15 Animal, vegetable or microbial fats and oils and their cleavage products; prepared edible fats; animal or vegetable waxes
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 III, Fats & Oils — animal and vegetable fats, oils, waxes and their cleavage products.
- 15 Chapter Animal, vegetable or microbial fats and oils and their cleavage products; prepared edible fats; animal or vegetable waxes
- —— Heading Pick one of the 21 headings below
- —— Subheading Six digits, the level every country shares
Chapter 15 covers animal, vegetable or microbial fats and oils and their cleavage products: palm oil, soybean oil, olive oil, sunflower oil, animal fats like lard and tallow, and margarine. Refined versus crude state and the specific plant or animal source each drive a different subheading. Classification tip: Crude versus refined oil is one of the most commercially significant splits in this chapter: refining changes both the tariff line and often the duty rate.
21 headings in chapter 15
Four-digit groups. Pick the one that fits, then the six-digit code inside it.
- 15.01 Pig fat (including lard) and poultry fat, other than that of heading 0209 or 1503 3 codes
- 15.02 Fats of bovine animals, sheep or goats, other than those of heading 1503 2 codes
- 15.03 Lard stearin, lard oil, oleostearin, oleo-oil and tallow oil; not emulsified or mixed or otherwise prepared 1 code
- 15.04 Fats and oils and their fractions of fish or marine mammals; whether or not refined, but not chemically modified 3 codes
- 15.05 Wool grease and fatty substances derived therefrom (including lanolin) 1 code
- 15.06 Animal fats and oils and their fractions; whether or not refined, but not chemically modified, n.e.c. in chapter 15 1 code
- 15.07 Soya-bean oil and its fractions; whether or not refined, but not chemically modified 2 codes
- 15.08 Ground nut oil and its fractions; whether or not refined, but not chemically modified 2 codes
- 15.09 Olive oil and its fractions; whether or not refined, but not chemically modified 4 codes
- 15.10 Vegetable oils; oils and their fractions n.e.c. in chapter 15, obtained solely from olives, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified, including blends of these oils or fractions with oils or fractions of heading no. 1509 2 codes
- 15.11 Palm oil and its fractions; whether or not refined, but not chemically modified 2 codes
- 15.12 Sun-flower seed, safflower or cotton-seed oil and their fractions; whether or not refined, but not chemically modified 4 codes
- 15.13 Coconut (copra), palm kernel or babassu oil and their fractions; whether or not refined but not chemically modified 4 codes
- 15.14 Rape, colza or mustard oil and their fractions; whether or not refined, but not chemically modified 4 codes
- 15.15 Fixed vegetable or microbial fats and oils n.e.c. in chapter 15 (including jojoba oil) and their fractions, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified 8 codes
- 15.16 Animal, vegetable or microbial fats and oils and their fractions, partly or wholly hydrogenated, inter-esterified, re-esterified or elaidinised, whether or not refined, but not further prepared 3 codes
- 15.17 Margarine; edible mixtures or preparations of animal, vegetable or microbial fats or oils or of fractions of different fats or oils of this Chapter, other than edible fats and oils or their fractions of heading 15.16 2 codes
- 15.18 Animal, vegetable or microbial fats, oils and their fractions; boiled, oxidised, dehydrated or otherwise chemically modified, excluding those of heading no. 1516, inedible mixtures or preparations of fats, oils or their fractions, n.e.c. in chapter 15 1 code
- 15.20 Glycerol, crude; glycerol waters and glycerol lyes 1 code
- 15.21 Vegetable waxes (other than triglycerides), beeswax, other insect waxes and spermaceti; whether or not refined or coloured 2 codes
- 15.22 Degras; residues resulting from the treatment of fatty substances or animal or vegetable waxes 1 code
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 15? 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 15 FAQ
Chapter 15 covers animal, vegetable or microbial fats and oils and their cleavage products: palm oil, soybean oil, olive oil, sunflower oil, animal fats like lard and tallow, and margarine. Refined versus crude state and the specific plant or animal source each drive a different subheading. Classification tip: Crude versus refined oil is one of the most commercially significant splits in this chapter: refining changes both the tariff line and often the duty rate.
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 III and to chapter 15. 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.