The General Rules of Interpretation, explained

The General Rules for the Interpretation of the Harmonized System, usually shortened to the GRI, are six legal rules that decide how any product is classified. They are part of the HS Convention itself, so the same rules apply in the UK, the EU, the US and every other country that uses the Harmonized System.

The rules are applied in order. You only move on to the next rule when the one before it cannot settle the classification. Most products are classified under GRI 1 alone.

GRI 1: Headings and notes decide

The titles of sections, chapters and sub-chapters are for ease of reference only. For legal purposes, classification is determined by the terms of the headings and any relevant section or chapter notes, and then, where those do not otherwise require, by the rules that follow.

GRI 2: Incomplete goods and mixtures

GRI 2(a): Unfinished, unassembled or disassembled articles

A reference to an article in a heading also covers that article when it is incomplete or unfinished, provided that, as presented, it has the essential character of the complete or finished article. It also covers the complete article presented unassembled or disassembled. A flat-pack wardrobe is classified as furniture, not as a collection of wooden panels.

GRI 2(b): Mixtures and combinations of materials

A reference to a material or substance in a heading includes mixtures or combinations of it with other materials. Goods made of more than one material that could fall in more than one heading are classified under GRI 3.

GRI 3: When more than one heading could apply

When goods are, at first sight, classifiable under two or more headings, GRI 3 decides between them, again in order.

GRI 3(a): The most specific description

The heading that gives the most specific description is preferred over one with a more general description. However, when two or more headings each refer to only part of the materials in mixed or composite goods, or only part of the items in a set put up for retail sale, those headings are treated as equally specific, and you move to GRI 3(b).

GRI 3(b): Essential character

Mixtures, composite goods and goods put up in sets for retail sale are classified as if they consisted of the material or component that gives them their essential character. The official example is a hairdressing set of an electric hair clipper, a comb, scissors, a brush and a towel in a leather case: it is classified with the clipper.

Essential character can depend on bulk, quantity, weight, value, or the role a component plays in the use of the goods. It is judged product by product.

GRI 3(c): Last in numerical order

If neither 3(a) nor 3(b) settles it, the goods are classified in the heading that occurs last in numerical order among those that equally merit consideration.

GRI 4: Goods most akin

Goods that cannot be classified under the rules above are classified in the heading for the goods to which they are most akin. It is rarely needed, because most chapters end with a residual “other” heading.

GRI 5: Cases and packaging

GRI 5(a): Specially fitted cases

Camera cases, musical instrument cases, gun cases, spectacle cases and similar containers, specially shaped or fitted for a particular article, suitable for long-term use and presented with that article, are classified with it when they are of a kind normally sold with it. This does not apply when the container gives the whole its essential character.

GRI 5(b): Packing materials

Packing materials and packing containers presented with goods are classified with those goods when they are of a kind normally used for packing them. This does not apply to packing that is clearly suitable for repetitive use.

GRI 6: Subheadings

Classification in the subheadings of a heading follows the same logic: the terms of the subheadings and any subheading notes decide, applying rules 1 to 5 as appropriate, and only subheadings at the same level are comparable. Section and chapter notes also apply unless the context requires otherwise.

Putting the rules to work

1. Describe the product precisely: what it is, what it is made of, and what it is for.
2. Find candidate headings and read their section and chapter notes (GRI 1).
3. If the product is unfinished, unassembled or made of mixed materials, apply GRI 2.
4. If more than one heading still fits, apply GRI 3(a), then 3(b), then 3(c).
5. Check cases and packaging under GRI 5, then work down the subheadings under GRI 6.
6. Record which rule decided the classification and why.

click2classify applies the rules in this order and names the rule it relied on in every result. See it on one of your products, or read how to find a commodity code step by step.