Harmonized System and HS Codes: Classification Basics
The WCO Harmonized System nomenclature, the six-digit international core and national extensions, the General Interpretative Rules, and the HS 2022 and HS 2028 editions.
The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System is the WCO nomenclature that every customs administration uses to identify goods for tariff, statistical and control purposes. HS 2022, the seventh edition, entered into force on 1 January 2022; HS 2028, the eighth edition, takes effect on 1 January 2028.
The full article will cover the structure of sections, chapters, headings and subheadings, the six-digit international core and the national extensions built on it such as the EU Combined Nomenclature and the US Harmonized Tariff Schedule, the six General Interpretative Rules, the Explanatory Notes and their status, binding tariff rulings, and the amendment cycle that produces a new edition roughly every five years.
Classification and valuation are independent inputs to a duty calculation. Classification fixes the rate, valuation fixes the base, and the Incoterms rule chosen touches only the second.