TradeLane

Trade Compliance: Systems + Knowledge
Two Peas in a Pod

… well, not all of them luckily!!! But, just like Bob Dylan's song that inspired the title, my less-so-poetic commentary is a rallying call for consideration of the impending changes in the HS2022 update.

Some background to set the mood: the Harmonized System is a convention comprising the nomenclature for the classification of products in cross-border trade. The nomenclature is a hierarchical structure consisting of product categories/subcategories and descriptions, represented in a six-digit numerical code (HS Code). The HS Codes enable Customs and other governmental authorities to categorize what is being imported or exported. Within the 200+ countries adhering to the Harmonized System, the six-digit HS Code is expanded at a national tariff level and includes additional digits for further sub-categorization. A Tariff Classification is commonly between 8-12 digits for most countries.

Every 5-6 years the World Customs Organization (WCO) updates the Harmonized System to accommodate new products, to more specifically categorize certain products, address environmental/social concerns, or to provide more clarity and transparency. On 1st January 2022, the codes they are a-changin'!

Major Changes
There are 351 amendments in HS2022.
The summary provided below, and especially the examples used, are not a comprehensive or exhaustive list of changes.
They are simply provided for illustration purposes.

Changes in HS2022 include:

The rate of IGST levied on import and supply of non-diagnostic reagents classified under heading 3822 was litigative. GST council has recently clarified that all laboratory reagents and other goods falling under heading 3822 shall be liable to IGST rate of 12%. 

My sense of time has been a little off lately, and I don’t think I’m the only one. In some moments, it seems that I have been confined to my little New England house outside of Boston for an eternity, reliving Groundhog Day over and over.

If I learned anything from 2020, it’s that I don’t know what is in store for the future. In the last few years, we went from talking about how the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) would transform trade, to Brexit, to the trade war, to the global pandemic.