HS, CN, TARIC customs codes: finding the right one, and why it matters

The Harmonized System, or HS, managed by the World Customs Organization, sets the first six digits of a product code and serves as the reference in almost every country in the world, including China.

The European Union adds two digits to form the Combined Nomenclature (CN), an eight-digit code published every year by the European Commission. TARIC adds further digits and additional codes to capture measures specific to the Union: anti-dumping duties, quotas, bans, required certificates. It is TARIC that gives the duty rate actually applied on import.

The Harmonized System is periodically revised by the World Customs Organization, to track new products and shifts in trade. Each revision can move a product from one code to another, which means the classification of an article imported for several years needs rechecking, not just at the time of the first import.

Unlike the Harmonized System and the Combined Nomenclature, TARIC is updated continuously by the European Commission, in step with new measures as they are decided: an anti-dumping duty imposed or lifted, a quota opened or used up. Checking TARIC on the date of your declaration, rather than relying on an old check, avoids applying a rate that is no longer in force.

The customs code determines the duty rate, whether an anti-dumping duty applies, the authorisations or certificates required on entry, and sometimes whether a quota applies. Two visually similar products can carry different codes, and therefore entirely different customs treatment.

The code also serves as a statistical basis, and it governs access to a preferential regime where a trade agreement provides for one. A classification error is never neutral: it can mean paying the wrong duty, trigger a customs hold, or lead to a reassessment if a check later reveals the discrepancy.

The code also governs access to certain special customs regimes, such as inward processing for goods reimported after transformation. A misclassified product can be denied a regime it would normally be entitled to, or wrongly benefit from one it is not.

Classification follows the general rules of interpretation of the Harmonized System, which set an order of priority: the most specific description wins over the more general one, a composite product is classified by the material or function that gives it its essential character, and failing that, a rule of last resort settles between equally defensible codes.

In practice, start from the full technical description of the product: main material, function, intended use, how it is presented for sale. The European Commission's TARIC tool then lets you check the rate and the measures attached to a code, once it has been identified.

The first pitfall is copying, without checking, the code shown by the Chinese factory on its invoice or export form: that code matches the Chinese customs system, not necessarily the correct European code, and the factory has no direct interest in optimising your classification.

The second pitfall concerns composite products or kits sold together, where each element could fall under a different code if imported on its own. The third concerns new products with no obvious equivalent in the nomenclature, where several codes seem equally defensible without any clear answer.

A container mixing several references, common in consolidated shipments, needs as many checks as there are different products. Treating the whole cargo under a single code for convenience, because one item looks like another, carries the same reclassification risk as an isolated error on a single product.

Where genuine doubt exists, it is possible to apply for a Binding Tariff Information ruling from the customs authorities. This decision, issued free of charge, commits the authorities to the code to use for that specific product, for a limited period, and secures subsequent imports.

If a customs check after import finds a different classification, the authorities can reclassify the code and claim additional duty on past operations, with possible penalties. Keeping the technical documentation that justified the choice of code at the time of import remains the best protection in case of a later check.

A customs broker or a declarant familiar with your sector can also confirm a classification before the first shipment. This upfront check costs less time and money than a correction requested after several shipments have already cleared customs under the wrong code.

Sorva, a sourcing and brokerage house, documents the customs code for each product as soon as the file is opened, based on the technical data sheet obtained by our Chinese-speaking team in Guangzhou from the factory, before any order is committed.

In most cases you pay no fees: you open a file, we negotiate the goods on your behalf, and we take a commission on their ex-factory value. Checking the customs code is part of the work carried out on that file, before the goods leave the factory.