Guide to tariff classification for Canadian imports: Understanding the Canadian Customs Tariff

The Canadian Customs Tariff is a classification system that organizes goods into lists and groupings.

The legal text of the Canadian Customs Tariff is called the international “nomenclature,” and it is set out in the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS).

The HS international nomenclature consists of:

• the 4-digit heading and 6-digit subheading numerical codes
• section, chapter, and subheading legal notes
• the General Rules for the Interpretation of the HS

The Canadian Customs Tariff consists of:

• 21 sections with goods arranged, for the most part, according to their level of manufacturing
• 99 chapters with each section generally grouping together chapters that cover related goods

Each chapter is divided into a number of headings for goods; every good is provided for with one heading within the nomenclature for classification purposes.

Chapters 98 and 99 are reserved for the special use of each country for their own purposes.

Canada uses:

• Chapter 98 to identify traveller exemptions and goods prohibited from entry into Canada
• Chapter 99 to identify special duty relief provisions for commercial goods

There are no goods classified in Chapter 77 as this chapter has been reserved by the WCO for future use.

The sections of the HS are numerically arranged in a hierarchal structure.

Example

The first section of the HS has 5 chapters that covers live animals, including goods of animal origin, as follows:

• Section I: Live Animals; Animal Products
• Chapter 1: Live animals
• Chapter 2: Meat and edible meat offal
• Chapter 3: Fish and crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates
• Chapter 4: Dairy produce; birds' eggs; natural honey; edible products of animal origin, not elsewhere specified or included
• Chapter 5: Products of animal origin, not elsewhere specified or included