judge:

These are suits against the United States arising at the port of New Orleans by protest against the collector’s classification of pyretoxin No. 18 or pyrethrum extract as a nonenumerated manufactured article, dutiable at 20 per centum ad valorem under paragraph 1558 of the Tariff Act of 1930. Plaintiff claims that the merchandise is dutiable at 10 per centum ad valorem under paragraph 34 as an advanced drug, at 10 per centum-, under paragraph 35 as-pyrethrum flowers, or at 10 per centum under paragraph 1558 as a nonenumerated unmanufactured article.

Protest was also made against the assessment of duties on the drums containing the merchandise but that protest was abandoned at the trial.

The pertinent provisions of the tariff act are as follows:

Par. 1558. That there shall be levied, collected, and paid on the importation of all raw or unmanufactured articles not enumerated or provided for, a duty of 10 per centum ad valorem, and on all articles manufactured, in whole or in part, not specially provided for, a duty of 20 per centum ad valorem.
Par. 34. Drugs, such as barks, * * * flowers, * * * and all other-drugs of vegetable or animal origin; any of the foregoing which are natural and1 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, 10 per centum ad valorem: 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 article containing alcohol shall be classified for duty under this paragraph..
Par. 35. Aconite, * * * pyrethrum or insect flowers; all the foregoing which are natural and uncompounded, but which are advanced in value for condition by shredding, grinding, chipping, crushing, or any other process or treatment whatever beyond that essential to proper packing and the prevention of decay or deterioration pending manufacture, 10 per centum ad valorem: Provided, That no article containing alcohol shall be classified for duty under this paragraph.

A report of the United States c.ustoms laboratory in New Orleans-contains the following description of the merchandise:

1 Sample of Pyrethrum Extract
Yellow brown extract, odor of Pyrethrum.
Pyrethrum extract in a petroleum distillate, 26.30% solids.
Sample does not contain alcohol.
Sample does not contain prohibited drugs.
See Par. 1558 and T. D. 47230.

The only witness at the trial was George M. Hayward, president of the plaintiff company. He stated that he had been connected with the company for 25 years; that its business was the importation and distribution of imported and domestic chemicals and drugs; that they [21]*21sold their products to wholesale druggists and pharmaceutical manufacturers; that he was familiar with the products offered for sale; and that he had been food and drug inspector for Kansas City for 3 years.

Mr. Hayward’s testimony may be summarized as follows: Py-rethrum is a product derived from flowers of the chrysanthemum family. It has been sold for many years in powder form, known as pyrethrum powder, and has more recently been sold in liquid form, known as pyrethrum concentrate. Pyrethrum flowers are grown in Japan, Hungary, and Africa, but not in the United States. Both the flowers and the liquid have been imported. Pyrethrum in both the powder and the liquid forms is used as a repellent and a killer of flies, mosquitoes, lice, and vermin of many types, including lice and parasites which are on humans and animals. It is not given internally as a medicine.

Mr. Hayward described the process by which the liquid is prepared in this country. The pyrethrum flowers are ground into a coarse form and are placed in a percolator with a perforated plate at the bottom. Solvent material is put in at the top and passes through the flowers continuously, with more solvent being added when necessary, until the flowers are completely exhausted. Two types of' solvent are used: coal-tar benzol when a very highly concentrated product is desired, and naphtha when a less highly concentrated product is desired. When benzol is used certain waxes and oleo-resins are extracted from the flowers into the liquid, but when naphtha is used the waxes and resins remain in the flowers. After the solvent is run through the crushed flowers, the residue, consisting of plant fibers resembling macerated flowers, is thrown away.

Although no testimony was given as to how the imported product was manufactured, Mr. Hayward stated that the article itself was the same as that manufactured in the United States except insofar as the strength was concerned. The imported product is known as a 71 to 1 strength material because it represents 71 pounds of flowers for each pound of concentrate. The waxes and oleoresins had not been removed from the imported product. After importation the waxes and oleoresins had to be removed and the product diluted in order to obtain a commercially usable commodity. The diluted liquid is used to make sprays and insecticides having a 1 to 1 strength, i. e., 1 pound of flowers to 1 gallon of spray material. Sometimes other ingredients, such as roots containing rotenone, are added to increase the power of the product. A portion of the distillate of petroleum used as a solvent remains as one of the ingredients of the product.

Apparently the liquid form is now preferred because there is a grinding loss of 5 or 10 per centum when powder is made and because [22]*22the liquid form deteriorates less rapidly than the flowers themselves _-

The above testimony is insufficient to establish the exact method of production of the imported merchandise; Mr. Hayward had never seen the preparation of the merchandise in the country of production. Since he is not a chemist nor a druggist, his statement that the imported product is the same article as that'produced by his company is entitled to little weight. We are left with the fact that the merchandise is pyrethrum extract in a petroleum distillate, as reported by the United States customs laboratory.

Plaintiff claims that the merchandise is classifiable under paragraph-34 as a drug, advanced, since that is a designation by use which takes, precedence over a designation eo nomine. (United States v. Snow’s United States Sample Express Co., 8 Ct. Cust. Appls. 351, T. D. 37611; Factor v. United States, 15 Ct. Cust. Appls. 401, T. D. 42570.)

Paragraph 34 of the Tariff Act of 1930 defined drugs as substances, having therapeutic' or medicinal properties and chiefly used for medicinal purposes. Therapeutic and medicinal are defined as. follows (Webster’s New International Dictionary, 1933 edition):

therapeutic. Of or pertaining to the healing art; concerned in discovering and' applying remedies for diseases; curative.
medicina]. Curative or alleviative; used for the cure or alleviation of bodily disorders.

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Related

Thompson Hayward Chemical Co. v. United States
27 Cust. Ct. 69 (U.S. Customs Court, 1951)

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Bluebook (online)
16 Cust. Ct. 19, 1946 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 7, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thompson-hayward-chemical-co-v-united-states-cusc-1946.