51 Wool, fine or coarse animal hair; horsehair yarn and woven fabric
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 XI, Textiles & Apparel — silk, wool, cotton, man-made fibres, fabrics, carpets and clothing.
- 51 Chapter Wool, fine or coarse animal hair; horsehair yarn and woven fabric
- —— Heading Pick one of the 13 headings below
- —— Subheading Six digits, the level every country shares
Chapter 51 covers wool, fine or coarse animal hair; horsehair yarn and woven fabric: raw and processed wool fibre and fabric before it becomes finished apparel. Classification tip: Fine animal hair (cashmere, mohair, angora) is classified separately from ordinary sheep's wool, and the specific animal source can materially change the applicable duty rate.
13 headings in chapter 51
Four-digit groups. Pick the one that fits, then the six-digit code inside it.
- 51.01 Wool, not carded or combed 5 codes
- 51.02 Fine or coarse animal hair, not carded or combed 3 codes
- 51.03 Waste of wool or of fine or coarse animal hair, including yarn waste but excluding garnetted stock 3 codes
- 51.04 Wool, or fine or coarse animal hair; garnetted stock 1 code
- 51.05 Wool and fine or coarse animal hair; carded or combed (including combed wool in fragments) 6 codes
- 51.06 Yarn of carded wool, not put up for retail sale 2 codes
- 51.07 Yarn of combed wool, not put up for retail sale 2 codes
- 51.08 Yarn of fine animal hair (carded or combed), not put up for retail sale 2 codes
- 51.09 Yarn of wool or of fine animal hair, put up for retail sale 2 codes
- 51.10 Yarn of coarse animal hair or of horsehair (including gimped horsehair yarn), whether or not put up for retail sale 1 code
- 51.11 Woven fabrics of carded wool or of carded fine animal hair 5 codes
- 51.12 Woven fabrics of combed wool or of combed fine animal hair 5 codes
- 51.13 Woven fabrics of coarse animal hair or of horsehair 1 code
Other chapters in Section XI
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 51? 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 51 FAQ
Chapter 51 covers wool, fine or coarse animal hair; horsehair yarn and woven fabric: raw and processed wool fibre and fabric before it becomes finished apparel. Classification tip: Fine animal hair (cashmere, mohair, angora) is classified separately from ordinary sheep's wool, and the specific animal source can materially change the applicable duty rate.
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 XI and to chapter 51. 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.