Tariff classification of brine shrimp eggs turned on imported condition, specific heading priority, and Chapter 23 processing requirements.

Imported brine shrimp eggs were classifiable on their condition as imported, and they remained in egg form without the processing required for animal feed preparations under Chapter 23. The Chapter 23 note applied only to products obtained by processing animal materials to the point that they lost the essential characteristics of the original material, which was not shown here. As the goods were commercially known and imported as brine shrimp eggs, they fell under heading 0511.99 as animal products not elsewhere specified, and the more specific heading prevailed under Rule 3(a); Rule 3(c) did not assist the importer.

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Issues: Whether imported brine shrimp eggs were classifiable under heading 0511.99 as products of fish or crustaceans, or under heading 2309.90 as animal feed preparations obtained by processing animal materials to the extent that they had lost the essential characteristics of the original material.

Analysis: The classification had to be determined on the condition of the goods as imported. The imported brine shrimp eggs remained in egg form, had not been processed to the extent contemplated by Chapter 23, and did not become animal feed merely because they were intended to be used after hatching. Chapter Note 1 to Chapter 5 covered animal products not elsewhere specified or included and dead animals of Chapter 3 unfit for human consumption, while the Chapter 23 note applied only to products used in animal feeding obtained by processing to such an extent that they lost the essential characteristics of the original material. The goods were commercially known and imported as brine shrimp eggs, and the alternative reliance on Chapter 23 failed because larvae, not eggs, would be the feed after further processing. Rule 3(a) favored the more specific heading, and Rule 3(c) did not assist the importer.

Conclusion: The imported goods were classifiable under heading 0511.99 and not under heading 2309.90, and the Department's appeal succeeded.

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