Division 2.3.4 Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System (HS) including Combined Nomenclature
United Kingdom
| FULL TITLE | Harmonised commodity description and coding system |
| ABBREVIATION | HS; Harmonised System |
| ORIGINATING AUTHORITY | World Customs Organisation |
| LEGAL BASIS | International Convention on the Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System |
| CURRENT STATUS | Operational |
| IMPLEMENTATION DATE | 1 January 2007 |
| AMENDMENT | In principle revised every five years. The latest version to be used. |
| STRUCTURE | 7 466 headings, organised in four hierarchical levels |
| Level 1: sections coded by Roman numerals (I to XXI) | |
| Level 2 chapters identified by two-digit numerical codes | |
| Level 3: headings identified by four-digit numerical codes | |
| Level 4: subheadings identified by six-digit numerical code | |
| SUCCINCT DESCRIPTION | HS convention is a classification of goods by criteria based on raw material and the stage of production of commodities. HS is the heart of the whole process of harmonisation of international economic classifications being jointly conducted by the United Nations Statistics Division and Eurostat. Its items and sub-items are the fundamental terms on which industrial goods are identified in product classifications. Objectives: to harmonise (a) external trade classifications to guarantee direct correspondence; and (b) countries external trade statistics and to guarantee that those are comparable internationally. |
| LINKED CLASSIFICATIONS | Harmonised System (HS): full agreement on six-digit-level; Combined Nomenclature (CN) |
| NST on 3-digit level | |
| USAGE | Products |
| MEDIA THROUGH WHICH AVAILABLE | World Customs Organisation Rue de l’Industrie, 26-39 1040 Brussels, BELGIUM www.wcoomd.org Customs Cooperation Council, Brussels |
| LANGUAGES | All European Union official languages |
| ADDRESS OF RESPONSIBLE AGENCY | A subset of the codes used for electronic reporting will be maintained through the ERI Expert Group. European Reference Data Management Service (ERDMS) operated by the European Commission. |
| REMARKS | The HS classification is further subdivided at European Union level into a classification called Combined Nomenclature (CN) |
| Example | |
| 730110 | Sheet piling of iron or steel |
| 310210 | Mineral or chemical fertilisers, ammonium sulphate |
| Usage in the implementation manuals | CNI/GID/FTX(1)/C108/4440 CNI/GID/FTX(2)/C108/4440 |