Commodity (also known as tariff codes) are a crucial piece of data that you will need when you are looking to import/export goods between the EU and the UK from January 2021. They will help to determine what tariffs apply to the goods that you are transporting and the duties that you will be required to pay.
What Are Commodity/Tariff Codes?
UK commodity codes are derived from international HS (Harmonised System) codes and are used as a categorisation tool for products that are being imported/exported between the UK and the EU. They contain six digits from the HS codes system and are used to identify goods at a country’s border.
How Does the Commodity/Tariff Code System Work?
The tariff code system is broken down into 21 separate sections with chapters, headings and subheadings. You will need to take note of all this information in order to work out the codes for each of your products.
For example, if you are shipping carrots you will need to look at section II for vegetable products.
You will then need to select a heading; in this case it would be ‘Edible vegetables and certain roots and tubers.’ This is code number 07.
The next step would be to select a subheading; in this case it would be ‘Carrots, turnips, salad beetroot, salsify, celeriac, radishes and similar edible roots, fresh or chilled’. This is code number 06.
You will now pick the subheading ‘Carrots and turnips’, which is code number 10 00.
Finally, you will choose the subheading ‘carrots’, which is code 10.
For importing, the code would be 07 06 10 00 10. For exports the code would be 07 06 10 00 (missing out the final two digits).
You can check your commodity/tariff codes on the UK government website.
Incorrect Commodity/Tariff Codes
Using the wrong commodity code will mean that you will NOT be paying the correct tariffs on the products you are importing/exporting, which can be viewed as fraudulent. By submitting the wrong commodity code you may be subject to fines, delays, denial of import privileges or seizure of goods.
It can be difficult, time consuming and risky to submit your own codes. With CustomsLink’s tariff classification service we can remove the risk of making a costly error. Find out more
