03 Fish and crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates
The broadest level of the Harmonized System. Pick the heading below that fits your goods, then the six-digit code under it — that last one is what you declare.
Section I, Live Animals & Animal Products — live animals, meat, fish, dairy and other products of animal origin.
- 03 Chapter Fish and crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates
- —— Heading Pick one of the 9 headings below
- —— Subheading Six digits, the level every country shares
Chapter 3 covers fish, crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates, whether live, fresh, chilled, frozen, dried, salted or in brine. It is one of the largest HS chapters by code count because each species and presentation (whole, fillets, live) gets its own six-digit line. Classification tip: Smoked, canned or otherwise cooked seafood preparations move out of chapter 3 and into chapter 16: only the raw or simply preserved product stays here.
9 headings in chapter 03
Four-digit groups. Pick the one that fits, then the six-digit code inside it.
- 03.01 Fish; live 8 codes
- 03.02 Fish; fresh or chilled, excluding fish fillets and other fish meat of heading 0304 45 codes
- 03.03 Fish; frozen, excluding fish fillets and other fish meat of heading 0304 44 codes
- 03.04 Fish fillets and other fish meat (whether or not minced); fresh, chilled or frozen 48 codes
- 03.05 Fish, dried, salted or in brine; smoked fish, whether or not cooked before, or during the smoking process 22 codes
- 03.06 Crustaceans; in shell or not, live, fresh, chilled, frozen, dried, salted or in brine; smoked, cooked or not before or during smoking; in shell, steamed or boiled, whether or not chilled, frozen, dried, salted or in brine 20 codes
- 03.07 Molluscs; whether in shell or not, live, fresh, chilled, frozen, dried, salted or in brine; smoked molluscs, whether in shell or not, whether or not cooked before or during the smoking process 28 codes
- 03.08 Aquatic invertebrates other than crustaceans and molluscs, live, fresh, chilled, frozen, dried, salted or in brine; smoked aquatic invertebrates other than crustaceans and molluscs, whether or not cooked before or during the smoking process 8 codes
- 03.09 Flours, meals and pellets of fish, crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates, fit for human consumption 2 codes
Other chapters in Section I
The wording above is the Harmonized System nomenclature as published by the World Customs Organization, HS 2022 edition. It is a classification reference, not a tariff: it carries no duty rates, and it stops at six digits — the importing country adds its own beyond that.
Classification is decided by the General Rules of Interpretation and the section and chapter notes, and it is the importing country’s customs authority that makes it binding.
Shipping goods from chapter 03? A customs hold shows up as a milestone that stops moving — follow the container or the air waybill from departure to delivery.
Track a shipmentChapter 03 FAQ
Chapter 3 covers fish, crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates, whether live, fresh, chilled, frozen, dried, salted or in brine. It is one of the largest HS chapters by code count because each species and presentation (whole, fillets, live) gets its own six-digit line. Classification tip: Smoked, canned or otherwise cooked seafood preparations move out of chapter 3 and into chapter 16: only the raw or simply preserved product stays here.
Pick the heading below that describes the goods, then the six-digit subheading under it. Six digits is the level the Harmonized System defines and the level customs everywhere recognises; anything beyond that is added by the importing country.
The General Rules of Interpretation, read together with the notes to Section I and to chapter 03. A description that reads right is not enough on its own — the notes routinely pull goods out of the chapter they obviously belong to and put them somewhere else. Where duty or licensing turns on the answer, ask the importing country’s customs authority for a binding ruling.
A wrong or missing code is one of the common reasons customs holds a container, and a hold shows up as a milestone that stops moving. Watch for it in the container tracking app, on the air waybill in the air cargo tracker, or through the tracking API.