From:
"Walter S. Arnold" <walter@zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz>
Date:
Wed, 18 Feb 2004 10:27:50 -0600
Subject:
green stone
I once discussed this with a U.S. Customs official who was a specialist in
stone. He said every single sample of "green marble" that his office had
ever tested was actually serpentine. He said there may be some true green
marble, but he'd never seen it.
This has caused a lot of conflict between marble importers and the customs
office, but the customs office always wins. Serpentine is classified
differently than marble and the customs duty is higher; when a company is
importing a few dozen containers of slabs or tiles, the difference can wipe
out part of the profit margin.
The marble industry uses commercial definitions, the Customs office (and
this isn't just for the U.S., this is determined by international
conventions) uses geological definitions. For example, I believe that
geologically Crema Marfil is limestone, commercially it is considered
marble.
- Follow-ups
- message 00178: green stone - Norman Watts (18 Feb 2004)
- References
- message 00169: green stone - Robin Putnam (18 Feb 2004)
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