CBP Reverses Port Classification of Homeopathic Gum

The Port of New York/New Jersey wrongly classified imported gum that included a homeopathic drug inside, CBP said in a July 16 ruling. The agency's ruling, HQ H243587, came in response to a request for a further review of protest. CBP said a further review was granted because the company claimed the initial denied protest was inconsistent with previous CBP rulings.

The gum, Nelson Bach’s “Rescue Remedy Gum,” is imported, packaged and sold for retail sale, with each retail package consisting of 17 pieces of gum that each contains "one dose of the liquid inside." Rescue Remedy is the brand name of a homeopathic drug used for stress release. The gum was entered in April 2012 under subheading 3004.90.91 as “Medicaments (excluding goods of heading 3002, 3005 or 3006) consisting of mixed or unmixed products for therapeutic or prophylactic uses, put up in measured doses (including those in the form of transdermal administration systems) or in forms or packings for retail sale: Other: Other.” CBP in September that year liquidated the entry under subheading 2106.90.99 as “Food preparations not elsewhere specified or included: Other: Other: Other: Other: Other: Other."

Previous CBP rulings said that the determining factor for homeopathic products was whether the goods "belonged to the class or kind of good that was principally prepared for therapeutic or prophylactic use or whether they belonged to the class or kind of good that was principally used as a dietary supplement," said the agency. Unlike medicaments, "food supplements encompass a much more expansive group of items," are "simply packaged for oral ingestion as a capsule, tablet, powder or liquid," said CBP. "They are put up in packaging with indications that they maintain general health or well-being, and are often used daily without a strict dosage schedule or time limit recommended."

Rescue Remedy Gum, though, contains specific dosage information, statements as to the ailments or symptoms it treats and the concentration of active substances, CBP said. Additionally, gum "is increasingly becoming a form in which to deliver medicaments," the agency said. "For certain substances that are safe at low and constant dosing, such as motion sickness medication, gum can be a useful delivery method," the agency said. "Homeopathic remedies are exactly this type of medicament, as prior CBP rulings explain." Therefore, the gum is best classified in heading 3004 and the protest should be allowed, said CBP.