34 Soap, organic surface-active agents; washing, lubricating, polishing or scouring preparations; artificial or prepared waxes, candles and similar articles, modelling pastes, dental waxes and dental preparations with a basis of plaster
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 VI, Chemical Products — inorganic and organic chemicals, pharmaceuticals, fertilisers, paints and cosmetics.
- 34 Chapter Soap, organic surface-active agents; washing, lubricating, polishing or scouring preparations; artificial or prepared waxes, candles and similar articles, modelling pastes, dental waxes and dental preparations with a basis of plaster
- —— Heading Pick one of the 7 headings below
- —— Subheading Six digits, the level every country shares
Chapter 34 covers soap, organic surface-active agents; washing, lubricating, polishing or scouring preparations; artificial or prepared waxes, candles and similar articles: household and industrial cleaning and personal-care products built around surfactant chemistry. Classification tip: Industrial lubricants in this chapter are classified separately from the mineral oils in chapter 27 they're often made from: the finished lubricant preparation, not its petroleum origin, determines the chapter.
7 headings in chapter 34
Four-digit groups. Pick the one that fits, then the six-digit code inside it.
- 34.01 Soap; organic surface-active preparations used as soap, skin washing, in bars, cakes, moulded pieces, shapes, liquid or cream, containing soap or not; for retail, paper, wadding, felt and nonwovens, impregnated, coated or covered with soap or detergent 4 codes
- 34.02 Organic surface-active agents (not soap); surface-active, washing (including auxiliary washing) and cleaning preparations, containing soap or not, excluding those of heading no. 3401 7 codes
- 34.03 Lubricating preparations and those used in oil or grease treatment of textile and similar materials; excluding preparations containing 70% or more (by weight) of petroleum or bituminous mineral oils 4 codes
- 34.04 Waxes; artificial, prepared 2 codes
- 34.05 Polishes, creams, scouring pastes, powders and similar; in any form, (including articles impregnated, coated or covered with such), for furniture, footwear, floors, coachwork, glass or metal 5 codes
- 34.06 Candles, tapers and the like 1 code
- 34.07 Modelling pastes, including those for children; dental wax, impression compounds, in sets or packings for retail sale or in plates and similar forms; dentistry preparations with plaster base 1 code
Other chapters in Section VI
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 34? 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 34 FAQ
Chapter 34 covers soap, organic surface-active agents; washing, lubricating, polishing or scouring preparations; artificial or prepared waxes, candles and similar articles: household and industrial cleaning and personal-care products built around surfactant chemistry. Classification tip: Industrial lubricants in this chapter are classified separately from the mineral oils in chapter 27 they're often made from: the finished lubricant preparation, not its petroleum origin, determines the chapter.
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 VI and to chapter 34. 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.