SECTION I U.K. GENERAL RULES
A. General rules for the interpretation of the Combined Nomenclature U.K.
Classification of goods in the Combined Nomenclature shall be governed by the following principles:
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.
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.
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, in so far 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.
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.
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.
B. General rules concerning duties U.K.
The customs duties applicable to imported goods originating in countries which are Contracting Parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade or with which the European Community has concluded agreements containing the most-favoured-nation tariff clause shall be the conventional duties shown in column 3 of the schedule of duties. Unless the context requires otherwise, these conventional duties are applicable to goods, other than those referred to above, imported from any third country.
The conventional rates of duty reproduced in column 3 are applicable from 1 January 2011.
When autonomous rates of duty are lower than the conventional rates of duty, the autonomous duties, shown by means of a footnote, are applicable.
Paragraph 1 shall not apply where special autonomous customs duties are provided for in respect of goods originating in certain countries or where preferential customs duties are applicable in pursuance of agreements.
Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not preclude the Member States from applying customs duties other than those of the Common Customs Tariff where the application of such other duties is justified by Community law.
The duties expressed as percentage rates are ad valorem duties.
The symbol ‘EA’ indicates that the goods concerned are chargeable with an ‘agricultural component’ fixed in accordance with Annex 1.
The symbol ‘AD S/Z’ or ‘AD F/M’ in Chapters 17 to 19 indicates that the maximum rate of duty consists of an ad valorem duty plus an additional duty for certain forms of sugar or for flour. This additional duty is fixed in accordance with the provisions of Annex 1.
In Chapter 22, the symbol ‘€ /% vol/hl’ means that a specific duty, expressed in euro, is to be calculated for each percentage volume of alcohol per hectolitre. Thus, a beverage having an alcohol content by volume of 40 % is to be charged as follows:
‘€ 1/% vol/hl’ = € 1 × 40, giving a duty of € 40 per hectolitre, or
‘€ 1/% vol/hl + € 5/hl’ = € 1 × 40 plus € 5, giving a duty of € 45 per hectolitre.
Where, in addition, a minimum (MIN) value is shown, for example ‘€ 1,6/% vol/hl MIN € 9/hl’, it means that the duty, calculated on the basis of the abovementioned rule, is to be compared with the minimum duty, for example ‘€ 9/hl’, and the higher of the two is to be applied.
C. General rules applicable both to nomenclature and to duties U.K.
Unless provided otherwise, the provisions relating to customs value shall be applied to determine, in addition to the value for the assessment of ad valorem customs duties, the values by reference to which the scope of certain headings or subheadings is defined.
The dutiable weight, in the case of goods chargeable by weight, and the weights by reference to which the scope of certain headings or subheadings is defined, shall be taken to be:
in the case of a reference to ‘gross weight’, the aggregate weight of the goods and of all the packing materials and packing containers;
in the case of a reference to ‘net weight’ or simply to ‘weight’ without qualification, the weight of the goods themselves without packing materials and packing containers of any kind.
The equivalent in national currencies of the euro, for Member States other than participating Member States as defined in Council Regulation (EC) No 974/98(2) (hereafter called ‘non-participating Member States’), shall be fixed in accordance with Article 18 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92(3).
Goods eligible for favourable tariff treatment by reason of their end-use:
Where the import duty applicable under the end-use arrangements to goods for a specific end-use is not lower than that which would otherwise be applicable to the goods, the said goods shall be classified in the code referring to the end-use and Articles 291 to 300 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 (OJ L 253, 11.10.1993, p. 1) shall not apply.
The terms ‘packing materials’ and ‘packing containers’ mean any external or internal containers, holders, wrappings or supports other than transport devices (e.g. transport containers), tarpaulins, tackle or ancillary transport equipment. The term ‘packing containers’ does not cover the containers referred to in general rule 5(a).