Heading 4601 : Plaits and similar products of plaiting materials, whether or not assembled into strips; plaiting materials, plaits and similar products of plaiting materials, bound together in parallel strands or woven, in sheet form, whether or not being finished articles (for example, mats, matting, screens).
(A) Plaits and similar products of plaiting materials, whether or not assembled into strips. This group covers : (1) Plaits. These consist of strands of plaiting material, without warp or weft, interlaced either by hand or machine in a general longitudinal direction. By varying the nature, colour, thickness and number of strands, and the manner of interlacing, different decorative effects may be obtained. Plaits of this kind may be joined side by side and assembled into wider strips by sewing, etc. (2) Products similar to plaits in the sense that they have the same or similar uses, and that, though they are made by a process other than plaiting, they are also formed in longitudinal thong-like forms, strips, etc., from plaiting materials. They include : (a) Products made from two or more strands by twisting together, joining together or otherwise assembling (other than decorative motifs of heading 46.02). (b) Products (e.g., those known in trade as China cord ) consisting of a kind of cord made from non-crushed vegetable materials assembled simply by twisting. The above goods are mainly used in millinery, but are also used for the manufacture of certain furniture, shoes, mats, baskets or other receptacles. The goods of this heading may contain spun textile yarn serving primarily for assembly or reinforcement purposes, whether or not having a supplementary decorative effect. (B) Plaiting materials, plaits and similar products of plaiting materials, bound together in parallel strands or woven, in sheet form, whether or not being finished articles (for example, mats, matting, screens). The goods of this group are obtained either directly from plaiting materials as defined in the General Explanatory Note to the Chapter or from the plaits or similar products of plaiting materials described in Part (A) above. Those obtained directly from plaiting materials are either formed of strands woven together, generally in the manner of warp and weft fabrics, or made of parallel strands placed side by side and maintained in position in the form of sheets by transverse binding threads or strands holding the successive parallel strands. The woven goods may consist wholly of plaiting materials, or may consist of a warp of plaiting material and a weft of textile yarn, or vice versa, provided that the sole function of the textile yarn (apart from incidentally introducing colour effects) is to bind the plaiting substances. Similarly, in the case of the goods made by binding parallel strands of plaiting materials, the binder may be a plaiting material, a textile yarn or some other material. Similar processes of binding together or weaving are also used to obtain goods in sheet form from the plaits or similar products of plaiting materials described in Part (A) above. The goods of this group, which may be reinforced or backed or lined with woven textile fabric or with paper, include : (1) Semi-manufactured products such as raffia, rattan and similar fabrics; and the finer products made in the piece in the form of lapping or strips for use in millinery, upholstery, etc. (2) Certain finished articles, for example : (a) Mats and matting (floor coverings, etc.), including in particular the so-called Chinese (or Indian) mats and matting (whether rectangular or in other shapes), made by weaving or binding together parallel strands of plaiting materials (or plaits or similar products of plaiting materials) with other plaiting materials, twine, cord, etc. (b) Coarse matting such as the straw mats used for horticultural purposes. (c) Screens or panels such as those of willow or osier; building panels of plaiting materials or of plaits or similar products of plaiting materials (straw, reeds, etc.) laid parallel, compressed and bound together at regular intervals with base metal wire. These building panels or slabs may be covered on all surfaces and edges with kraft paperboard. The heading excludes mats and matting of coir or sisal fibre or the like with a base of cordage or of woven textile fabric (Chapter 57).
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