Section III · Animal, vegetable or microbial fats and oils and their cleavage products; prepared edible fats; animal or vegetable waxes
Chapter 15: Animal, vegetable or microbial fats and oils and their cleavage products; prepared edible fats; animal or vegetable waxes
Chapter 15 of the Harmonized System has 21 four-digit headings, from 15.01 to 15.22. Each heading is split further into six-digit subheadings, then into national 8- and 10-digit commodity codes.
Headings in chapter 15
| Heading | Description |
|---|---|
| 15.01 | Pig fat (including lard) and poultry fat, other than that of heading 0209 or 1503 |
| 15.02 | Fats of bovine animals, sheep or goats, other than those of heading 1503 |
| 15.03 | Lard stearin, lard oil, oleostearin, oleo-oil and tallow oil, not emulsified or mixed or otherwise prepared |
| 15.04 | Fats and oils and their fractions, of fish or marine mammals, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified |
| 15.05 | Wool grease and fatty substances derived therefrom (including lanolin) |
| 15.06 | Other animal fats and oils and their fractions, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified |
| 15.07 | Soya-bean oil and its fractions, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified |
| 15.08 | Groundnut oil and its fractions, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified |
| 15.09 | Olive oil and its fractions, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified |
| 15.10 | Other oils and their fractions, obtained solely from olives, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified, including blends of these oils or fractions with oils or fractions of heading 1509 |
| 15.11 | Palm oil and its fractions, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified |
| 15.12 | Sunflower-seed, safflower or cotton-seed oil and fractions thereof, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified |
| 15.13 | Coconut (copra), palm kernel or babassu oil and fractions thereof, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified |
| 15.14 | Rape, colza or mustard oil and fractions thereof, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified |
| 15.15 | Other fixed vegetable or microbial fats and oils (including jojoba oil) and their fractions, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified |
| 15.16 | Animal, vegetable or microbial fats and oils and their fractions, partly or wholly hydrogenated, inter-esterified, re-esterified or elaidinised, whether or not refined, but not further prepared |
| 15.17 | Margarine; edible mixtures or preparations of animal, vegetable or microbial fats or oils or of fractions of different fats or oils of this chapter, other than edible fats or oils or their fractions of heading 1516 |
| 15.18 | Animal, vegetable or microbial fats and oils and their fractions, boiled, oxidised, dehydrated, sulphurised, blown, polymerised by heat in vacuum or in inert gas or otherwise chemically modified, excluding those of heading 1516; inedible mixtures or preparations of animal, vegetable or microbial fats or oils or of fractions of different fats or oils of this chapter, not elsewhere specified or included |
| 15.20 | Glycerol, crude; glycerol waters and glycerol lyes |
| 15.21 | Vegetable waxes (other than triglycerides), beeswax, other insect waxes and spermaceti, whether or not refined or coloured |
| 15.22 | Degras; residues resulting from the treatment of fatty substances or animal or vegetable waxes |
Classifying goods in chapter 15
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 15 in the UK Trade Tariff, the EU TARIC and the US HTS.