&&According to the information and the sample submitted, the product consists of a 7 inch chalkboard with a wooden frame in the shape of a stylized snowman, with a top hat, scarf and carrot nose. The body of the snowman is covered with a black coating suitable for writing or drawing on with chalk. The set also includes three coloured (red, yellow and green) porous-tipped markers that can be used to colour the wooden frame. The goods are put up in sets for retail sale.

&&You suggested that the product be classified under heading 95.03 as other toys, or heading 95.05 as festive articles. However, slates and blackboards are excluded from heading 95.03 by Explanatory Note (k) to heading 95.03. The goods are also excluded from heading 95.05. According to Explanatory Note (A) to heading 95.05, the heading excludes articles that contain a festive design, decoration, emblem or motif and have a utilitarian function. Legal note 1(v) to Chapter 95 also excludes utilitarian articles from that Chapter. The goods, being a blackboard, clearly have a utilitarian function.&&&&According to the Explanatory Notes to heading 96.10, this heading includes slates and boards, clearly designed to be used for writing or drawing with chalks (e.g., school children’s slates, blackboards and certain notice boards).&&&&The three porous-tipped markers are themselves classified under heading 96.08 as felt tipped and other porous-tipped pens and markers.&&&&The tariff classification of goods put up in sets for retail sale, such as the product under consideration, must be determined according to General Interpretative Rule 3.&&&&In this instance, classification cannot be determined by application of General Interpretative Rule 3 (a), since headings 96.10 and 96.08 each refer to only a part of the product, and neither of the two competing headings have priority over the other as the heading providing the most specific description.&&&&Goods put up in sets for retail sale, which cannot be classified by reference to General Interpretative Rule 3 (a), are classified according to the component which gives them their essential character, by virtue of General Interpretative Rule 3 (b). In this instance, the blackboard imparts the essential character of the set, as opposed to the porous-tipped markers.&&