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Heading 0405 - Butter and other fats and oils derived from milk; dairy spreads

Heading
0405
Classification
Butter and other fats and oils derived from milk; dairy spreads
Date of trade
2 June 2026
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There are 12 commodities in this category. Choose the commodity code that best matches your goods to see more information. If your item is not listed by name, it may be shown under what it's used for, what it's made from or 'Other'.

There are important notes for classifying your goods shown further down this page

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The number following each commodity's description is its commodity code. Description
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Footnotes
Code Description
TN701 According to Council Regulation (EU) No 692/2014 (OJ L183, p. 9) it shall be prohibited to import into European Union goods originating in Crimea or Sevastopol.
The prohibition shall not apply in respect of goods originating in Crimea or Sevastopol which have been made available to the Ukrainian authorities for examination, for which compliance with the conditions conferring entitlement to preferential origin has been verified and for which a certificate of origin has been issued in accordance with the Association Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and Ukraine, of the other part.
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According to Council Regulation (EU) 2022/263 (OJ L42I, p. 77):
It shall be prohibited to import into the European Union goods originating in non-government controlled areas of the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts of Ukraine.
The import prohibitions shall not apply in respect of goods originating in the specified territories which have been made available to the Ukrainian authorities for examination, for which compliance with the conditions conferring entitlement to preferential origin has been verified and for which a certificate of origin has been issued in accordance with the Association Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and Ukraine, of the other part.

Chapter notes

  1. The expression ‘milk’ means full-cream milk or partially or completely skimmed milk.

  2. For the purposes of heading 0403, yogurt may be concentrated or flavoured and may contain added sugar or other sweetening matter, fruit, nuts, cocoa, chocolate, spices, coffee or coffee extracts, plants, parts of plants, cereals or bakers’ wares, provided that any added substance is not used for the purpose of replacing, in whole or in part, any milk constituent, and the product retains the essential character of yogurt.

  3. For the purposes of heading 0405:

    • (a) the term ‘butter’ means natural butter, whey butter or recombined butter (fresh, salted or rancid, including canned butter) derived exclusively from milk, with a milkfat content of 80 % or more but not more than 95 % by weight, a maximum milk solids-not-fat content of 2 % by weight and a maximum water content of 16 % by weight. Butter does not contain added emulsifiers, but may contain sodium chloride, food colours, neutralising salts and cultures of harmless lactic-acid-producing bacteria;

    • (b) the expression ‘dairy spreads’ means a spreadable emulsion of the water-in-oil type, containing milkfat as the only fat in the product, with a milkfat content of 39 % or more but less than 80 % by weight.

  4. Products obtained by the concentration of whey and with the addition of milk or milkfat are to be classified as cheese in heading 0406 provided that they have the three following characteristics:

    • (a) a milkfat content, by weight of the dry matter, of 5 % or more;

    • (b) a dry matter content, by weight, of at least 70 % but not exceeding 85 %; and

    • (c) they are moulded or capable of being moulded.

  5. This chapter does not cover:

    • (a) non-living insects, unfit for human consumption (heading 0511);

    • (b) products obtained from whey, containing by weight more than 95 % lactose, expressed as anhydrous lactose calculated on the dry matter (heading 1702);

    • (c) products obtained from milk by replacing one or more of its natural constituents (for example, butyric fats) by another substance (for example, oleic fats) (heading 1901 or 2106); or

    • (d) albumins (including concentrates of two or more whey proteins, containing by weight more than 80 % whey proteins, calculated on the dry matter) (heading 3502) or globulins (heading 3504).

  6. For the purposes of heading 0410, the term “insects” means edible non-living insects, whole or in parts, fresh, chilled, frozen, dried, smoked, salted or in brine, as well as flours and meals of insects, fit for human consumption. However, it does not cover edible non-living insects otherwise prepared or preserved (generally Section IV).

Subheading notes

  1. For the purposes of subheading 0404 10, the expression ‘modified whey’ means products consisting of whey constituents, that is, whey from which all or part of the lactose, proteins or minerals have been removed, whey to which natural whey constituents have been added, and products obtained by mixing natural whey constituents.

  2. For the purposes of subheading 0405 10, the term ‘butter’ does not include dehydrated butter or ghee (subheading 0405 90).

Additional notes

  1. The duty rate applicable to mixtures falling in heading 0401 to 0406 shall be as follows:

    • (a) in mixtures where one of the components represents at least 90 % by weight, the rate applicable to that component applies;
    • (b) in other mixtures, the rate applicable shall be that of the component which results in the highest amount of import duty.

  2. For the purposes of subheadings 0408 11 and 0408 19, the following applies:

    the expression ‘otherwise preserved’ applies also to egg yolks with limited amounts of salt (in general, an amount of up to around 12 % by weight) or minor amounts of chemicals added for preservation purposes, provided that both of the following conditions are fulfilled:

    (i) the products retain the character of egg yolks of subheadings 0408 11 and 0408 19;

    (ii) salt or chemicals are not used at a level higher than is necessary for the purposes of preservation.

  3. Dairy produce of Chapter 4 includes dairy permeates, which are milk products characterised by a high content of lactose and obtained by removing milk fats and milk proteins from milk, whey, cream and/or sweet buttermilk, and/or from similar raw material by ultrafiltration or other processing techniques.

  4. For the purposes of subheadings 0404 10 and 0404 90 the following applies:

    Milk permeate and whey permeate can be analytically distinguished by the presence of substances (e.g. lactic acid, lactates and glycomacropeptides) which are associated with whey production. Subheading 0404 10 includes ‘whey permeate’ which is a product with generally a slightly sour smell, obtained from whey or mixtures of natural whey constituents by ultrafiltration or other processing techniques.

    The presence of substances associated with whey production (e.g. lactic acid, lactates and glycomacropeptides) is a condition for the classification of whey permeates into that subheading. Subheading 0404 90 includes ‘milk permeate’ which is a product with generally a milky smell obtained from milk by ultrafiltration or other processing techniques. The quantitatively limited level or absence of lactic acid and lactates (lower than 0.1 % by weight, in milk permeates in powder form, or lower than 0.015% by weight in milk permeates in liquid form) as well as the absence of glycomacropeptides, are the conditions for the classification of milk permeates into subheading 0404 90. The method to be used for the detection of lactates shall be the ISO 8069:2005 method and the method to detect rennet whey (i.e. the presence of caseinomacropeptides such as glycomacropeptides) shall be the method to that set out in Appendix II to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/150).

Section notes

  1. Any reference in this section to a particular genus or species of an animal, except where the context otherwise requires, includes a reference to the young of that genus or species.

  2. Except where the context otherwise requires, throughout the nomenclature any reference to ‘dried’ products also covers products which have been dehydrated, evaporated or freeze-dried.

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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:

  1. 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;
  2. 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;
  3. 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.
Rule 4

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:

  1. 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;
  2. 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.