Heading 6502 : Hat-shapes, plaited or made by assembling strips of any material, neither blocked to shape, nor with made brims, nor lined, nor trimmed.
This heading covers hat-shapes, neither blocked to shape nor with made brims, nor lined, nor trimmed, made either :(1) Directly by plaiting from fibres or strips of any material (particularly straw, reeds, palm fibres, raffia, sisal, strips of paper, strips of plastics or strips of wood). These materials may be plaited by various methods including plaiting by arranging one set of fibres or strips so that they radiate from the centre of the crown and interlacing them with other fibres or strips wound spirally. Additional radial fibres or strips are introduced in the plaiting as the distance from the centre increases. or (2) Subject to Note 2 to this Chapter, by assembling strips (usually not more than 5 cm in width) of any material (e.g., plaited or other strips of felt or other textile fabric, monofilament or plastics), usually by sewing the strips spirally together, starting from the crown, in such a manner that each spiral overlaps the previous one, or by arranging plaits spirally so that the serrated edges intermesh and assembling them by threading. Because of the method of plaiting or assembling the strips, the hat-shapes of this heading, unlike the articles of heading 65.01, frequently have a distinct line of demarcation between the crown and the brim which may sometimes be at approximately right angles to each other. Hat-shapes of this kind are sometimes worn as such (e.g., for beach or country wear), but as they are not blocked to shape nor with made brims they remain in this heading provided they are not lined or trimmed. They can generally be distinguished from blocked shapes in that the latter usually have, as a result of blocking, an oval-shaped crown (see Explanatory Note to heading 65.04). Classification in this heading is not affected by processes such as dyeing, bleaching, clipping or fixing the protruding ends of plaits, nor by minor processes designed simply to restore the original shape (e.g., round opening) of the article after bleaching, dyeing, etc. It should be noted, however, that unblocked hat-shapes of the kind falling in this heading are classified as hats under heading 65.04 if they have been lined or trimmed.
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