Gelatin and the glues of this heading are water-soluble protein substances obtained by treating skins, cartilage, bones, tendons or similar animal materials, usually with warm water with or without addition of acids.
(A) Gelatin is less glutinous and more refined than glues, forming a clear jelly with water. It is used in the preparation of foodstuffs, pharmaceutical products and photographic emulsions, for bacteriological culture and for clarifying beers and wines. It is also used for sizing paper or textiles, in the printing industry, for preparing plastics (hardened gelatin) and for manufacturing into articles. Gelatin is usually in the form of thin, transparent, almost colourless and odourless sheets still bearing the impressions of the nets on which it was dried, but it is also marketed in slabs, plates, sheets, flakes, powders, etc. Sheets of gelatin are classified in this heading provided they are in the form of rectangles (including squares), and whether or not they are surface-worked or coloured (e.g., embossed, metallised, printed - other than gelatin postcards and other products printed as described in Chapter 49). If cut otherwise than in rectangles or squares (e.g., discs) they are classified in heading 96.02. Moulded or carved unhardened gelatin is also classified in heading 96.02. (B) Gelatin derivatives include in particular gelatin tannate and gelatin bromotannate. (C) Isinglass is obtained by mechanical treatment of the air bladders of certain fish, particularly the sturgeon. It is presented in a solid state, generally in the form of semi-transparent thin sheets. It is used principally as a clarifying agent for beer, wine or other alcoholic beverages, and in pharmacy. (D) The other glues of animal origin covered by this heading are the impure forms of gelatin used as glues. They may contain additives such as preservatives, pigments or viscosity control agents. The principal glues are : (1) Bone glues, hide glues, nerve glues, sinew glues. These glues are yellow to brown in colour with a strong odour and are generally in thicker, harder, more brittle sheets than raw gelatin. They may also be in the form of beads, flakes, etc. (2) Fish glues (other than isinglass). These glues are obtained by the action of hot water on fish waste (skin, cartilage, bones, fins, etc.), and are usually in a gelatinous liquid state. The heading does not cover : (a) Casein glues (heading 35.01). (b) Glues put up for retail sale, not exceeding a net weight of 1 kg (heading 35.06). (c) Copying pastes (duplicating jellies) with a basis of gelatin (heading 38.24). (d) Hardened gelatin (heading 39.13).
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