&&This ready to eat product can be served hot or cold as the main dish for breakfast or as a snack or side dish. It is comprised of the following: quinoa, farro, barley, coconut milk, coconut chips, chocolate chip, almonds, brown sugar and other minor ingredients. During production, the dry grains are cooked in boiling water to swell until they are al dente and then chilled. The product, requiring refrigeration below 40 degrees F, is available in 5lb. containers (bulk) for food service or in 6 oz. retail cups.

&&Your representative has suggested classification under 1806.90.90.99 of the Customs Tariff as chocolate and other food preparations containing cocoa. However, the General Explanatory Note to Chapter 19 reads:&&&&“This Chapter covers a number of preparations, generally used for food, which are made either directly from the cereals of Chapter 10, from the products of Chapter 11 or from food flour, meal and powder of vegetable origin of other Chapters (cereal flour, groats and meal, starch, fruit or vegetable flour, meal and powder) or from the goods of headings 04.01 to 04.04”.&&&&Heading 19.04 of the Customs Tariff provides for “Prepared foods obtained by the swelling or roasting of cereals or cereal products (for example, corn flakes); cereals (other than maize (corn)) in grain form or in the form of flakes or other worked grains (except flour, groats and meal), pre-cooked, or otherwise prepared, not elsewhere specified or included”. Consideration is given to the Explanatory Notes to this heading which state in pertinent part:&&&&(B) Prepared foods obtained from unroasted cereal flakes or from mixtures of unroasted cereal flakes and roasted cereal flakes or swelled cereals.&&&&This group includes prepared foods obtained from unroasted cereal flakes or from mixtures of unroasted cereal flakes and roasted cereal flakes or swelled cereals. These products (often called “Müsli”) may contain dried fruit, nuts, sugar, honey, etc. They are generally put up as breakfast foods.&&&&Explanatory Note 3 to Chapter 19 reads “Heading 19.04 does not cover preparations containing more than 6 % by weight of cocoa calculated on a totally defatted basis or completely coated with chocolate or other food preparations containing cocoa of heading 18.06 (heading 18.06)”.&&&&This good is not excluded from Chapter 19 as it contains 4.6% chocolate chip. The quinoa, farro and barley account for 67.9% of the product. This good is a prepared food made from the cereals of Chapter 10 and meets the technical requirements of heading 19.04. Based on Note 1 to Chapter 18, as the goods are classifiable under heading 19.04 they are excluded from classification under any heading of Chapter 18.&&