Customs classification of food products: How to classify them

For me, as a customs classification enthusiast (Google does not show any hits for this term), it is sometimes not easy to walk through a grocery store without mentally labeling each product with a customs tariff number or at least a customs tariff chapter. Or to organize the ingredients in my mind when cooking. What I enjoy most is closely examining a product, which is always helpful for the correct customs classification. Over the recent years, I have been able to acquire good product knowledge this way.

In this article, I want to take a closer look at instant meals I have recently seen in supermarkets and approach the customs tariff numbers with all customs classification rules.

Ready meals are classified in section IV (chapters 16 to 24) – an overview

Instant meals are practically without exception classified into one of these chapters.

• In chapter 16, there is room for meat and fish preparations

• Sugar and confectionery sweeten chapter 17

• Chapter 18 shows its sweet side with chocolate

• Lovers of rice dishes, pasta, muesli, and pudding find their happiness in chapter 19

• Light meals are in chapter 20 with (pre)cooked, pureed and pickled vegetables or fruits

• Small kitchen helpers like yeast, condiments, or even chewing gum belong in chapter 21

• Chapter 22 includes thirst quenchers like sodas or all types of alcoholic beverages

• Food wastes end up in chapter 23

• Cigars and everything else that produces blue smoke can be found in chapter 24

For ready meals, the main ingredients are crucial

There are only a few customs tariff numbers in section IV where ready meals can be classified without much effort because they are explicitly mentioned. We will classify such a ready meal.

Thus, for composite foodstuffs, I always have to decide before classifying which are the main ingredients that make up the ready meal. This is determined by the internationally valid, so-called "General Rules".

And this is how General Rule 3b) looks, which among other things regulates the classification of ready meals:

Mixtures, goods composed of different materials or components and goods put up in sets for retail sale (…) are classified according to the material or component that gives them their essential character, provided that this material or component can be determined.

Nasi Goreng – the Indonesian rice dish

First, I take a look at the ingredients:

Cooked rice 42%, fried, seasoned chicken meat 21%, carrots 10%, leeks 6%, peas 5%, rapeseed oil, soy sauce, water, white cabbage 2%, sesame oil, tomato concentrate, ground peanuts, table salt, ethyl vinegar, curry, spices, maltodextrin, lemon juice powder, natural flavor

For composite foodstuffs, I must always decide which are the main ingredients that make up the ready meal. So I perform a virtual "mise en place" before classifying to identify these. In this case, it is clearly the rice, which would alone be classified under HS number 1006.

Equally significant are the marinated chicken pieces, which would be classified alone under HS number 1602. The rest are supplementary vegetables.

If we look at the chapters of section IV, two chapters are possible:

Products of the food industry; beverages, alcoholic liquids, and vinegar; tobacco and processed tobacco substitutes (section IV)

Chapter 16 or 19?

On the one hand, we have identified the main ingredient rice (Chapter 19), on the other hand, the chicken pieces are also main components of the Indonesian dish (Chapter 16).

In Chapter 19, the HS heading 1904 could be applicable.

Food preparations obtained by swelling or roasting cereals or cereal products (e.g., cornflakes); cereals (excluding maize) in grain form or flakes or other worked grains except flour, meal, and powder, precooked or otherwise prepared, not elsewhere specified or included

What I must never forget when classifying: According to General Rule 1, I must also look at the Note, in this case to Chapter 19. Because the Notes are of equivalent legal importance as the text of the heading (here 1904).

In particular, I want to know whether the chicken pieces or other ingredients of the Nasi Goreng could be decisive for the classification. Here, the so-called exclusion notes are helpful:

Chapter 19 does not include: 1. a) Food preparations (except stuffed products of heading 1902) containing sausages, meat, offal, blood, insects, fish, crustaceans, mollusks or other aquatic invertebrates of – individually or together – more than 20% by weight (Chapter 16);

A look at the ingredient list is enough to see how high the meat content of our Nasi Goreng is, namely 21%. Based on Note 1a) to Chapter 19, I must continue the examination in Chapter 16.

Preparations of meat, fish, or of crustaceans, mollusks and other aquatic invertebrates (Chapter 16)

1. In Chapter 16, I must now compare the product descriptions at the four-digit HS heading level of the customs tariff number. 1602 fits best for the Nasi Goreng.

2. I clarify at the six-digit HS subheading level what “homogenized preparations” means in the context of the customs tariff. To do this, I refer to the Notes for Chapter 16 in EZT.

3. Since, according to subheading Note 1 to Chapter 16, these are not “homogenized preparations,” I choose the species from which the meat comes; here that is from "poultry of HS number 0105" (a look at the wording of that heading results in domestic poultry).

4. At the end, I always make sure to take one last look at the relevant Notes and explanatory notes (here chapters 16 and 19 as well as the relevant numbers 1904 and 1602) to ensure that there are no additional exclusion notes or explanatory notes.

5. With the Nasi Goreng with the above-stated ingredients, I can be sure that the ready meal will be classified under code number 1602 32 90.

How does traideGo classify the ready meal "Nasi Goreng"?

To determine the correct tariff number for the described ready meal "Nasi Goreng", we first analyze the composition and compare it with similar products in the given documents.

1. Main components:

• 42% cooked rice

• 21% fried, seasoned chicken meat

• Various vegetables (carrots, leeks, peas, white cabbage)

• Spices and sauces

Classification:

Based on the composition of the dish, the most likely classification is:

16023290: “Preparations with a content of meat or offal of less than 25% by weight, from chickens, prepared or preserved otherwise than in Chapter 02 (excluding uncooked, from livers, and sausages and similar products)”

Justification:

1. The exclusion notes of Chapter 19 indicate that preparations with a content of sausages, meat, offal, blood, fish, crustaceans, mollusks, or other aquatic invertebrates, or a combination of these products of more than 20% by weight do not belong in this chapter.

2. The described product contains 21% chicken meat, which is above the 20% limit and thus excludes classification in Chapter 19.

3. The preparation thus falls under Chapter 16, specifically under heading 1602 for “Meat, offal, or blood, otherwise prepared or preserved.”

4. The meat content of 21% lies in the range of > 20% by weight, but < 25% by weight, justifying the classification under subheading 16023290.

<4. The meat content of 21% lies in the range of > 20% by weight, but >

5. This classification also aligns with the example in the explanatory notes for heading 1602 (13), which classifies preparations with similar meat contents under heading 1602.

20% by weight, but >

Chilled vegetable patty

These are the ingredient details of the vegetable patty:

Carrots 25%, potatoes 18%, celeriac 13%, protein, wheat flour, onions, whole egg, sunflower oil, skimmed milk powder, vegetable broth, herbs, iodized table salt, garlic powder

The main ingredients in this patty would be classified individually as fresh into the following HS headings:

• Carrots under heading 0706

• Potatoes under heading 0701

• Celeriac under heading 0706

Now that I know that fresh and chilled vegetables belong to Chapter 7, I try to find out where precooked or prefried vegetable preparations are classified. For this, I consult both the notes and the explanatory notes. In the explanatory notes to Chapter 7, I find relevant information at numbers 01.0 and 05.2:

This chapter includes vegetables of all kinds (...), fresh, chilled, frozen (...), temporarily preserved, or dried (...). Vegetables prepared or preserved by processes other than those referred to in this chapter are classified in Chapter 20.

So I look at the HS headings of Chapter 20 to find out which four-digit number fits best. It is always important to read the headings from top to bottom and eventually decide on the most fitting one:

Preparations of vegetables, fruits, nuts or other parts of plants (Chapter 20)

Here, too, I carefully read the notes to Chapter 20 to make sure that the vegetable patty truly remains in Chapter 20 and is not classified by definition in another chapter.

When reading the notes, it is always worth looking for the heading I had in mind earlier, 2005. Note 3 indicates that ingredients of Chapter 7 (to which carrots, potatoes, and celeriac belong) must be further processed.

Chapter 7 only includes fresh and chilled vegetables. Our vegetable patty is already pureed, seasoned, and prefried with the other ingredients. The heading 2005 is very promising. Now I determine the further subheadings.

Within heading 2005, “other vegetables and mixtures of vegetables” come into question.

Although the ingredient “potatoes” also appears under subheading 2005 20, the vegetable patty is a mixture of various vegetables; therefore, the wording “other vegetables and mixtures of vegetables” is more precise. Neither the note to Chapter 20 nor the explanatory notes to heading 2005 contradict this classification.

A chilled vegetable patty is classified under customs tariff number 2005 99 50.

How does traideGo classify the chilled vegetable patties?

To determine the correct tariff number for the described product “ready meal ‘Chilled vegetable patties’”, we first analyze the composition and properties of the product:

1. It is a ready meal primarily composed of vegetables (carrots 25%, potatoes 18%, celeriac 13%).

2. It also contains other ingredients such as protein, wheat flour, whole egg, and skimmed milk powder.

3. The product is chilled but not frozen.

4. It is shaped as a patty, indicating a preparation.

Based on this information, we can make the following considerations:

1. Since it is a prepared vegetable product that is not frozen, subheadings under heading 2005 are primarily considered.

2. The composition contains a mixture of different vegetables with no single vegetable exceeding 50%.

Considering these factors, tariff number 2005 99 50 seems most applicable:

“Mixtures of vegetables, prepared or preserved otherwise than by vinegar or acetic acid, not frozen”

Justification:

1. The product falls under Chapter 20 (Preparations of vegetables, fruits, nuts, or other parts of plants).

2. It is a mixture of vegetables (carrots, potatoes, celeriac).

3. It is prepared in the form of patties.

4. It is not frozen but chilled.

5. It is not preserved with vinegar or acetic acid.

The other ingredients (protein, wheat flour, etc.) do not change the classification as they are present in smaller quantities and serve for the preparation and shaping of the patties.

It is important to note that without precise percentage breakdowns for all ingredients and further details on processing and packaging, a final classification can be challenging. In cases of doubt, it is advisable to obtain a binding tariff information from the competent customs authorities.

Final thoughts

While writing this article, I have realized again how important it is to read the legal texts of the customs tariff carefully. It became clear to me that classifying requires patience and many links need to be clicked. Rather consult the notes and explanatory notes for the respective chapters to which you would assign a ready meal more than once. Pay close attention to the exclusion notes and explanatory notes, which you will usually find at the beginning of the notes and which often appear in italics in the explanatory notes. It is always worth using the browser's search function to find terms for which you need a more precise definition in the explanatory notes. In this way, you can search and find the respective term definition quickly and accurately.