Printed sample folders classified by dominant functional use, with incidental printing not enough to make them products of the printing industry.

Printed sample folders whose essential function was to contain fabric samples were not treated as products of the printing industry merely because they bore printed matter. The decisive test was their dominant functional use as containers, with printing held incidental to that use. On that basis, the folders were classifiable under sub-heading 4818.90 of the Central Excise Tariff Act rather than Chapter 49.

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Issues: Whether printed sample folders are classifiable under sub-heading 4818.90 of the Central Excise Tariff Act or as products of the printing industry under Chapter 49 of the Central Excise Tariff Act.

Analysis: The sample folders were meant to keep fabric samples, and their essential function was containment of samples. Printing on them was only incidental, because the folders could still serve the same purpose even without printing. Applying the ratio that articles whose primary use is packing or containment do not become products of the printing industry merely because they bear printed matter, the decisive factor was the dominant functional use of the article rather than the printing element.

Conclusion: The printed sample folders are not products of the printing industry and are classifiable under sub-heading 4818.90 of the Central Excise Tariff Act.

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