18.01 Cocoa beans; whole or broken, raw or roasted
One level above the number you declare. Pick one of the six-digit codes below.
Section IV, Foodstuffs, Beverages & Tobacco — prepared food and drink — sugar, cocoa, beverages, spirits, vinegar and tobacco.
- 18 Chapter Cocoa and cocoa preparations
- 01 Heading Cocoa beans; whole or broken, raw or roasted
- —— Subheading Pick one of the 1 six-digit codes below
Chapter 18 covers cocoa and cocoa preparations: cocoa beans, cocoa paste, cocoa butter, cocoa powder and chocolate in all its forms. Chocolate confectionery stays in this chapter rather than chapter 17, even though it's a candy product, because cocoa content is the defining classification factor. Classification tip: Cocoa content percentage and whether the product is sweetened both affect the subheading, so check the ingredient breakdown before classifying a chocolate product.
All of chapter 18The 1 six-digit code under 18.01
One of these is the number you declare.
Other headings in chapter 18
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 18.01? A customs hold shows up as a milestone that stops moving — follow the container or the air waybill from departure to delivery.
Track a shipment18.01 FAQ
Heading 18.01 covers cocoa beans; whole or broken, raw or roasted. It is part of chapter 18 (cocoa and cocoa preparations), and it is subdivided into 1 six-digit subheadings — the level you actually declare.
Pick one of the 1 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 IV and to chapter 18. 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.