CBP Finds Center Cutting of Eel Close Enough to Filleting for Origin Purposes

The processing operations in China on frozen roasted eel from the U.S. or Europe are close enough to filleting to result in a substantial transformation, CBP said in a Dec. 16 ruling. Law firm Grunfeld Desiderio asked CBP on behalf of American Eel Depot for a further review of protest after multiple entries of the eels were entered as products of China and subject to Section 301 duties. The company argued that the eels should instead be of U.S. or European origin.

The juvenile eels are caught in the U.S. or Europe and sent alive to China, where they grow until mature. Once big enough, “the eels are beheaded, deboned, eviscerated, fins removed, trimmed, washed, steamed, roasted (with or without sauce), graded, packed, frozen and exported” back to the U.S., CBP said. The American Eel Depot argued that “the eel does not lose its essential shape as a whole fish and is therefore not transformed into a new product with a new shape, character or commercial identity.”

A 1988 Court of International Trade decision said fish that was filleted no longer retains the essential shape of a fish and subsequent CBP rulings found that the origin of processed seafood largely hinged on where filleting occurred. The company argued to CBP that the eels weren't substantially transformed because the eel maintains its shape as an eel. The processing of the eels differs from typical fish filleting because “the remaining fish meat is not separated into individual strips of fish flesh but instead separated strips of fish flesh remain connected by a skin or membrane on the back of the eel,” CBP said.

While the eel processing technically differs from filleting, “there is little visual or functional difference between a fish that has been filleted and a fish that has been cut open down the center and laid flat,” CBP said. The processing also leaves the eels without the essential shape of a fish, the agency said. “Once it has been filleted or cut open down the center, the elongated tubular shape” of an eel is gone, CBP said. “Instead, following the center cut method, the eel has a flattened effect that is substantially similar to the fish fillets.” As a result, the country of origin for the imported eel is China, CBP said.