Harmonized System (HS2012)
WCO (World Customs Organisation), Brussels has
published the agreed amendments to the Harmonized System (HS) nomenclature that
have entered into
force on 1 January 2012. These have been implemented in India for both customs as
well as excise on the stipulated date. The changes in the 8 digit codes and
their descriptions have been made along with consequent amendments in the
exemption notifications and connected laws and regulations.
Environmental and
social issues of global concern are the major feature of the HS 2012
amendments, particularly the use of the HS as the standard for classifying and
coding goods of specific importance to food security and the early warning data
system of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization
The amendments include, inter alia,
improved specifications for species from the Southern hemisphere. These
amendments will enable economic trends in products other than those familiar to
North Atlantic consumers to be monitored.
HS 2012 also features new subheadings
for specific chemicals controlled under the Rotterdam Convention and
ozone-depleting substances controlled under the Montreal Protocol.
Other amendments
resulted from changes in international trade patterns. These include deleting
more than 40 subheadings due to the low volume of trade in specific products,
separately identifying certain commodities in either existing or new headings,
and reflecting advances in technology where possible. Finally, a number of
amendments aim to clarify texts to ensure uniform application of the HS
Nomenclature.
(The recommendation
to delete subheading 5308.10 for coir yarn in the nomenclature will not take
effect on 1 January 2012 due to an objection having been lodged by one of the
Contracting Parties to the HS Convention).