Packaging in the United States

Packaging under NAFTA

Under NAFTA, packaging and packing are used in different contexts. Packing refers to the materials and containers used to protect a good during transportation, but does not include packaging materials and containers.

Packaging Materials and Containers for Retail Sale

See Article 409 of the NAFTA (Packaging Materials and Containers for Retail Sale). See also the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (General Note 12(j) of the HTS)

In the NAFTA, packaging and packing are used in different contexts. Packaging is used when referring to retail sale while packing is for shipping purposes. Packaging materials and containers in which goods are packaged for retail sale, if classified with the goods, are disregarded in determining whether all the non-originating materials used in the production of the goods undergo the applicable change in tariff classification set out in Annex 401. However, if the goods are subject to a regional value-content requirement, the value of the retail packaging materials and containers is taken into account as originating or non-originating materials, as the case may be, in calculating the regional value content of the goods.

Packing Materials and Containers for Shipment

See Article 410 of the NAFTA (Packing Materials and Containers for Shipment). See also the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (General Note 12(k) of the HTS).

Packing materials and containers in which goods are packed for shipment are disregarded in determining whether the non-originating materials used in the production of the goods undergo an applicable change in tariff classification set out in Annex 401. They are also disregarded in determining whether the goods satisfy a regional value-content requirement.

Fair Packaging and Labeling Act

Find more information on Fair Packaging and Labeling Act in relation to the Labeling Requirements Trade Regulations in the legal Encyclopedias.

Fair Packaging and Labeling Act and the International Trade Law

Resources

See Also

Further Reading

• Fair Packaging and Labeling Act entry in the Dictionary of International Trade Law (Raj Bhala)
• Fair Packaging and Labeling Act entry in the Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History (Thomas Carson; Mary Bonk)
• Fair Packaging and Labeling Act entry in the Dictionary of International Trade
• Fair Packaging and Labeling Act entry in the Dictionary of International Trade: Handbook of the Global Trade Community (Edward G. Hinkelman)