47 Pulp of wood or other fibrous cellulosic material; recovered (waste and scrap) paper or paperboard
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 X, Pulp, Paper & Print — wood pulp, paper, paperboard, printed books and newspapers.
- 47 Chapter Pulp of wood or other fibrous cellulosic material; recovered (waste and scrap) paper or paperboard
- —— Heading Pick one of the 7 headings below
- —— Subheading Six digits, the level every country shares
Chapter 47 covers pulp of wood or other fibrous cellulosic material; recovered (waste and scrap) paper or paperboard: the raw feedstock for the paper industry covered in finished form under chapter 48. Classification tip: Chemical versus mechanical wood pulp are classified separately, and recovered/recycled paper for repulping has its own subheading distinct from virgin pulp, which matters for countries with recycled-content import incentives.
7 headings in chapter 47
Four-digit groups. Pick the one that fits, then the six-digit code inside it.
- 47.01 Wood pulp, mechanical wood pulp 1 code
- 47.02 Chemical wood pulp, dissolving grades 1 code
- 47.03 Chemical wood pulp, soda or sulphate, other than dissolving grades 4 codes
- 47.04 Chemical wood pulp, sulphite, other than dissolving grades 4 codes
- 47.05 Wood pulp obtained by a combination of mechanical and chemical pulping processes 1 code
- 47.06 Pulps of fibres derived from recovered (waste and scrap) paper or paperboard or of other fibrous cellulosic material 6 codes
- 47.07 Waste and scrap of paper and paperboard 4 codes
Other chapters in Section X
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 47? 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 47 FAQ
Chapter 47 covers pulp of wood or other fibrous cellulosic material; recovered (waste and scrap) paper or paperboard: the raw feedstock for the paper industry covered in finished form under chapter 48. Classification tip: Chemical versus mechanical wood pulp are classified separately, and recovered/recycled paper for repulping has its own subheading distinct from virgin pulp, which matters for countries with recycled-content import incentives.
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 X and to chapter 47. 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.