World Customs Organization HS updates

This guide provides information on the updates to the World Customs Organization's Harmonized System, which occurs every five years, and explains who is affected. Additionally, you will discover tips for HS compliance and access helpful resources.

The World Customs Organization (WCO) revises the Harmonized System (HS) every five years, with countries adapting their codes within that timeframe. The latest five-year update occurred in January 2022, and the next one is scheduled for 2027. Updates to the Harmonized System took effect in January 2022. If you are involved in the global trade industry, whether as a retailer or logistics provider, staying informed about these changes is essential to ensure compliance with international sales and imports regulations.

2022 HS changes 

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

Refer to the complete list of impacted categories and chapters for detailed information. At a high level, these are the industries most impacted by the 2022 WCO updates:

• Chemicals
• Textiles
• Automotive
• Furniture

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.

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. Using outdated HS codes can lead to rejected or held shipments, fines, and a negative customer experience, ultimately impacting your reputation as a seller. Therefore, always assume the responsibility of accurately classifying your goods as yours, and do everything you can to stay compliant.

HS code compliance tips

Here are some tips for HS code compliance:

• Review HS changes.
• Identify which of your products are affected.
• Map affected products to updated HS codes.
• Determine the timeline for HS code updates in the countries you ship to.
• Reclassify affected products with updated country-specific codes after each country that you ship to rolls out their changes.

Keep your codes up-to-date

Zonos Classify's maintains an up-to-date tariff database, curated by our in-house team of global trade experts. We actively incorporate and map affected HS codes to their updated counterparts as soon as they are available, and this data remains continuously updated throughout the year as countries publish their code changes.

The new Zonos Dashboard tools for Classify offer classification assistance without the need for API integration, featuring the following capabilities:

• 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.

If you are interested in integrating via API, you can find more information here.