79 Zinc and articles thereof
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 XV, Base Metals — iron, steel, copper, aluminium, other base metals and articles thereof.
- 79 Chapter Zinc and articles thereof
- —— Heading Pick one of the 6 headings below
- —— Subheading Six digits, the level every country shares
Chapter 79 covers zinc and articles thereof: refined zinc, zinc alloys and zinc products, widely used for galvanizing steel. Classification tip: Zinc classification splits mainly by purity grade and alloy composition, which matters because galvanizing-grade zinc and die-casting alloy zinc are priced and traded quite differently.
6 headings in chapter 79
Four-digit groups. Pick the one that fits, then the six-digit code inside it.
Other chapters in Section XV
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 79? 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 79 FAQ
Chapter 79 covers zinc and articles thereof: refined zinc, zinc alloys and zinc products, widely used for galvanizing steel. Classification tip: Zinc classification splits mainly by purity grade and alloy composition, which matters because galvanizing-grade zinc and die-casting alloy zinc are priced and traded quite differently.
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 XV and to chapter 79. 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.