&&The product before the Agency is Nature's Intent 4-13-0 organic based fish bone meal, with lignosulfonate. The fish bone meal is blended and augured into granules and sprayed with a mixture of water and the lignosulfonate, and is then heat dried. The fish bone meal is what renders the product organic, with no other additional chemical or mineral fertilizers added.&&&&The finished product is exported to various importers in Canada as a fertilizer, and is shipped in 2,000 pound tote bags. The granules are too large for animal feed and cannot be considered to be a powder.&&&&The 4-13-0 marking on the manufacturer label is a fertilizer industry standard which denotes the percentage by weight of the three major nutrients required for healthy plant growth, always in the same order: nitrogen-phosphorous-potassium (N-P-K). Accordingly, the goods contain 4% nitrogen and 13% phosphorus in the form of phosphate (phosphorus salts).&&

&&Section 10 of the Customs Tariff directs that classification of imported goods shall be determined in accordance with the General Rules for the Interpretation of the Harmonized System.&&Section 11 of the Customs Tariff states that in interpreting the headings and subheadings, regard shall be had to the World Customs Organization's Explanatory Notes to the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System.&&&&General Interpretative Rule (GIR) 1 directs that titles of Sections, Chapters and sub-Chapters are provided for ease of reference only. For legal purposes, classification shall be determined according to the terms of the heading (4 digits). Similarly, GIR 6 directs that classification shall be determined according to the terms of a subheading (6 digits).&&&&Chapter 31 of the Customs Tariff covers fertilizers. Heading 31.01 covers animal or vegetable fertilizers, whether or not mixed together or chemically treated, and fertilizers produced by the mixing or chemical treatment of animal or vegetable products. The chemical treatment using lignosulfonate is the sole chemical processing that the feather meal undergoes. The lignosulfonate (sulfite and lignin) is used as a conditioner which aids in anti-caking and anti-dusting during the production of the feather meal granules.&&&&Heading 23.01(flours, meals and pellets, of fish) was considered. However, even though the end of Explanatory Note (1) to heading 23.01 states that flours, meals and pellets may be used "for other purposes (e.g. as fertilizers)", the heading only includes flours and meals other than bones, horns, shells, etc. The goods before the Agency are crushed fish bone meal and are therefore excluded from heading 23.01.&&&&Heading 31.05 covers other fertilizers. The goods are excluded from subheading 3105.10 as they are not put up in tablets or packages of a gross weight of 10kg or less. Other fertilizers include fertilizing substances (fish bone meal) with non-fertilizing substances (Explanatory Note (C )(1) to heading 31.05). The lignosulfonate (sulfite and lignin) is used as a conditioner which aids in anti-caking and anti-dusting during the production of the fish bone meal granules.&&