Section IX · Wood and articles of wood; wood charcoal; cork and articles of cork; manufactures of straw, of esparto or of other plaiting materials; basket-ware and wickerwork

Chapter 45: Cork and articles of cork

Chapter 45 of the Harmonized System has 4 four-digit headings, from 45.01 to 45.04. Each heading is split further into six-digit subheadings, then into national 8- and 10-digit commodity codes.

Headings in chapter 45

HeadingDescription
45.01Natural cork, raw or simply prepared; waste cork; crushed, granulated or ground cork
45.02Natural cork, debacked or roughly squared, or in rectangular (including square) blocks, plates, sheets or strip (including sharp-edged blanks for corks or stoppers)
45.03Articles of natural cork
45.04Agglomerated cork (with or without a binding substance) and articles of agglomerated cork

Classifying goods in chapter 45

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 45 in the UK Trade Tariff, the EU TARIC and the US HTS.