Chapter notes
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Except where the context otherwise requires, the headings of this chapter apply only to:
(a) separate chemical elements and separate chemically defined compounds, whether or not containing impurities;
(b) the products mentioned in (a) above dissolved in water;
(c) the products mentioned in (a) above dissolved in other solvents provided that the solution constitutes a normal and necessary method of putting up these products adopted solely for reasons of safety or for transport and that the solvent does not render the product particularly suitable for specific use rather than for general use;
(d) the products mentioned in (a), (b) or (c) above with an added stabiliser (including an anti-caking agent) necessary for their preservation or transport;
(e) the products mentioned in (a), (b), (c) or (d) above with an added anti-dusting agent or a colouring substance added to facilitate their identification or for safety reasons, provided that the additions do not render the product particularly suitable for specific use rather than for general use.
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In addition to dithionites and sulphoxylates, stabilised with organic substances (heading 2831), carbonates and peroxocarbonates of inorganic bases (heading 2836), cyanides, cyanide oxides and complex cyanides of inorganic bases (heading 2837), fulminates, cyanates and thiocyanates, of inorganic bases (heading 2842), organic products included in heading 2843 to 2846 and 2852 and carbides (heading 2849), only the following compounds of carbon are to be classified in this chapter:
a. oxides of carbon, hydrogen cyanide and fulminic, isocyanic, thiocyanic and other simple or complex cyanogen acids (heading 2811);
b. halide oxides of carbon (heading 2812);
c. carbon disulphide (heading 2813);
d. thiocarbonates, selenocarbonates, tellurocarbonates, selenocyanates, tellurocyanates, tetrathiocyanatodiamminochromates (reineckates) and other complex cyanates, of inorganic bases (heading 2842);
e. hydrogen peroxide, solidified with urea (heading 2847), carbon oxysulphide, thiocarbonyl halides, cyanogen, cyanogen halides and cyanamide and its metal derivatives (heading 2853) other than calcium cyanamide, whether or not pure (Chapter 31).
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Subject to the provisions of note 1 to Section VI, this chapter does not cover:
(a) sodium chloride or magnesium oxide, whether or not pure, or other products of Section V;
(b) organo-inorganic compounds other than those mentioned in note 2 above;
(c) products mentioned in note 2, 3, 4 or 5 to Chapter 31;
(d) inorganic products of a kind used as luminophores, of heading 3206; glass frit and other glass in the form of powder, granules or flakes, of heading 3207;
(e) artificial graphite (heading 3801); products put up as charges for fire-extinguishers or put up in fire extinguishing grenades, of heading 3813; ink removers put up in packings for retail sale, of heading 3824; cultured crystals (other than optical elements) weighing not less than 2.5 g each, of the halides of the alkali or alkaline-earth metals, of heading 3824;
(f) precious or semi-precious stones (natural, synthetic or reconstructed) or dust or powder of such stones (heading 7102 to 7105), or precious metals or precious-metal alloys of Chapter 71;
(g) the metals, whether or not pure, metal alloys or cermets, including sintered metal carbides (metal carbides sintered with a metal), of Section XV; or
(h) optical elements, for example, of the halides of the alkali or alkaline-earth metals (heading 9001).
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Chemically defined complex acids consisting of a non-metal acid of sub-chapter II and a metal acid of sub-chapter IV are to be classified in heading 2811.
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Headings 2826 to 2842 apply only to metal or ammonium salts or peroxysalts. Except where the context otherwise requires, double or complex salts are to be classified in heading 2842.
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Heading 2844 applies only to:
(a) technetium (atomic No 43), promethium (atomic No 61), polonium (atomic No 84) and all elements with an atomic number greater than 84;
(b) natural or artificial radioactive isotopes (including those of the precious metals or of the base metals of Sections XIV and XV), whether or not mixed together;
(c) compounds, inorganic or organic, of these elements or isotopes, whether or not chemically defined, whether or not mixed together;
(d) alloys, dispersions (including cermets), ceramic products and mixtures containing these elements or isotopes or inorganic or organic compounds thereof and having a specific radioactivity exceeding 74 Bq/g (0.002 μCi/g);
(e) spent (irradiated) fuel elements (cartridges) of nuclear reactors;
(f) radioactive residues whether or not usable. The term ‘isotopes’, for the purposes of this note and of the wording of heading 2844 and 2845, refers to:
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individual nuclides, excluding, however, those existing in nature in the monoisotopic state,
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mixtures of isotopes of one and the same element, enriched in one or several of the said isotopes, that is, elements of which the natural isotopic composition has been artificially modified.
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Heading 2853 includes copper phosphide (phosphor copper) containing more than 15 % by weight of phosphorus.
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Chemical elements (for example, silicon and selenium) doped for use in electronics are to be classified in this chapter, provided that they are in forms unworked as drawn, or in the form of cylinders or rods. When cut in the form of discs, wafers or similar forms, they fall in heading 3818.
Subheading note
- For the purposes of subheading 2852 10, the expression ‘chemically defined’ means all organic or inorganic compounds of mercury meeting the requirements of paragraphs (a) to (e) of note 1 to Chapter 28 or paragraphs (a) to (h) of note 1 to Chapter 29.
Additional chapter note
- Unless provided otherwise, the salts specified in subheadings include acid salts and basic salts.
Section notes
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(A) Goods (other than radioactive ores) answering to a description in heading 2844 or 2845 are to be classified in those headings and in no other heading of the classification.
(B) Subject to paragraph (A) above, goods answering to a description in heading 2843, 2846 or 2852 are to be classified in those headings and in no other heading of this section.
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Subject to Note 1 above, goods classifiable in heading 3004, 3005, 3006, 3212, 3303, 3304, 3305, 3306, 3307, 3506, 3707 or 3808 by reason of being put up in measured doses or for retail sale are to be classified in those headings and in no other heading of the nomenclature.
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Goods put up in sets consisting of two or more separate constituents, some or all of which fall in this section and are intended to be mixed together to obtain a product of Section VI or VII, are to be classified in the heading appropriate to that product, provided that the constituents are:
a. having regard to the manner in which they are put up, clearly identifiable as being intended to be used together without first being repacked;
b. presented together; and
c. identifiable, whether by their nature or by the relative proportions in which they are present, as being complementary one to another.
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Where a product answers to a description in one or more of the headings in Section VI by virtue of being described by name or function and also to heading 3827, then it is classifiable in a heading that references the product by name or function and not under heading 3827.
General Rules for the Interpretation of goods
Classification of goods in the Tariff shall be governed by the following principles:
Rule 1
The titles of sections, chapters and sub-chapters are provided for ease of reference only. For legal purposes, classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes and, provided such headings or notes do not otherwise require, according to the following provisions.
Rule 2
- Any reference in a heading to an article shall be taken to include a reference to that article incomplete or unfinished, provided that, as presented, the incomplete or unfinished article has the essential character of the complete or finished article. It shall also be taken to include a reference to that article complete or finished (or falling to be classified as complete or finished by virtue of this rule), presented unassembled or disassembled.
- Any reference in a heading to a material or substance shall be taken to include a reference to mixtures or combinations of that material or substance with other materials or substances. Any reference to goods of a given material or substance shall be taken to include a reference to goods consisting wholly or partly of such material or substance. The classification of goods consisting of more than one material or substance shall be according to the principles of rule 3.
Rule 3
When, by application of rule 2(b) or for any other reason, goods are prima facie classifiable under two or more headings, classification shall be effected as follows:
- the heading which provides the most specific description shall be preferred to headings providing a more general description. However, when two or more headings each refer to part only of the materials or substances contained in mixed or composite goods or to part only of the items in a set put up for retail sale, those headings are to be regarded as equally specific in relation to those goods, even if one of them gives a more complete or precise description of the goods;
- mixtures, composite goods consisting of different materials or made up of different components, and goods put up in sets for retail sale, which cannot be classified by reference to 3(a), shall be classified as if they consisted of the material or component which gives them their essential character, insofar as this criterion is applicable;
- when goods cannot be classified by reference to 3(a) or (b), they shall be classified under the heading which occurs last in numerical order among those which equally merit consideration.
Goods which cannot be classified in accordance with the above rules shall be classified under the heading appropriate to the goods to which they are most akin.
Rule 5
In addition to the foregoing provisions, the following rules shall apply in respect of the goods referred to therein:
- camera cases, musical instrument cases, gun cases, drawing-instrument cases, necklace cases and similar containers, specially shaped or fitted to contain a specific article or set of articles, suitable for long-term use and presented with the articles for which they are intended, shall be classified with such articles when of a kind normally sold therewith. This rule does not, however, apply to containers which give the whole its essential character;
- subject to the provisions of rule 5(a), packing materials and packing containers ( 1 ) presented with the goods therein shall be classified with the goods if they are of a kind normally used for packing such goods. However, this provision is not binding when such packing materials or packing containers are clearly suitable for repetitive use.
Rule 6
For legal purposes, the classification of goods in the subheadings of a heading shall be determined according to the terms of those subheadings and any related subheading notes and, mutatis mutandis, to the above rules, on the understanding that only subheadings at the same level are comparable. For the purposes of this rule, the relative section and chapter notes also apply, unless the context requires otherwise.