HS Codes for Cosmetics and Skin Care: 3304, 3401, Sheet Masks, Sets

Chapter 33: which heading for which product

Chapter 33 of the Harmonized System (HS 2022) covers essential oils and resinoids and perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations. Finished cosmetics fall in headings 33.03 to 33.07; headings 33.01 and 33.02 cover essential oils and fragrance mixtures used as raw materials.

Note 3 says headings 33.03 to 33.07 apply, among other things, to products, mixed or not, that are suitable for use as goods of those headings and put up in packings of a kind sold by retail for that use (aqueous distillates and aqueous solutions of essential oils excepted). So a pure plant oil in a retail bottle for skin or hair care can be a Chapter 33 product, while the same oil in bulk is classified in its own heading.

Note 4 says the expression "perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations" in heading 33.07 applies to, among others, scented sachets; odoriferous preparations which operate by burning; perfumed papers and papers impregnated or coated with cosmetics; contact lens or artificial eye solutions; wadding, felt and nonwovens, impregnated, coated or covered with perfume or cosmetics; and animal toilet preparations.

• 33.03: perfumes and toilet waters, such as eau de parfum and eau de toilette.
• 33.04: beauty or make-up preparations and preparations for the care of the skin (other than medicaments), including sunscreen or sun tan preparations; manicure or pedicure preparations. Subheadings: 3304.10 lip make-up, 3304.20 eye make-up, 3304.30 manicure or pedicure, 3304.91 powders, whether or not compressed, and 3304.99 other, which takes creams, lotions, toners, serums, essences, foundations, BB creams and sunscreens.
• 33.05: hair preparations: 3305.10 shampoos, 3305.20 permanent waving or straightening, 3305.30 hair lacquers, 3305.90 other, such as conditioners and hair treatments.
• 33.06: oral or dental hygiene: 3306.10 dentifrices (toothpaste), 3306.20 dental floss in individual retail packages, 3306.90 other, such as mouthwash.
• 33.07: 3307.10 pre-shave, shaving or after-shave preparations, 3307.20 personal deodorants and anti-perspirants, 3307.30 perfumed bath salts and other bath preparations, 3307.41 and 3307.49 room perfuming or deodorizing preparations, and 3307.90 other, including depilatories and the impregnated papers and nonwovens of Note 4.

Cleansers: heading 34.01 or Chapter 33?

Chapter 33 Note 1(b) excludes soap and other products of heading 34.01. That heading covers soap and surface-active products for use as soap in bars, cakes or moulded shapes (3401.11 for toilet use, including medicated products); "organic surface-active products and preparations for washing the skin, in the form of liquid or cream and put up for retail sale, whether or not containing soap" (3401.30); and paper, wadding, felt and nonwovens impregnated, coated or covered with soap or detergent. A surfactant-based cleansing foam, face wash, body wash or liquid hand soap is therefore normally a 3401.30 product, not 3304.99.

For hair, teeth, shaving and the bath the rule runs the other way: Chapter 34 Note 1(c) keeps shampoos, dentifrices, shaving creams and foams, and bath preparations in headings 33.05, 33.06 and 33.07 even when they contain soap or other organic surface-active agents. Make-up removers such as cleansing oils, balms and micellar waters need a case-by-case look at the formula and how the product is used.

The choice can change the duty. In Canada's Customs Tariff, for example, the MFN rate is 6.5% for 3304.99.90 but free for 3401.30.

Sheet masks, cosmetic pads and wipes

Because Note 4 names nonwovens and papers impregnated with cosmetics, sheet masks and pads soaked in a toner, essence or serum point to 3307.90. HMRC's advance tariff ruling 600012325 (valid 26 February 2025 to 25 February 2028) classified a face sheet mask in a sachet in 3307 90 00 00, citing Chapter 33 Notes 3 and 4 and WCO classification opinion 3307.90/4. US Customs (CBP) ruling HQ 966960 (2004) put sunscreen towelettes in 3307.90.00, because the nonwoven only carries the cosmetic.

Practice is not uniform. CBP's New York ruling N308615 (14 January 2020) classified paper sheet masks saturated in liquid in 3304.99.5000, without discussing Note 4. In the US the difference matters: 3304.99.50.00 has a free general rate, while 3307.90.00 has a 5.4% general rate. If you ship sheet masks in volume, check recent rulings in the destination or ask for your own ruling.

Wash-off and overnight masks in tubes, jars, bottles or packets are skin care preparations of 3304.99 in HMRC rulings. Wipes impregnated with soap or detergent go to 3401.11 if for toilet use; wipes and pads carrying a cosmetic go to 3307.90; plain, unimpregnated cotton pads and wipes are classified as textiles or paper, not as cosmetics.

Cosmetic or medicament (heading 30.04)?

Heading 33.04 covers skin preparations "other than medicaments", and heading 30.04 covers medicaments for therapeutic or prophylactic uses, put up in measured doses or in forms or packings for retail sale. The Chapter 30 notes in turn exclude preparations of headings 33.03 to 33.07 even if they have therapeutic or prophylactic properties. An active ingredient or a soothing or anti-blemish claim does not by itself move a cosmetic to Chapter 30.

Customs classification is separate from regulatory status. The US regulates sunscreens as over-the-counter drugs, yet heading 33.04 names sunscreen and sun tan preparations. A licence category such as Korea's functional cosmetics or Japan's quasi-drugs does not decide the HS code either.

Examples from official texts and rulings: medicated soap bars stay in 3401.11, whose text includes medicated products, and HMRC ruling 600012386 put an anti-blemish mask in 3304 99 00 00. A product made and presented to treat or prevent a disease can be a medicament of 30.04; where the line falls depends on composition and presentation, so check the Explanatory Notes and rulings, and get a ruling if duty or licensing depends on it.

Tools, packaging, kits and sets

Tools are not cosmetics. Make-up brushes are brushes for the application of cosmetics (9603.30); hair, nail and eyelash brushes are toilet brushes for use on the person (9603.29); powder puffs and pads for the application of cosmetics or toilet preparations are in 9616.20. Glass mirrors go to 70.09 and travel sets for personal toilet to 96.05.

Under GRI 5(b), packing of a kind normally used for the goods, such as bottles, jars, tubes and sachets, is classified with the product, unless clearly suitable for repeated use. Empty containers shipped on their own are classified by material and type, for example plastic bottles in 3923.30 and glass bottles and jars in 7010.90.

Kits and gift sets use GRI 3(b). CBP's guidance sets three conditions: at least two different articles that are, prima facie, classifiable in different headings; put up together to meet a particular need or carry out a specific activity; and put up for sale directly to users without repacking. If all are met, the whole set takes the code of the item that gives it its essential character: for example, if the eye shadow gives a palette-and-brush set its essential character, the set goes to 3304.20. If the items meet different needs, classify each separately. Items in the same subheading need no set rule: HMRC ruling 600012502 put a set of hand cream and lip mask in 3304 99 00 00.

National codes, duties and binding rulings

Countries add digits and rates after the 6-digit HS code. For 3304.99: US HTSUS 3304.99.50.00 (other than petroleum jelly put up for retail sale, 3304.99.10.00), general rate free; UK 3304 99 00 00; EU Combined Nomenclature 3304 99 00; Canada 3304.99.90, MFN rate 6.5%. Check the destination's tariff in force on the import date.

In the US the general rate is only the start: chapter 99 duties are added by origin and date. The IEEPA tariffs ended on 20 February 2026, and since 24 July 2026 a Section 301 duty applies to goods of 60 economies (for South Korea and Japan, 12.5% in total with the general rate); see Triplicate's US import duties note for current rates.

Binding rulings give certainty before you ship: CBP rulings under 19 CFR Part 177, searchable in CROSS (rulings.cbp.gov); EU Binding Tariff Information, valid 3 years in every EU country; UK advance tariff rulings, valid 3 years and published online; and Japan Customs' advance rulings, published in a searchable database. HS 2028 enters into force on 1 January 2028. The WCO's announcements of its main changes concern dietary supplements, vaccines and plastics and do not mention cosmetics, but brands that also sell collagen drinks or other supplements should recheck those codes, and all codes should be checked against the correlation tables.