Finding the right commodity codes for your goods

When you’re moving goods to and from Northern Ireland, you’ll need to find the right commodity code for your goods.

Contents

What are commodity codes?

Commodity codes are an internationally recognised method for defining types of goods for customs purposes as they are traded between countries. When a product is imported or exported across a border, a commodity code must be provided so the correct customs measures are applied.

The government guidance on Classifying your goods (opens in a new tab) provides information about:

what a commodity code is
the structure of a commodity code
who is responsible for classifying products
how to identify the right commodity code
how to get help identifying the right commodity code

How goods are classified

The process of finding the right commodity code is called 'classification' and it takes account of the specific characteristics of the goods in question.

Table 1 shows an example of full fat natural yogurt.

Table describing how the classification for a full fat natural yoghurt breaks down, from a 2 to an 8-digit commodity code.
Part of the commodity code	Commodity code	Description
Section	I	Animal products
2-digit chapter	04	Dairy produce
4-digit code or heading	0403	Yogurt: buttermilk, curdled milk and cream, kephir and other fermented or acidified milk and cream, whether or not concentrated or containing added sugar or other sweetening matter or flavoured or containing added fruit, nuts or cocoa
6-digit sub-heading	0403 20	Yogurt
8-digit tariff line	0403 2039	Non-flavoured, nor containing added fruit, nuts, cocoa, chocolate, spices, coffee or coffee extract, plants, parts of plants, cereals or bakers’ wares and of a fat content exceeding 6% by weight

TARIC additional code (also known as the customs additional code)

Sometimes you may need an additional 4-digit code, known as a TARIC additional code, when moving goods into Northern Ireland. You may need to include more than one.

Their purpose varies, but they help determine:

if any additional trade defence duties apply
if any suspensions or reliefs apply
for Northern Ireland, any additional duties for processed agricultural goods

These are usually listed in the Northern Ireland Online Tariff as Additional codes and are found in the import and export information about the commodity code. Additional codes are usually in bold text.

General Interpretative Rules

Under the Harmonized System, you must use the General Interpretative Rules (GIRs) to find the right commodity code for your goods.

There are six General Interpretative Rules. You must apply them in order, starting with Rule 1 and only moving to the next rule if you cannot classify the goods at the previous step.

Find out more about general rules for the interpretation of the Harmonized System (opens in a new tab).

What length commodity code do you need?

The length of a commodity code can vary by both country and the use it is being put to.

For goods moving to and from Northern Ireland:

8-digits are needed for export
10-digits for standard import declarations
6- or 8-digit code, depending on the category of your goods (opens in a new tab) for Internal Market Movement Information (opens in a new tab)
6-digit code for entry summary declaration

You will also need to check for TARIC additional codes (also known as the customs additional codes). These are not part of the commodity code but are often needed for import declarations into Northern Ireland.

Where to find commodity codes

There is an online tool available to help you find commodity codes for goods moving to and from Northern Ireland. This is the Northern Ireland Online Tariff (opens in a new tab).

If goods you bring into Northern Ireland can move as ‘not at risk’ (opens in a new tab) of moving to the EU, you may need to use the UK Integrated Online Tariff (opens in a new tab) to find duty rates. You will still need to use the Northern Ireland Online Tariff to meet EU Import controls.

You can search for goods by name, use or material. You can also browse by goods classification and look for your product in the A-Z.

Get help to classify goods

There is support available from HMRC if you find that your goods are difficult to classify:

You can access this help by:

using the webchat function (opens in a new tab), when offered in the Online Tariff
emailing the Tariff Classification Service (opens in a new tab)
applying for a formal ruling, if you want legal certainty

If you decide to apply for a formal ruling, you should apply for a Binding Tariff Information Decision (opens in a new tab) when importing or exporting from Northern Ireland.

A Binding Tariff Information decision is legally recognised by EU customs authorities. It provides certainty when moving goods and is normally valid for 3 years, unless the product details or relevant rules change in that time.

Storing commodity codes and goods information in the Trader Support Service

Once you have found the correct commodity codes and related information, you can save them as a template in the Trader Support Service.

This means you do not need to classify the goods again or re-enter the same details each time you are moving goods to and from Northern Ireland.

Depending on the type of movement, you can:

create a template for an entry summary declaration
create or update a template in the Trader Goods Profile if you are moving goods under the simplified processes for Internal Market Movements

Trader Support Service