The Harmonized System

This international goods nomenclature is being used by more than 200 countries and Customs or Economic Unions across the globe and currently regulates almost 98% of world trade. With the new version of the Harmonized System coming into force on 1 January 2007, this Customs Compendium is the perfect guide for those who have a stake in international business affairs today.

"Tariff Classification Using the Harmonized Tariff Schedule" provides a background of the harmonized tariff schedule and its structure, the General Rules of Interpretation, including the additional rule applied by the United States with examples of each. A summary of the General Notes (includes trade agreements for the United States) is included plus more. The Harmonized Tariff Schedule is used by over 200 countries around the world, representing the majority of international trade. It is an international coding system for assigning a number to a good so that the first six (6) digits are the same no matter where it is imported around the world. Each country can further describe the good and add more digits and assign their own rate of duty. There are "General Rules of Interpretation" that have been created by the Customs Cooperation Council, informally known as World Customs Organization. When classifying goods under the Harmonized System, the language of the General Rules of Interpretation, section, chapter and subheading notes are to be consulted and applied. Incorrect classification can result in the wrong duty rate in the importing country and incorrect statistics reported in the exporting country - end result is severe penalties may be assessed against importers and exporters.

Non-tariff measures are generally defined as policy measures other than ordinary customs tariffs that can potentially have an economic effect on international trade in goods, changing quantities traded, or prices or both. Since this definition is broad, a detailed classification is of critical importance so as to better identify and distinguish among the various forms of non-tariff measures. The classification of non-tariff measures presented here is a taxonomy of all those measures considered relevant in international trade today. It builds on an old UNCTAD classification known as the Coding System of Trade Control Measures and was developed by several international organizations forming what is called the MAST group (Multi-Agency Support Team) set up to support the Group of Eminent Persons on Non-tariff Barriers established by the Secretary General of UNCTAD in 2006. The MAST team discussed and proposed this classification, and is composed of: FAO, IMF, ITC, OECD, UNCTAD, UNIDO, World Bank and WTO. The classification is seen as evolving and should adapt to the reality of international trade and data collection needs.