Chapter 29 — Organic chemicals 4-digit heading

29.41 Antibiotics

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.

29 Chapter Organic chemicals
41 Heading Antibiotics
—— Subheading Pick one of the 6 six-digit codes below

Chapter 29 covers organic chemicals: hydrocarbons, alcohols, acids, esters and other carbon-based compounds that feed into pharmaceuticals, plastics, solvents and countless other manufactured goods. With over 400 six-digit codes it's the single largest chapter in the entire Harmonized System, since organic chemistry produces so many distinct, precisely defined compounds. Classification tip: Because chapter 29 is organized by precise chemical structure (not by end use), classification usually requires the compound's exact chemical name or CAS number: a generic product description is rarely enough to pick the right six-digit code.

All of chapter 29

The 6 six-digit codes under 29.41

One of these is the number you declare.

Other headings in chapter 29

29.01 Acyclic hydrocarbons 29.02 Cyclic hydrocarbons 29.03 Halogenated derivatives of hydrocarbons 29.04 Sulphonated, nitrated or nitrosated derivatives of hydrocarbons; whether or not halogenated 29.05 Acyclic alcohols and their halogenated, sulphonated, nitrated or nitrosated derivatives 29.06 Alcohols; cyclic, and their halogenated, sulphonated, nitrated or nitrosated derivatives 29.07 Phenols; monophenols, polyphenols, and phenol-alcohols 29.08 Phenols or phenol-alcohols; halogenated, sulphonated, nitrated or nitrosated derivatives 29.09 Ethers, ether-alcohols, ether-phenols, ether-alcohol-phenols, alcohol peroxides, ether peroxides, acetal and hemiacetal peroxides, ketone peroxides (chemically defined or not), and their halogenated, sulphonated, nitrated or nitrosated derivatives 29.10 Epoxides, epoxyalcohols, epoxyphenols and epoxyethers; with a three-membered ring and their halogenated, sulphonated, nitrated or nitrosated derivatives 29.11 Acetals and hemiacetals; whether or not with other oxygen function, and their halogenated, sulphonated, nitrated or nitrostated derivatives 29.12 Aldehydes, whether or not with other oxygen function; cyclic polymers of aldehydes; paraformaldehyde 29.13 Aldehydes; halogenated, sulphonated, nitrated or nitrosated derivatives of products of heading no. 2912 29.14 Ketones and quinones; whether or not with other oxygen function, and their halogenated, sulphonated, nitrated or nitrostated derivatives 29.15 Acids; saturated acyclic monocarboxylic acids and their anhydrides, halides, peroxides and peroxyacids; their halogenated, sulphonated, nitrated or nitrosated derivatives 29.16 Acids; unsaturated acyclic monocarboxylic, cyclic monocarboxylic, their anhydrides, halides, peroxides and peroxyacids; their halogenated, sulphonated, nitrated or nitrosated derivatives 29.17 Acids; polycarboxylic acids, their anhydrides, halides, peroxides and peroxy-acids; their halogenated, sulphonated, nitrated or nitrosated derivatives 29.18 Acids; carboxylic acid with additional oxygen function and their anhydrides, halides, peroxides, peroxyacids; their halogenated, sulphonated, nitrated or nitrosated derivatives 29.19 Esters; phosphoric, and their salts, including lactophosphates, their halogenated, sulphonated, nitrated or nitrosated derivatives 29.20 Esters of other inorganic acids of non-metals (other than of hydrogen halides) and their salts, their halogenated, sulphonated, nitrated or nitrosated derivatives 29.21 Amine-function compounds 29.22 Oxygen-function amino-compounds 29.23 Quaternary ammonium salts and hydroxides; lecithins and other phosphoaminolipids, whether or not chemically defined 29.24 Carboxyamide-function compounds; amide-function compounds of carbonic acid 29.25 Carboxyimide-function compounds (including saccharin and its salts) and imine-function compounds 29.26 Nitrile-function compounds 29.27 Diazo-, azo- or azoxy-compounds 29.28 Organic derivatives of hydrazine or of hydroxylamine 29.29 Nitrogen-function compounds, n.e.c. in chapter 29 29.30 Organo-sulphur compounds 29.31 Other organo-inorganic compounds 29.32 Heterocyclic compounds with oxygen hetero-atom(s) only 29.33 Heterocyclic compounds with nitrogen hetero-atom(s) only 29.34 Nucleic acids and their salts, whether or not chemically defined; other heterocyclic compounds 29.35 Sulphonamides 29.36 Provitamins, vitamins; natural or reproduced by synthesis (including natural concentrates) derivatives thereof used as vitamins, and intermixtures of the fore-going, whether or not in any solvent 29.37 Hormones, prostaglandins, thromboxanes and leukotrienes, natural or reproduced by synthesis; derivatives and structural analogues thereof, including chain modified polypeptides, used primarily as hormones. 29.38 Glycosides, natural or reproduced by synthesis, and their salts, ethers, esters and other derivatives 29.39 Alkaloids; natural or reproduced by synthesis, and their salts, ethers, esters and other derivatives 29.40 Sugars, chemically pure, other than sucrose, lactose, maltose, glucose and fructose; sugar ethers, sugar acetals and sugar esters, and their salts, other than the products of heading 29.37, 29.38, or 29.39 29.42 Organic compounds; n.e.c. in chapter 29

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 29.41? 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

29.41 FAQ

Heading 29.41 covers antibiotics. It is part of chapter 29 (organic chemicals), and it is subdivided into 6 six-digit subheadings — the level you actually declare.

Pick one of the 6 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 29. 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.