Section I · Live animals; animal products
Chapter 03: Fish and crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates
Chapter 03 of the Harmonized System has 9 four-digit headings, from 03.01 to 03.09. Each heading is split further into six-digit subheadings, then into national 8- and 10-digit commodity codes.
Headings in chapter 03
| Heading | Description |
|---|---|
| 03.01 | Live fish |
| 03.02 | Fish, fresh or chilled, excluding fish fillets and other fish meat of heading 0304 |
| 03.03 | Fish, frozen, excluding fish fillets and other fish meat of heading 0304 |
| 03.04 | Fish fillets and other fish meat (whether or not minced), fresh, chilled or frozen |
| 03.05 | Fish, dried, salted or in brine; smoked fish, whether or not cooked before or during the smoking process |
| 03.06 | Crustaceans, whether in shell or not, live, fresh, chilled, frozen, dried, salted or in brine; smoked crustaceans, whether in shell or not, whether or not cooked before or during the smoking process; crustaceans, in shell, cooked by steaming or by boiling in water, whether or not chilled, frozen, dried, salted or in brine |
| 03.07 | Molluscs, whether in shell or not, live, fresh, chilled, frozen, dried, salted or in brine; smoked molluscs, whether in shell or not, whether or not cooked before or during the smoking process |
| 03.08 | Aquatic invertebrates other than crustaceans and molluscs, live, fresh, chilled, frozen, dried, salted or in brine; smoked aquatic invertebrates other than crustaceans and molluscs, whether or not cooked before or during the smoking process |
| 03.09 | Flours, meals and pellets of fish, crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates, fit for human consumption |
Classifying goods in chapter 03
Start with the chapter and section notes: they are legally binding and often decide what is included or excluded. Then choose the heading whose wording best describes your product (GRI 1), and work down to the six-digit subheading before choosing the national commodity code.
The six-digit code is shared internationally. The UK and EU add digits for their own tariffs and statistics, and the US uses its own 10-digit HTS lines, so always confirm the final code in the tariff of the country you are importing into.
Official sources
Check chapter 03 in the UK Trade Tariff, the EU TARIC and the US HTS.