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Logistics & Supply Chain vocabulary · Customs

HS code

Meaning in logistics & supply chain, with examples

nounCommon term

In logistics & supply chain, HS code means: A number from the Harmonized System, the international classification of goods run by the World Customs Organization, used to identify products for duties and trade statistics.

In Turkish: GTİP, gümrük tarife kodu, HS kodu

How it is used

The first six digits are the same worldwide; countries add digits for their own tariffs (8 in the EU's Combined Nomenclature, 12 in Turkey's GTİP). Goods are 'classified under' an HS code, and the wrong code can mean the wrong duty.

Example sentences

  1. Which HS code did you use for the spare parts on the last shipment?

  2. The importer's customs classified the machine under a different HS code with a higher duty.

Common collocations

  • HS code classification
  • six-digit HS code
  • tariff code
  • classify under an HS code
  • customs dutyA tax charged by a government on goods when they are imported, and in some cases exported, usually calculated as a percentage of their customs value.
  • customs declarationThe official form, now usually electronic, in which an importer or exporter tells customs what the goods are and states their value, origin and HS code.
  • commercial invoiceThe seller's bill to the buyer for goods sold internationally, showing the goods, quantities, prices, currency and terms of sale; customs uses it to work out duties.
  • customs brokerA licensed person or company that prepares and submits customs declarations and handles clearance formalities on behalf of importers and exporters.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Customs

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