Chapter 15 — Animal, vegetable or microbial fats and oils and their cleavage products; prepared edible fats; animal or vegetable waxes 4-digit heading

15.12 Sun-flower seed, safflower or cotton-seed oil and their fractions; whether or not refined, but not chemically modified

One level above the number you declare. Pick one of the six-digit codes below.

Section III, Fats & Oils — animal and vegetable fats, oils, waxes and their cleavage products.

  1. 15 Chapter Animal, vegetable or microbial fats and oils and their cleavage products; prepared edible fats; animal or vegetable waxes
  2. 12 Heading Sun-flower seed, safflower or cotton-seed oil and their fractions; whether or not refined, but not chemically modified
  3. —— Subheading Pick one of the 4 six-digit codes below

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.

All of chapter 15

The 4 six-digit codes under 15.12

One of these is the number you declare.

Other headings in chapter 15

15.01 Pig fat (including lard) and poultry fat, other than that of heading 0209 or 1503 15.02 Fats of bovine animals, sheep or goats, other than those of heading 1503 15.03 Lard stearin, lard oil, oleostearin, oleo-oil and tallow oil; not emulsified or mixed or otherwise prepared 15.04 Fats and oils and their fractions of fish or marine mammals; whether or not refined, but not chemically modified 15.05 Wool grease and fatty substances derived therefrom (including lanolin) 15.06 Animal fats and oils and their fractions; whether or not refined, but not chemically modified, n.e.c. in chapter 15 15.07 Soya-bean oil and its fractions; whether or not refined, but not chemically modified 15.08 Ground nut oil and its fractions; whether or not refined, but not chemically modified 15.09 Olive oil and its fractions; whether or not refined, but not chemically modified 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 15.11 Palm oil and its fractions; whether or not refined, but not chemically modified 15.13 Coconut (copra), palm kernel or babassu oil and their fractions; whether or not refined but not chemically modified 15.14 Rape, colza or mustard oil and their fractions; whether or not refined, but not chemically modified 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 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 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 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 15.20 Glycerol, crude; glycerol waters and glycerol lyes 15.21 Vegetable waxes (other than triglycerides), beeswax, other insect waxes and spermaceti; whether or not refined or coloured 15.22 Degras; residues resulting from the treatment of fatty substances or animal or vegetable waxes

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 under 15.12? A customs hold shows up as a milestone that stops moving — follow the container or the air waybill from departure to delivery.

Track a shipment

15.12 FAQ

Heading 15.12 covers sun-flower seed, safflower or cotton-seed oil and their fractions; whether or not refined, but not chemically modified. It is part of chapter 15 (animal, vegetable or microbial fats and oils and their cleavage products; prepared edible fats; animal or vegetable waxes), and it is subdivided into 4 six-digit subheadings — the level you actually declare.

Pick one of the 4 subheadings below. Those six digits are what customs recognises internationally; the importing country may extend them to eight or ten in its own tariff schedule.

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.

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