On 1 January, the seventh amendment to the Harmonised System of the World Customs Organisation (WCO), which allows traded goods to be classified in a standard way, came into force. At BERGÉ Aduanas, we recommend that importing and exporting companies check whether their products are affected by this new development.
Many products are affected and checks should be carried out, everything from fish and crustaceans, to boilers, machinery, mechanical appliances and apparatus, vehicles, tractors, bicycles and other land vehicles, including all their corresponding parts and accessories.
The tariff classification of a product has an impact on applicable tariffs, trade policy measures and applicable rules of origin. Ultimately, this classification labels the product for customs clearance. The aim of the seventh amendment is to adapt to new product flows, technological developments and environmental and social issues.
As a result, the combined nomenclature, which is the tariff classification method used in the European Union, has also been amended.
The harmonised system includes around 5,000 product groups and covers 98% of world trade. It is used by more than 200 countries as the basis for their tariffs and statistics.