13 Lac; gums, resins and other vegetable saps and extracts
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 II, Vegetable Products — plants, vegetables, fruit, nuts, coffee, tea, cereals, seeds and flours.
- 13 Chapter Lac; gums, resins and other vegetable saps and extracts
- —— Heading Pick one of the 2 headings below
- —— Subheading Six digits, the level every country shares
Chapter 13 covers lac (a resinous secretion used in dyes and shellac), plus gums, resins and other vegetable saps and extracts such as opium, quinine base and vegetable extracts used in pharmaceuticals, food and industrial processes. Classification tip: Extracts used in pharmaceuticals (opium alkaloids, quinine) typically require controlled-substance import licensing in addition to the customs code, so check narcotics/precursor rules before shipping.
2 headings in chapter 13
Four-digit groups. Pick the one that fits, then the six-digit code inside it.
Other chapters in Section II
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 13? 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 13 FAQ
Chapter 13 covers lac (a resinous secretion used in dyes and shellac), plus gums, resins and other vegetable saps and extracts such as opium, quinine base and vegetable extracts used in pharmaceuticals, food and industrial processes. Classification tip: Extracts used in pharmaceuticals (opium alkaloids, quinine) typically require controlled-substance import licensing in addition to the customs code, so check narcotics/precursor rules before shipping.
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 II and to chapter 13. 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.