HS Commodity Codes

What Are Harmonized System (HS) Shipping Codes?

The HS code is a worldwide terminology for the classification of items. It helps customs in various countries to make sure that they are talking about the same product and the HS code of a product also determines the import duties. Worldwide it is a six-digit code framework for grouping and categories different merchandise and goods being exported. Some countries even specify further with an eight-digit code.

Where to find the HS-code list?

Different countries may have different versions of the HS code list, but at least the first 6 digits are fully harmonised. You can find a good website to lookup the code for your product here.

How many Harmonized System (HS) shipping codes are there?

There are approximately in circulation 5,300 HS codes that identify export goods that are broken down into headings along with subheadings. They are also arranged into 99 different chapters around with being grouped into 21 sections. The shipping code is broken into the following three different parts:

1. The first two digits give a rough indication of the product an refer to the various chapters of the list (HS-2).
2. The following two digits within the code help to further identity the product category (HS-4).
3. The final two digits within the code are extremely specific to the goods that are exported (HS-6).

There are only a couple of countries who do not follow the current version of the 3 for the HS-6 level. They apply the old version of Harmonized System rather than the new updated version.

HS Codes on the Portal

On the World Options portal you can add HS Codes for all your Company SKUs on the product screen. Once these are entered on the portal, the HS Codes can be used to quickly prepopulate information the the Commercial invoice on the Portal. 

The HS codes can also be entered manually when creating the Commercial invoice on the portal. Further guidance can be found here.