The questions
HS, CN, TARIC — which part is which? 6, 8, 10
Three layers on one number. The first six digits are the HS code and are the same in every country that uses the Harmonized System. Digits seven and eight make it a CN code, which is EU-wide and sets the duty rate. Digits nine and ten make it a TARIC code, which carries the measures: anti-dumping, quotas, prohibitions, licences.
That layering explains a common confusion. Your Chinese supplier and you can agree on the first six digits and still be talking about different things, because what you pay and what you need is decided at eight and ten.
- HS6 — international, set by the World Customs Organization, revised every five years.
- CN8 — EU, republished every year in the Official Journal, applies from 1 January.
- TARIC10 — EU, changes continuously as measures are adopted or expire.
An export declaration usually needs eight digits, an import declaration into the EU needs ten.
Source: Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 (Combined Nomenclature); WCO Harmonized System; European Commission, TARIC. Checked: 4 September 2026.
What does the code actually decide? more than duty
The duty rate, but that is the smallest part. The code decides whether an anti-dumping duty applies, whether you need a licence or the goods are banned, whether a quota exists — and whether CBAM and the deforestation rules touch you at all, because both define their scope by CN code rather than by material.
This is why classification is not an administrative step at the end. It decides which of the regimes on this site you are in:
- CBAM lists covered goods by CN code in Annex I. A product containing steel can be outside it while the steel itself is inside — see CBAM.
- EUDR lists the seven commodities and their derived products by code — see deforestation.
- Waste shipments use a different code system entirely (the European List of Waste), and buyers routinely disagree about which entry applies — see waste shipments.
- Reduced VAT rates in several member states are defined by CN code, even though the rate itself is national — see VAT.
Source: Regulation (EU) 2023/956, Annex I (CBAM scope by CN code); Regulation (EU) 2023/1115, Annex I (EUDR); Union Customs Code. Checked: 4 September 2026.
How do I find the right code? two official routes
Through the Commission's own tools, not through a search engine. Access2Markets gives you the duty rate and the measures per code and per country of origin. The TARIC consultation gives the full measure list. Both are free and both are the source your customs authority uses.
Work from what the product is, not from what it is used for. Classification follows the General Rules of Interpretation, and the first rule is the wording of the headings. Material, function and state of processing decide; the intended market does not.
Two habits that save money:
- Write down why. A one-paragraph note on why this heading and not the neighbouring one is what turns a guess into a defensible position three years later.
- Check the origin too. The same code carries a different rate depending on where the goods come from, and a preferential rate under a trade agreement needs proof of origin — without it you pay the normal rate. That is worked out on rules of origin.
Source: European Commission, Access2Markets and TARIC consultation; General Rules for the Interpretation of the Combined Nomenclature. Checked: 4 September 2026.
My supplier gave me a code. Can I use it? not as it stands
Not as it stands. The code your supplier writes on the invoice is an export code from their country, chosen for their declaration and often only six digits. In the EU the importer is liable for the classification on the import declaration, whoever supplied the number.
The first six digits are worth having — they are the same worldwide, so they are a legitimate starting point. Everything after that is yours to establish.
The pattern that costs money: a supplier picks a code with a low duty rate in their own country, the importer copies it, and the eight-digit EU subheading turns out to carry an anti-dumping duty. The importer pays, not the supplier.
Source: Union Customs Code (Regulation (EU) No 952/2013), Articles 15 and 77 (accuracy of the declaration and the debtor). Checked: 4 September 2026.
How do I make a classification binding? BTI, three years
Apply for Binding Tariff Information. Your customs authority issues a decision that classifies your specific goods, it is valid for three years, and it binds every customs authority in the EU — not just the one that issued it.
BTI is free to apply for and is the only way to remove classification risk entirely. It is worth it when the goods are borderline, the volumes are steady, or the difference between two plausible codes is large.
Two things to know before you file:
- A BTI binds you as well. If you obtain one and then declare a different code, that is a problem you created.
- It covers the goods you described. Change the product and the decision may no longer apply, so describe what you actually import rather than the version you hope to be classified as.
Source: Union Customs Code, Articles 33 and 34 (Binding Tariff Information). Checked: 4 September 2026.
What happens if the code turns out to be wrong? three years back
Customs assesses the difference retroactively, with interest, and the recovery period is normally three years — ten in cases involving a criminal act. You pay the duty you should have paid, on everything you imported in that window, at once.
This is why classification is the single most expensive mistake available in importing. A one-percent difference on a code you used for three years is a bill for three years of volume, not for one shipment.
The order of magnitude also runs the other way: importers regularly discover they have been paying a higher rate than they had to, and a refund claim runs over the same period.
Source: Union Customs Code, Articles 103 and 105 (limitation of the customs debt); Article 121 (repayment and remission). Checked: 4 September 2026.
Does the code decide the VAT rate too? no, but
No — the VAT rate is national and you charge the rate of the country of destination. But several member states define which goods get a reduced rate by CN code, so the code decides whether you qualify for one.
Two separate things that get mixed up. Import VAT is due on the customs value plus duty; the duty and VAT calculator works that through. Which rate applies is a national question, and the standard rates per member state are on the VAT page.
Source: Directive 2006/112/EC, Annex III and Article 98(3) (reduced rates may be defined by reference to the Combined Nomenclature). Checked: 4 September 2026.
The code changed. What now? 1 January
The Combined Nomenclature is republished every year and applies from 1 January. Codes are merged, split and renumbered, and a code that was correct in December can simply not exist in January.
What that means in practice:
- Check your codes once a year, in the first weeks of January, before the first declaration of the year goes out.
- A BTI stays valid when the nomenclature changes only if the classification itself is unaffected. If the heading disappears, so does the decision.
- Standing instructions to a customs agent are a common source of this: the agent keeps declaring the code you gave them in 2023.
Source: Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87, Article 12 (annual republication of the Combined Nomenclature in the Official Journal). Checked: 4 September 2026.