CBP Finds Fish Oil Powder Not Classifiable as Animal Oil

Encapsulated fish oil powder doesn't meet the CBP requirements for classification in Chapter 15 as an animal or vegetable fat or oil, the agency said in a June 18 ruling. The ruling came at the request of Socius Ingredients, which asked CBP to rule on the classification of the product. The capsules are imported in bulk and sold to food and supplement companies, it said.

CBP has a “long-standing position that in order to be classified in Chapter 15, HTSUS, as fats or oils, products must predominantly be composed of triglycerides,” it said. A CBP lab report said the “product is a preparation based on fish oil with enriched omega-3” and the triglyceride concentration “is approximately 58%.”

Despite some similarities between fish oil and the capsules, the product isn't classifiable in heading 1504, which covers “fats and oils and their fractions, of fish or marine mammals, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified,” CBP said. Based on the review, the agency found “that while the oil used in the manufacture of the product may have the characteristics of a fat or oil of Chapter 15, the imported product is not a fat or oil, but is a powder, and is not predominantly a triglyceride.”

Instead, the capsules are better classified in heading 2106 as “Food preparations not elsewhere specified or included,” CBP said. “The CBP Laboratory’s Report confirms that the product at issue is a preparation based on fish oil with enriched omega-3 (DHA), containing 60% fat,” it said. “Therefore, we find that it is a 'preparation consisting wholly or partly of foodstuffs, used in the making of beverages or food preparations for human consumption'” in subheading 2106.90.98. That subheading has a 6.4% duty rate, it said.