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25.15 ‑ Marble, travertine, ecaussine and other calcareous monumental or building stone of an apparent specific gravity of 2.5 or more, and alabaster, whether or not roughly trimmed or merely cut, by sawing or otherwise, into blocks or slabs of a rectangular (including square) shape
Marble is a hard calcareous stone, homogeneous and fine‑grained, often crystalline and either opaque or translucent. Marble is usually variously tinted by the presence of mineral oxides (coloured veined marble, onyx marble, etc.), but there are pure white varieties.
Travertines are varieties of calcareous stone containing layers of open cells.
Ecaussineis extracted from various quarries in Belgium and particularly at Ecaussines. It is a bluish‑grey stone with an irregular crystalline structure and contains many fossilised shells. On fracture Ecaussine shows a granular surface similar to granite and is therefore sometimes known as "Belgian granite", "Flanders granite" or "petit granit".
The heading covers other similar hard calcareous monumental or building stones, provided their apparent specific gravity is 2.5 or more (i.e., effective weight in kg/1,000 cm3). Calcareous monumental or building stones of an apparent specific gravity of less than 2.5 are classified in heading 25.16.
The heading also includes both gypseous alabaster, which is usually white and uniformly translucent, and calcareous alabaster, normally yellowish and veined.
The heading is restricted to the stones specified, presented in the mass or roughly trimmed or merely cut, by sawing or otherwise, into blocks or slabs of a rectangular (including square) shape. In the form of granules, chippings or powder, they fall in heading 25.17.
Blocks, etc., which have been further worked, i.e., bossed, dressed with the pick, bushing hammer or chisel, etc., sand‑dressed, ground, polished, chamfered, etc., are classified in heading 68.02. The same classification applies to blanks of articles.
The heading also excludes :(a) Serpentine or ophite (a magnesium silicate sometimes called marble) (heading 25.16). (b) Limestone (known as "lithographic stone" and used in the printing industry) (heading 25.30 when in the crude state). (c) Stones identifiable as mosaic cubes or as paving flagstones, even if merely shaped or processed as specified in the text of this heading (heading 68.02 or 68.01 respectively). Subheading Explanatory Notes. Subheading 2515.11
For the purposes of this subheading, "crude" refers to blocks or slabs which have been merely split along the natural cleavage planes of the stone. Their surfaces are often uneven or undulating and frequently bear marks of the tools used to separate them (crowbars, wedges, picks, etc.).
This subheading also covers unshaped stone (quarrystone, rubble) obtained by breaking out rocks from the quarry face (using picks, explosives, etc.). They have uneven, broken surfaces and irregular edges. This type of stone often bears the marks of quarrying (blast holes, wedge marks, etc.). Unshaped stone is used for the construction of dykes, breakwaters, road foundations, etc.
The subheading also includes waste of irregular shape arising from the actual extraction or from subsequent working (quarry stones, waste from sawing, etc.), but only if large enough to be used for cutting or construction. Otherwise it is classified in heading 25.17.
"Roughly‑trimmed" stone is stone which has been very crudely worked after quarrying, to form blocks or slabs, still having some rough, uneven surfaces. This working involves removing superfluous protuberances by means of hammer or chisel‑type tools.
This subheading does not cover blocks or slabs which have been cut to a rectangular (including square) shape. Subheading 2515.12
To fall in this subheading, the blocks and slabs which have been merely cut by sawing must bear discernible traces of the sawing (by wire strand or other saws) on their surfaces. If care was taken with the sawing, these traces may be very slight. In such cases, it is useful to apply a sheet of thin paper to the stone and to rub it gently and evenly with a pencil held as flat as possible. This often reveals saw marks even on carefully sawn or very granular surfaces.
This subheading also covers blocks and slabs of a rectangular (including square) shape obtained otherwise than by sawing, e.g., by working with a hammer or chisel.
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