HMRC Guidance: Using the Harmonised System and product-specific rules for trade between the UK and EU

Find out how to use the Harmonised System to classify your goods and what the product-specific rules are.

Contents

1. The Harmonised System
2. What the product-specific rules are and examples
3. Types of product-specific rules in Trade and Cooperation Agreement and examples

The Harmonised System

You will need to use the Harmonised System (HS) to classify your goods and check they meet the rules of origin. It is an internationally standardised system of description and numbers and forms the first part of the:

• 10-digit commodity code used to classify goods when importing them into the UK
• 8-digit commodity code used to classify goods when exporting from the UK

It is used by customs authorities around the world to identify products when working out tariffs and taxes, and for gathering statistics.

The HS is administered by the World Customs Organisation and is updated every 5 years. It serves as the foundation for the import and export classification systems used in every country.

The main categorisations for products are:

• chapters (2-digit level or first 2 digits of the HS)
• headings (4-digit level of the HS)
• subheadings (6-digit level of the HS)

Source gov.uk