Section VI · Products of the chemical or allied industries
Chapter 28: Inorganic chemicals; organic or inorganic compounds of precious metals, of rare-earth metals, of radioactive elements or of isotopes
Chapter 28 of the Harmonized System has 56 four-digit headings, from 28.01 to 28.53. Each heading is split further into six-digit subheadings, then into national 8- and 10-digit commodity codes.
Headings in chapter 28
| Heading | Description |
|---|---|
| 28.01 | Fluorine, chlorine, bromine and iodine |
| 28.01 | I. chemical elements |
| 28.02 | Sulphur, sublimed or precipitated; colloidal sulphur |
| 28.03 | Carbon (carbon blacks and other forms of carbon not elsewhere specified or included) |
| 28.04 | Hydrogen, rare gases and other non-metals |
| 28.05 | Alkali or alkaline-earth metals; rare-earth metals, scandium and yttrium, whether or not intermixed or interalloyed; mercury |
| 28.06 | Hydrogen chloride (hydrochloric acid); chlorosulphuric acid |
| 28.06 | Ii. inorganic acids and inorganic oxygen compounds of non-metals |
| 28.07 | Sulphuric acid; oleum |
| 28.08 | Nitric acid; sulphonitric acids |
| 28.09 | Diphosphorus pentaoxide; phosphoric acid; polyphosphoric acids, whether or not chemically defined |
| 28.10 | Oxides of boron; boric acids |
| 28.11 | Other inorganic acids and other inorganic oxygen compounds of non-metals |
| 28.12 | Halides and halide oxides of non-metals |
| 28.12 | Iii. halogen or sulphur compounds of non-metals |
| 28.13 | Sulphides of non-metals; commercial phosphorus trisulphide |
| 28.14 | Ammonia, anhydrous or in aqueous solution |
| 28.14 | Iv. inorganic bases and oxides, hydroxides and peroxides of metals |
| 28.15 | Sodium hydroxide (caustic soda); potassium hydroxide (caustic potash); peroxides of sodium or potassium |
| 28.16 | Hydroxide and peroxide of magnesium; oxides, hydroxides and peroxides, of strontium or barium |
| 28.17 | Zinc oxide; zinc peroxide |
| 28.18 | Artificial corundum, whether or not chemically defined; aluminium oxide; aluminium hydroxide |
| 28.19 | Chromium oxides and hydroxides |
| 28.20 | Manganese oxides |
| 28.21 | Iron oxides and hydroxides; earth colours containing 70% or more by weight of combined iron evaluated as fe2o3 |
| 28.22 | Cobalt oxides and hydroxides; commercial cobalt oxides |
| 28.23 | Titanium oxides |
| 28.24 | Lead oxides; red lead and orange lead |
| 28.25 | Hydrazine and hydroxylamine and their inorganic salts; other inorganic bases; other metal oxides, hydroxides and peroxides |
| 28.26 | Fluorides; fluorosilicates, fluoroaluminates and other complex fluorine salts |
| 28.26 | V. salts and peroxysalts, of inorganic acids and metals |
| 28.27 | Chlorides, chloride oxides and chloride hydroxides; bromides and bromide oxides; iodides and iodide oxides |
| 28.28 | Hypochlorites; commercial calcium hypochlorite; chlorites; hypobromites |
| 28.29 | Chlorates and perchlorates; bromates and perbromates; iodates and periodates |
| 28.30 | Sulphides; polysulphides, whether or not chemically defined |
| 28.31 | Dithionites and sulphoxylates |
| 28.32 | Sulphites; thiosulphates |
| 28.33 | Sulphates; alums; peroxosulphates (persulphates) |
| 28.34 | Nitrites; nitrates |
| 28.35 | Phosphinates (hypophosphites), phosphonates (phosphites) and phosphates; polyphosphates, whether or not chemically defined |
| 28.36 | Carbonates; peroxocarbonates (percarbonates); commercial ammonium carbonate containing ammonium carbamate |
| 28.37 | Cyanides, cyanide oxides and complex cyanides |
| 28.39 | Silicates; commercial alkali metal silicates |
| 28.40 | Borates; peroxoborates (perborates) |
| 28.41 | Salts of oxometallic or peroxometallic acids |
| 28.42 | Other salts of inorganic acids or peroxoacids (including aluminosilicates whether or not chemically defined), other than azides |
| 28.43 | Colloidal precious metals; inorganic or organic compounds of precious metals, whether or not chemically defined; amalgams of precious metals |
| 28.43 | Vi. miscellaneous |
| 28.44 | Radioactive chemical elements and radioactive isotopes (including the fissile or fertile chemical elements and isotopes) and their compounds; mixtures and residues containing these products |
| 28.45 | Isotopes other than those of heading 2844; compounds, inorganic or organic, of such isotopes, whether or not chemically defined |
| 28.46 | Compounds, inorganic or organic, of rare-earth metals, of yttrium or of scandium or of mixtures of these metals |
| 28.47 | Hydrogen peroxide, whether or not solidified with urea |
| 28.49 | Carbides, whether or not chemically defined |
| 28.50 | Hydrides, nitrides, azides, silicides and borides, whether or not chemically defined, other than compounds which are also carbides of heading 2849 |
| 28.52 | Inorganic or organic compounds of mercury, whether or not chemically defined, excluding amalgams |
| 28.53 | Phosphides, whether or not chemically defined, excluding ferrophosphorus; other inorganic compounds (including distilled or conductivity water and water of similar purity); liquid air (whether or not rare gases have been removed); compressed air; amalgams, other than amalgams of precious metals |
Classifying goods in chapter 28
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 28 in the UK Trade Tariff, the EU TARIC and the US HTS.