Harmonized Commodity Coding System (HS)

Introduction
How the HS works
Searching the HS system
Need More Information?

Introduction

The Harmonized System (HS) is intended to serve as a universally accepted classification system for goods so countries can administer customs programs and collect trade data on exports and imports. It was designed to replace the varied tracking methods used by countries and create one common classification system by which to track trade and apply tariffs.

The basic system uses a 6-digit number to identify basic commodities. Each country is allowed to add additional digits for statistical purposes. In Canada,  2 additional digits are used for exports and four additional digits for imports. The U.S. uses a 10-digit system for both exports and imports.

The system was developed by the Customs Cooperation Council (CCC), now known as the World Customs Organization (WCO). The WCO, located in Brussels, is an international organization consisting of representatives of about 139 countries or territories.

How the HS works

The Harmonized System is a commodity classification system in which articles are grouped largely according to the nature of the materials of which they are made, as has been traditional in customs nomenclatures. The HS contains approximately 5000 headings and subheadings covering all articles in trade. These provisions are organized in 96 chapters arranged in 21 sections which, along with the interpretive rules and legal notes to the chapters and sections, form the legal text of the Harmonized System.

The basic six digit code that makes up the HS is made of three parts. The first two digits identify the chapter the goods are classified in. For example:

The next two digits identify groupings within that chapter:

The next two digits are even more specific:

This is the last point at which the classification codes are identical in all countries. After this point, a country can add digits to make the HS classification numbers even more specific. Canada uses another two for exports and another four for imports. The United States uses four additional numbers for both imports and exports. If you are exporting from Canada, the next step in the above progression is:

Most countries of the world track imports far more thoroughly than they do exports. Canada uses five different 10-digit HS codes for the import of fresh or chilled carrots:

While the United States does use 10 digit codes for both exports and imports, this doesn't necessarily indicate that they track exports in any more detail than Canada.

This is what their HS code for fresh or chilled carrots looks like:

Here is their import HS codes:

See how different the codes can be even though they use the same first six digits? And this is for a relatively simple good like fresh or chilled carrots. It gets much more complicated with goods such as apparel and machinery. Therefore, comparing trade between different countries is problematic but still better than it used to be with the plethora of commodity codes that existed before 1988 when the HS system came into widespread use.

Searching the Harmonized System

• Statistics Canada allows you to search by HS code or commodity on their website.
• ExportSource provides links to tariff information for various countries around the world.

• Commodity Classification - Schedule B is a U.S. Census Bureau site which lists the commodity codes for goods imported into the U.S.

Interested in other trade classifications? This site describes the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's commodity classification system. It also provides comparisons between this system, the HS system and the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC), both the current revision 3 and the older revision 2 system that the United Nations still uses to track trade.

Need More Information?

Looking for Canadian contacts or more information on Canada and the HS code? Contact the Canada Border Services Agency or the Canada/Manitoba Business Service.