24 Tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes; products, whether or not containing nicotine, intended for inhalation without combustion; other nicotine containing products intended for the intake of nicotine into the human body
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 IV, Foodstuffs, Beverages & Tobacco — prepared food and drink — sugar, cocoa, beverages, spirits, vinegar and tobacco.
- 24 Chapter Tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes; products, whether or not containing nicotine, intended for inhalation without combustion; other nicotine containing products intended for the intake of nicotine into the human body
- —— Heading Pick one of the 4 headings below
- —— Subheading Six digits, the level every country shares
Chapter 24 covers tobacco, manufactured tobacco substitutes and nicotine-delivery products including vaping products and other items intended for nicotine intake without combustion. Nearly every jurisdiction treats this chapter as highly regulated, with import licensing, health warnings and excise duty layered on top of the base HS classification. Classification tip: Nicotine-containing e-liquids and vaping devices are relatively new to the tariff schedule and rules vary widely by country: confirm the current national subheading rather than assuming it mirrors traditional tobacco treatment.
4 headings in chapter 24
Four-digit groups. Pick the one that fits, then the six-digit code inside it.
- 24.01 Tobacco, unmanufactured; tobacco refuse 3 codes
- 24.02 Cigars, cheroots, cigarillos and cigarettes; of tobacco or of tobacco substitutes 3 codes
- 24.03 Manufactured tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes n.e.c; homogenised or reconstituted tobacco; tobacco extracts and essences 4 codes
- 24.04 Products containing tobacco, reconstituted tobacco, nicotine, or tobacco or nicotine substitutes, intended for inhalation without combustion; other nicotine containing products intended for the intake of nicotine into the human body 6 codes
Other chapters in Section IV
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 24? 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 24 FAQ
Chapter 24 covers tobacco, manufactured tobacco substitutes and nicotine-delivery products including vaping products and other items intended for nicotine intake without combustion. Nearly every jurisdiction treats this chapter as highly regulated, with import licensing, health warnings and excise duty layered on top of the base HS classification. Classification tip: Nicotine-containing e-liquids and vaping devices are relatively new to the tariff schedule and rules vary widely by country: confirm the current national subheading rather than assuming it mirrors traditional tobacco treatment.
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 IV and to chapter 24. 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.