Chapter 28 — Inorganic chemicals; organic and inorganic compounds of precious metals; of rare earth metals, of radio-active elements and of isotopes 4-digit heading

28.44 Radioactive chemical elements and radioactive isotopes (including the fissile or fertile chemical elements and isotopes); and their compounds; mixtures and residues containing these products

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

Section VI, Chemical Products — inorganic and organic chemicals, pharmaceuticals, fertilisers, paints and cosmetics.

  1. 28 Chapter Inorganic chemicals; organic and inorganic compounds of precious metals; of rare earth metals, of radio-active elements and of isotopes
  2. 44 Heading Radioactive chemical elements and radioactive isotopes (including the fissile or fertile chemical elements and isotopes); and their compounds; mixtures and residues containing these products
  3. —— Subheading Pick one of the 8 six-digit codes below

Chapter 28 covers inorganic chemicals; organic and inorganic compounds of precious metals, rare earth metals, radioactive elements and isotopes: acids, oxides, salts and elemental chemicals used as industrial feedstocks. It sits alongside chapter 29 (organic chemicals) as one of the two large chemical-industry chapters. Classification tip: Many chapter 28 compounds are also dual-use precursor chemicals monitored under international non-proliferation and narcotics-precursor regimes, so check for export-control flags before shipping, not just the customs tariff.

All of chapter 28

The 8 six-digit codes under 28.44

One of these is the number you declare.

Other headings in chapter 28

28.01 Fluorine, chlorine, bromine and iodine 28.02 Sulphur; sublimed or precipitated, colloidal sulphur 28.03 Carbon; carbon blacks and other forms of carbon n.e.c. 28.04 Hydrogen, rare gases and other non-metals 28.05 Alkali or alkaline-earth metals; rare-earth metals, scandium and yttrium, whether or not intermixed or interalloyed; mercury 28.06 Hydrogen chloride (hydrochloric acid); chlorosulphuric acid 28.07 Sulphuric acid; oleum 28.08 Nitric acid; sulphonitric acids 28.09 Diphosphorus pentaoxide; phosphoric acid; polyphosphoric acids, whether or not chemically defined 28.10 Oxides of boron; boric acids 28.11 Inorganic acids and other inorganic oxygen compounds of non-metals; n.e.c. in heading no. 2806 to 2810 28.12 Halides and halide oxides of non-metals 28.13 Sulphides of non-metals; commercial phosphorus trisulphide 28.14 Ammonia; anhydrous or in aqueous solution 28.15 Sodium hydroxide (caustic soda); potassium hydroxide (caustic potash) peroxides of sodium or potassium 28.16 Hydroxide and peroxide of magnesium; oxides, hydroxides and peroxides of strontium or barium 28.17 Zinc; oxide and peroxide 28.18 Aluminium oxide (including artificial corundum); aluminium hydroxide 28.19 Chromium oxides and hydroxides 28.20 Manganese oxides 28.21 Iron oxides and hydroxides; earth colours containing 70% or more by weight of combined iron evaluated as Fe2o3 28.22 Cobalt oxides and hydroxides; commercial cobalt oxides 28.23 Titanium oxides 28.24 Lead oxides; red lead and orange lead 28.25 Hydrazine and hydroxylamine and their inorganic salts; other inorganic bases; other metal oxides, hydroxides and peroxides 28.26 Fluorides; fluorosilicates, fluoroaluminates and other complex fluorine salts 28.27 Chlorides; chloride oxides and chloride hydroxides; bromides and bromide oxides; iodides and iodide oxides 28.28 Hypochlorites; commercial calcium hypochlorite; chlorites; hypobromites 28.29 Chlorates and perchlorates; bromates and perbromates; iodates and periodates 28.30 Sulphides; polysulphides whether or not chemically defined 28.31 Dithionites and sulphoxylates 28.32 Sulphites; thiosulphates 28.33 Sulphates; alums; peroxosulphates (persulphates) 28.34 Nitrites; nitrates 28.35 Phosphinates (hypophosphites), phosphonates (phosphites), and phosphates; and polyphosphates, whether or not chemically defined 28.36 Carbonates; peroxocarbonates (percarbonates); commercial ammonium carbonate containing ammonium carbamate 28.37 Cyanides, cyanide oxides and complex cyanides 28.39 Silicates; commercial alkali metal silicates 28.40 Borates; peroxoborates (perborates) 28.41 Salts of oxometallic or peroxometallic acids 28.42 Salts of inorganic acids or peroxoacids, n.e.c. including aluminosilicates whether or not chemically defined, but excluding azides 28.43 Colloidal precious metals; inorganic or organic compounds of precious metals, whether or not chemically defined; amalgams of precious metals 28.45 Isotopes other than those of heading no. 2844; compounds, inorganic or organic, of such isotopes, whether or not chemically defined 28.46 Compounds, inorganic or organic, of rare-earth metals; of yttrium or of scandium or of mixtures of these metals 28.47 Hydrogen peroxide; whether or not solidified with urea 28.49 Carbides, whether or not chemically defined 28.50 Hydrides, nitrides, azides, silicides and borides, whether or not chemically defined, other than compounds which are also carbides of heading no. 2849 28.52 Inorganic or organic compounds of mercury, excluding amalgams, whether or not chemically defined 28.53 Phosphides, chemically defined or not, not ferrophosphorus; other inorganic compounds n.e.c. (including distilled, conductivity water and water of like purity); liquid air, rare gases removed or not; compressed air; amalgams, not precious metal amalgams

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 28.44? 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

28.44 FAQ

Heading 28.44 covers radioactive chemical elements and radioactive isotopes (including the fissile or fertile chemical elements and isotopes); and their compounds; mixtures and residues containing these products. It is part of chapter 28 (inorganic chemicals; organic and inorganic compounds of precious metals; of rare earth metals, of radio-active elements and of isotopes), and it is subdivided into 8 six-digit subheadings — the level you actually declare.

Pick one of the 8 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 VI and to chapter 28. 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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