How to Find the Right HS Code: GRI 1-6, Rulings and HS 2028

6-digit HS, national codes and HS 2028

The Harmonized System (HS), run by the World Customs Organization (WCO), sorts goods into 21 sections and chapters 1 to 97 (chapter 77 is reserved). The HS 2022 edition, in force since 1 January 2022, has 1,228 four-digit headings and 5,612 six-digit subheadings.

Each country adds digits for its own tariff. The US HTSUS has 8-digit legal subheadings plus a 2-digit statistical suffix, and all 10 digits must be used on entries. The EU Combined Nomenclature (CN) has 8 digits and TARIC adds a 9th and 10th; the UK uses 10 digits for imports and 8 for exports. Beyond the first 6 digits the same product has different codes in different countries, so your own country's export code is not the importer's code.

HS 2028 takes effect on 1 January 2028 under a WCO Council Recommendation of 26 June 2025. Its 299 sets of amendments give 1,229 headings and 5,852 subheadings, with new headings for dietary supplements (21.07) and vaccines (30.07 and 30.08), a restructured plastic waste heading (39.15) and more detail for health-emergency supplies and single-use plastics. The WCO is preparing HS 2022 to HS 2028 correlation tables. In the US the USITC is preparing the matching HTSUS changes (investigation 1205-14), and the EU publishes each year's CN by 31 October for use from 1 January.

The General Rules of Interpretation in plain words

The six General Rules for the Interpretation of the Harmonized System are part of the legal text and are applied in order: move to the next rule only if the one before does not settle the question. Rules 1 to 5 find the 4-digit heading and Rule 6 applies the same logic to subheadings. The WCO's Explanatory Notes explain each rule with examples, and national tariffs add their own notes.

• GRI 1: Section and chapter titles are for reference only. Classification follows the terms of the headings and the section and chapter notes, and many goods are settled here.
• GRI 2(a): An incomplete or unfinished article counts as the finished article if it already has its essential character, and so does a complete article shipped unassembled, such as a flat-pack chair.
• GRI 2(b): A heading that names a material also covers mixtures and combinations of it with other materials. Goods of several materials that could fit two headings go to GRI 3.
• GRI 3(a): The most specific description wins: tufted carpets made for cars are classified as carpets (heading 57.03), not as car accessories (87.08). If each heading covers only part of a mixture or set, they count as equally specific.
• GRI 3(b): Mixtures, composite goods and retail sets are classified by the material or component that gives them their essential character.
• GRI 3(c): If 3(a) and 3(b) do not decide it, take the heading that comes last in numerical order among those that equally merit consideration.
• GRI 4: Goods the rules above cannot classify go to the heading for the goods they are most akin to. It is rarely needed.
• GRI 5: A fitted case made for a specific article and suitable for long-term use, such as an electric shaver case, is classified with the article when presented and normally sold with it. Ordinary packing goes with the goods, but not packing clearly suitable for repeated use.
• GRI 6: At subheading level, compare only subheadings at the same level (one dash with one dash, then two dashes with two dashes), applying subheading notes and, unless the context requires otherwise, section and chapter notes.

GRI 3(b): sets and essential character

Essential character is decided case by case. The WCO Explanatory Notes say it may come from the nature of the material or component, its bulk, quantity, weight or value, or the role of a material in the use of the goods. Write down which factor you relied on.

A kit counts as goods put up in sets for retail sale only if it meets all three conditions: at least two different articles that would otherwise go in different headings; put together to meet one particular need or carry out one activity; and packed for sale directly to users without repacking. The WCO example is a hairdressing kit of electric clippers, comb, scissors, brush and towel in a leather case: the whole set goes to heading 85.10 with the clippers.

The European Commission's guidelines on sets add examples. A shampoo and a hair lotion packed together for hair care are a set within heading 33.05, because GRI 6 lets articles in different subheadings of one heading form a set. A cleanser, toner and moisturiser that all fall in the same subheading are not a set. A gift basket of cheese, wine, tea and honey meets no single need, so each item is classified separately; and if one article of a would-be set serves a different need, every article is classified separately.

Notes, parts and accessories, and the use trap

Section and chapter notes are legal text and often decide the case. For example, chapter 33 (cosmetics) excludes soap and other products of heading 34.01, which also covers liquid or cream skin-washing preparations put up for retail sale, so check 34.01 before placing a cleanser in 33.04.

Parts follow the section notes. In Section XVI (machinery and electrical equipment), a part that is itself named in a heading of chapter 84 or 85 goes to that heading, and other parts suitable for use solely or principally with one kind of machine go with that machine. Parts of general use, such as the screws and bolts of heading 73.18, are excluded and classified as what they are. Section XVII (vehicles) also excludes electrical equipment of chapter 85, so a car battery goes to heading 85.07, not to parts and accessories of motor vehicles (87.08).

Parts and accessories are not the same. UK customs guidance on vehicles describes parts as essential to the vehicle's operation, and accessories as not essential but adapting it, performing a service related to its main function or adding functions. The heading wording matters: 85.29 covers only parts of the apparatus of headings 85.24 to 85.28, while 84.73 covers parts and accessories of computers, other than covers and carrying cases.

Most headings describe what goods are, their material and how they are made, not what one buyer will use them for. Knitted clothing is in chapter 61 and clothing that is not knitted, such as woven, in chapter 62, and fibre content often decides the subheading. Where a heading is defined by use, such as wiring sets of a kind used in vehicles (8544.30), the use that counts is that of goods of that kind in general; the US sets this out as principal use in Additional U.S. Rule of Interpretation 1(a).

Binding rulings: CBP CROSS, EU BTI and advance rulings

Published rulings show how similar goods were classified. CBP's Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) at rulings.cbp.gov holds Headquarters and New York rulings back to 1989, and the EU's EBTI database lists BTI decisions. Use them for reasoning, not as a guarantee: a US ruling applies only to goods identical to the sample or description in it, and CBP says no other person should rely on it (19 CFR 177.9).

US: an importer, an exporter or anyone else with a direct and demonstrable interest, or their agent, can ask CBP for a binding ruling before importing (19 CFR Part 177). Describe the goods fully, including their chief use in the US, commercial or technical name and composition by quantity and value. A ruling binds CBP until it is modified or revoked.

EU: Binding Tariff Information (BTI) is a decision by an EU country's customs authority. It binds customs in every EU country and the holder, for the holder's goods cleared after it takes effect, and is valid for 3 years (Union Customs Code, Article 33). Customs must decide within 120 days of accepting the application (Article 22), and a BTI ends early if a change to the nomenclature, such as HS 2028, means it no longer conforms (Article 34).

Other countries: the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (Article 3) requires members to issue advance rulings on tariff classification and origin in a reasonable, time-bound manner, to an exporter, importer or anyone with a justifiable cause, and to publish how to apply, how long it takes and how long the ruling is valid. Members may require local legal representation or registration.

What happens when the code is wrong

The code decides more than the duty rate. It also triggers additional duties, such as US chapter 99 and antidumping duties, permits and other agency checks, and the product-specific rule of origin in a trade agreement, which is set by chapter, heading or subheading. A wrong code can point to the wrong origin rule and a rejected preference claim.

Customs may hold goods while it checks the description, asks for specifications or samples, and reassesses duty. In the US, importers must use reasonable care in classifying (19 U.S.C. 1484), and duty lost through a false or careless entry must be paid whether or not a penalty is imposed (19 U.S.C. 1592(d)).

US penalties for a material false statement on an entry (19 U.S.C. 1592): for negligence, up to the lesser of the goods' domestic value or 2 times the lost duties, taxes and fees (20% of dutiable value if no duty was lost); for gross negligence, 4 times or 40%; for fraud, up to the domestic value. A prior disclosure made before a formal investigation starts cuts a negligence penalty to interest on the unpaid amount.

In the EU the person lodging the declaration is responsible for its accuracy (Union Customs Code, Article 15), and each EU country sets penalties that must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive (Article 42).

The exporter rarely files the import entry, but brokers often copy the code and description from the invoice, so give a destination code only when you have checked it. This is practical guidance, not legal advice; confirm with the destination customs authority or a licensed customs broker.