2022 HS updates

This guide will teach you about the 2022 Harmonized System updates and who is affected. You will also find HS compliance tips and links to helpful resources.

The World Customs Organization (WCO) releases an amended version of the Harmonized System (HS) every five years, and countries update their own codes within the year of the update. January 2022 marks the latest five-year update. The Harmonized System has begun rolling out amendments in January 2022, and as a retailer or anyone involved in global trade, you must be aware of the changes you need to make regarding international sales and imports.

Harmonized System changes 

Changes include approximately 350 sets of amendments to the existing HS Nomenclature (2017 version). Some of the categories relevant to ecommerce that are affected include textiles, machinery, articles of metal, articles of wood, and plastics.

See a full list of the impacted categories/chapters.

Affected industries 

If you ship products within any of the impacted chapters discussed above, the HS updates are likely to affect you. You could become noncompliant with local standards, possibly resulting in miscalculated duties, import delays, or fines.

On a higher level, these are the industries most impacted by the 2022 WCO updates:

• Chemicals
• Textiles
• Automotive
• Furniture

HS code compliance 

Although the recipient is technically responsible for the correct HS code being applied to the goods in the shipment, it is best practice for you as the exporter to ensure the HS code accuracy. Otherwise, the consequences of an outdated HS code (rejected or held shipment, fines incurred, etc.) will cause a negative customer experience and reflect badly on you as the seller. Therefore, always assume the responsibility of accurately classifying your goods as yours, and do everything you can to stay compliant.

Here are some tips for HS code compliance:

1. Review HS changes.
2. Identify which of your products are affected.
3. Map affected products to updated HS codes.
4. Identify when the countries that you ship to will update their HS codes.
5. Reclassify affected products with updated country-specific codes after each country that you ship to rolls out their changes.

Classify can help

Keep all data current

Zonos Classify's database houses up-to-date tariff data sourced by our in-house team of global trade experts. Classify will actively consume and map affected HS codes to the updated codes as they become available, and will continue to update them throughout the year as countries publish their changes.

Classify product update

The new Zonos Dashboard tools for Classify help with classification through the following features:

• HS code lookup tool - Classify your items with just a description or image! Perfect for when you need quick and accurate HS codes for a shipment or customs quote.
• Bulk upload - Classifying an entire product catalog has always been time-consuming and expensive. Our bulk classification feature allows you to upload your products as a CSV file and get back a quick automated catalog harmonization.

Next steps

• Classify - Dynamically harmonize your product catalog with Zonos Classify.

• 2022 WCO country implementation tracker - See a list of the 183 countries that belong to the World Customs Organization and which countries have implemented the new 2022 HS codes.