INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION
ON THE HARMONIZED COMMODITY DESCRIPTION AND CODING SYSTEM
(Brussels, 14.VI.1983)
(As amended by the Protocol
of Amendment to the International Convention on
the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System
of 24 June 1986)
Preamble
The Contracting Parties to this Convention, established under
the auspices of the Customs Co-operation Council,
Desiring to facilitate international trade,
Desiring to facilitate the collection, comparison and analysis
of statistics, in particular those on international trade,
Desiring to reduce the expense incurred by redescribing,
reclassifying and recoding goods as they move from one
classification system to another in the course of international
trade and to facilitate the standardization of trade documentation
and the transmission of data,
Considering that changes in technology and the patterns of
international trade require extensive modifications to the
Convention on Nomenclature for the Classification of Goods in
Customs Tariffs, done at Brussels on 15 December 1950,
Considering also that the degree of detail required for
Customs and statistical purposes by Governments and trade
interests has increased far beyond that provided by the
Nomenclature annexed to the above-mentioned Convention,
Considering the importance of accurate and comparable data for
the purposes of international trade negotiations,
Considering that the Harmonized System is intended to be used
for the purposes of freight tariffs and transport statistics of
the various modes of transport,
Considering that the Harmonized System is intended to be
incorporated into commercial commodity description and coding
systems to the greatest extent possible,
Considering that the Harmonized System is intended to promote
as close a correlation as possible between import and export trade
statistics and production statistics,
Considering that a close correlation should be maintained
between the Harmonized System and the Standard International Trade
Classification (SITC) of the United Nations,
Considering the desirability of meeting the aforementioned
needs through a combined tariff/statistical nomenclature, suitable
for use by the various interests concerned with international
trade,
Considering the importance of ensuring that the Harmonized
System is kept up-to-date in the light of changes in technology or
in patterns of international trade,
Having taken into consideration the work accomplished in this
sphere by the Harmonized System Committee set up by the Customs
Co-operation Council,
Considering that while the above-mentioned Nomenclature
Convention has proved an effective instrument in the attainment of
some of these objectives, the best way to achieve the desired
results in this respect is to conclude a new international
Convention,
Have agreed as follows:
Article 1
Definitions
For the purpose of this Convention:
(a) the "Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System",
hereinafter referred to as the "Harmonized System", means the
Nomenclature comprising the headings and subheadings and their
related numerical codes, the Section, Chapter and Subheading Notes
and the General Rules for the interpretation of the Harmonized
System, set out in the Annex to this Convention;
(b) "Customs tariff nomenclature" means the nomenclature
established under the legislation of a Contracting Party for the
purposes of levying duties of Customs on imported goods;
(c) "statistical nomenclatures" means goods nomenclatures
established by a Contracting Party for the collection of data for
import and export trade statistics;
(d) "combined tariff/statistical nomenclature" means a
nomenclature, integrating Customs tariff and statistical
nomenclatures, legally required by a Contracting Party for the
declaration of goods at importation;
(e) "the Convention establishing the Council" means the
Convention establishing a Customs Co-operation Council, done at
Brussels on 15 December 1950;
(f) "the Council" means the Customs Co-operation Council
referred to in paragraph (e) above;
(g) "the Secretary General" means the Secretary General of the
Council;
(h) the term "ratification" means ratification, acceptance or
approval.
Article 2
The Annex
The Annex to this Convention shall form an integral part
thereof, and any reference to the Convention shall include a
reference to the Annex.
Article 3
Obligations of Contracting Parties
1. Subject to the exceptions enumerated in Article 4:
(a) Each Contracting Party undertakes, except as provided in
subparagraph (c) of this paragraph, that from the date on which
this Convention enters into force in respect of it, its Customs
tariff and statistical nomenclatures shall be in conformity with
the Harmonized System. It thus undertakes that, in respect of its
Customs tariff and statistical nomenclatures:
(i) it shall use all the headings and subheadings of the
Harmonized System without addition or modification, together
with their related numerical codes;
(ii) it shall apply the General Rules for the
interpretation of the Harmonized System and all the Section,
Chapter and Subheading Notes, and shall not modify the scope
of the Sections, Chapters, headings or subheadings of the
Harmonized System; and
(iii) it shall follow the numerical sequence of the
Harmonized System;
(b) Each Contracting Party shall also make publicly available
its import and export trade statistics in conformity with the
six-digit codes of the Harmonized System, or, on the initiative of
the Contracting Party, beyond that level, to the extent that
publication is not precluded for exceptional reasons such as
commercial confidentiality or national security;
(c) Nothing in this Article shall require a Contracting Party
to use the subheadings of the Harmonized System in its Customs
tariff nomenclature provided that it meets the obligations at (a)
(i), (a) (ii) and (a) (iii) above in a combined tariff/statistical
nomenclature.
2. In complying with the undertakings at paragraph 1 (a) of
this Article, each Contracting Party may make such textual
adaptations as may be necessary to give effect to the Harmonized
System in its domestic law.
3. Nothing in this Article shall prevent a Contracting Party
from establishing, in its Customs tariff or statistical
nomenclatures, subdivisions classifying goods beyond the level of
the Harmonized System, provided that any such subdivision is added
and coded at a level beyond that of the six-digit numerical code
set out in the Annex to this Convention.
Article 4
Partial application by developing countries
1. Any developing country Contracting Party may delay its
application of some or all of the subheadings of the Harmonized
System for such period as may be necessary, having regard to its
pattern of international trade or its administrative resources.
2. A developing country Contracting Party which elects to
apply the Harmonized System partially under the provisions of this
Article agrees to make its best efforts towards the application of
the full six-digit Harmonized System within five years of the date
on which this Convention enters into force in respect of it or
within such further period as it may consider necessary having
regard to the provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article.
3. A developing country Contracting Party which elects to
apply the Harmonized System partially under the provisions of this
Article shall apply all or none of the two-dash subheadings of any
one one-dash subheading or all or none of the one-dash subheadings
of any one heading. In such cases of partial application, the
sixth digit or the fifth and sixth digits of that part of the
Harmonized System code not applied shall be replaced by "0" or
"00" respectively.
4. A developing country which elects to apply the Harmonized
System partially under the provisions of this Article shall on
becoming a Contracting Party notify the Secretary General of those
subheadings which it will not apply on the date when this
Convention enters into force in respect of it and shall also
notify the Secretary General of those subheadings which it applies
thereafter.
5. Any developing country which elects to apply the Harmonized
System partially under the provisions of this Article may on
becoming a Contracting Party notify the Secretary General that it
formally undertakes to apply the full six-digit Harmonized System
within three years of the date when this Convention enters into
force in respect of it.
6. Any developing country Contracting Party which partially
applies the Harmonized System under the provisions of this Article
shall be relieved from its obligations under Article 3 in relation
to the subheadings not applied.
Article 5
Technical assistance for developing countries
Developed country Contracting Parties shall furnish to
developing countries that so request, technical assistance on
mutually agreed terms in respect of, inter alia, training of
personnel, transposing their existing nomenclatures to the
Harmonized System and advice on keeping their systems so
transposed up-to-date with amendments to the Harmonized System or
on applying the provisions of this Convention.
Article 6
Harmonized System Committee
1. There shall be established under this Convention a
Committee to be known as the Harmonized System Committee, composed
of representatives from each of the Contracting Parties.
2. It shall normally meet at least twice each year.
3. Its meetings shall be convened by the Secretary General
and, unless the Contracting Parties otherwise decide, shall be
held at the Headquarters of the Council.
4. In the Harmonized System Committee each Contracting Party
shall have the right to one vote; nevertheless, for the purposes
of this Convention and without prejudice to any future Convention,
where a Customs or Economic Union as well as one or more of its
Member States are Contracting Parties such Contracting Parties
shall together exercise only one vote. Similarly, where all the
Member States of a Customs or Economic Union which is eligible to
become a Contracting Party under the provisions of Article 11 (b)
become Contracting Parties, they shall together exercise only one
vote.
5. The Harmonized System Committee shall elect its own
Chairman and one or more Vice-Chairmen.
6. It shall draw up its own Rules of Procedure by decision
taken by not less than two-thirds of the votes attributed to its
members. The Rules of Procedure so drawn up shall be approved by
the Council.
7. It shall invite such intergovernmental or other
international organizations as it may consider appropriate to
participate as observers in its work.
8. It shall set up Sub-Committees or Working Parties as
needed, having regard, in particular, to the provisions of
paragraph 1 (a) of Article 7, and it shall determine the
membership, voting rights and Rules of Procedure for such
Sub-Committees or Working Parties.
Article 7
Functions of the Committee
1. The Harmonized System Committee, having regard to the
provisions of Article 8, shall have the following functions:
(a) to propose such amendments to this Convention as may be
considered desirable, having regard, in particular, to the needs
of users and to changes in technology or in patterns of
international trade;
(b) to prepare Explanatory Notes, Classification Opinions or
other advice as guides to the interpretation of the Harmonized
System;
(c) to prepare recommendations to secure uniformity in the
interpretation and application of the Harmonized System;
(d) to collate and circulate information concerning the
application of the Harmonized System;
(e) on its own initiative or on request, to furnish
information or guidance on any matters concerning the
classification of goods in the Harmonized System to Contracting
Parties, to Members of the Council and to such intergovernmental
or other international organizations as the Committee may consider
appropriate;
(f) to present Reports to each Session of the Council
concerning its activities, including proposed amendments,
Explanatory Notes, Classification Opinions and other advice;
(g) to exercise such other powers and functions in relation to
the Harmonized System as the Council or the Contracting Parties
may deem necessary.
2. Administrative decisions of the Harmonized System Committee
having budgetary implications shall be subject to approval by the
Council.
Article 8
Role of the Council
1. The Council shall examine proposals for amendment of this
Convention, prepared by the Harmonized System Committee, and
recommend them to the Contracting Parties under the procedure of
Article 16 unless any Council Member which is a Contracting Party
to this Convention requests that the proposals or any part thereof
be referred to the Committee for re-examination.
2. The Explanatory Notes, Classification Opinions, other
advice on the interpretation of the Harmonized System and
recommendations to secure uniformity in the interpretation and
application of the Harmonized System, prepared during a session of
the Harmonized System Committee under the provisions of paragraph
1 of Article 7, shall be deemed to be approved by the Council if,
not later than the end of the second month following the month
during which that session was closed, no Contracting Party to this
Convention has notified the Secretary General that it requests
that such matter be referred to the Council.
3. Where a matter is referred to the Council under the
provisions of paragraph 2 of this Article, the Council shall
approve such Explanatory Notes, Classification Opinions, other
advice or recommendations, unless any Council Member which is a
Contracting Party to this Convention requests that they be
referred in whole or part to the Committee for re-examination.
Article 9
Rates of Customs duty
The Contracting Parties do not assume by this Convention any
obligation in relation to rates of Customs duty.
Article 10
Settlement of disputes
1. Any dispute between Contracting Parties concerning the
interpretation or application of this Convention shall, so far as
possible, be settled by negotiation between them.
2. Any dispute which is not so settled shall be referred by
the Parties to the dispute to the Harmonized System Committee
which shall thereupon consider the dispute and make
recommendations for its settlement.
3. If the Harmonized System Committee is unable to settle the
dispute, it shall refer the matter to the Council which shall make
recommendations in conformity with Article III (e) of the
Convention establishing the Council.
4. The Parties to the dispute may agree in advance to accept
the recommendations of the Committee or the Council as binding.
Article 11
Eligibility to become a Contracting Party
The following are eligible to become Contracting Parties to
this Convention:
(a) Member States of the Council;
(b) Customs or Economic Unions to which competence has been
transferred to enter into treaties in respect of some or all of
the matters governed by this Convention; and
(c) Any other State to which an invitation to that effect has
been addressed by the Secretary General at the direction of the
Council.
Article 12
Procedure for becoming a Contracting Party
1. Any eligible State or Customs or Economic Union may become
a Contracting Party to this Convention:
(a) by signing it without reservation of ratification;
(b) by depositing an instrument of ratification after having
signed the Convention subject to ratification; or
(c) by acceding to it after the Convention has ceased to be
open for signature.
2. This Convention shall be open for signature until
31 December 1986 at the Headquarters of the Council in Brussels by
the States and Customs or Economic Unions referred to in Article
11. Thereafter, it shall be open for their accession.
3. The instruments of ratification or accession shall be
deposited with the Secretary General.
Article 13
Entry into force
1. This Convention shall enter into force on the earliest
first of January which falls at least three months after a minimum
of seventeen States or Customs or Economic Unions referred to in
Article 11 above have signed it without reservation of
ratification or have deposited their instruments of ratification
or accession, but not before 1 January 1988.
2. For any State or Customs or Economic Union signing without
reservation of ratification, ratifying or acceding to this
Convention after the minimum number specified in paragraph 1 of
this Article is reached, this Convention shall enter into force on
the first of January which falls at least twelve months but not
more than twenty-four months after it has signed the Convention
without reservation of ratification or has deposited its
instrument of ratification or accession, unless it specifies an
earlier date. However, the date of entry into force under the
provisions of this paragraph shall not be earlier than the date of
entry into force provided for in paragraph 1 of this Article.
Article 14
Application by dependent territories
1. Any State may, at the time of becoming a Contracting Party
to this Convention, or at any time thereafter, declare by
notification given to the Secretary General that the Convention
shall extend to all or any of the territories for whose
international relations it is responsible, named in its
notification. Such notification shall take effect on the first of
January which falls at least twelve months but not more than
twenty-four months after the date of the receipt thereof by the
Secretary General, unless an earlier date is specified in the
notification. However, this Convention shall not apply to such
territories before it has entered into force for the State
concerned.
2. This Convention shall cease to have effect for a named
territory on the date when the Contracting Party ceases to be
responsible for the international relations of that territory or
on such earlier date as may be notified to the Secretary General
under the procedure of Article 15.
Article 15
Denunciation
This Convention is of unlimited duration. Nevertheless any
Contracting Party may denounce it and such denunciation shall take
effect one year after the receipt of the instrument of
denunciation by the Secretary General, unless a later date is
specified therein.
Article 16
Amendment procedure
1. The Council may recommend amendments to this Convention to
the Contracting Parties.
2. Any Contracting Party may notify the Secretary General of
an objection to a recommended amendment and may subsequently
withdraw such objection within the period specified in paragraph 3
of this Article.
3. Any recommended amendment shall be deemed to be accepted
six months after the date of its notification by the Secretary
General provided that there is no objection outstanding at the end
of this period.
4. Accepted amendments shall enter into force for all
Contracting Parties on one of the following dates:
(a) where the recommended amendment is notified before
1 April, the date shall be the first of January of the second year
following the date of such notification, or
(b) where the recommended amendment is notified on or after
1 April, the date shall be the first of January of the third year
following the date of such notification.
5. The statistical nomenclatures of each Contracting Party and
its Customs tariff nomenclature or, in the case provided for under
paragraph 1 (c) of Article 3, its combined tariff/statistical
nomenclature, shall be brought into conformity with the amended
Harmonized System on the date specified in paragraph 4 of this
Article.
6. Any State or Customs or Economic Union signing without
reservation of ratification, ratifying or acceding to this
Convention shall be deemed to have accepted any amendments thereto
which, at the date when it becomes a Contracting Party, have
entered into force or have been accepted under the provisions of
paragraph 3 of this Article.
Article 17
Rights of Contracting Parties
in respect of the Harmonized System
On any matter affecting the Harmonized System, paragraph 4 of
Article 6, Article 8 and paragraph 2 of Article 16 shall confer
rights on a Contracting Party:
(a) in respect of all parts of the Harmonized System which it
applies under the provisions of this Convention; or
(b) until the date when this Convention enters into force in
respect of it in accordance with the provisions of Article 13, in
respect of all parts of the Harmonized System which it is
obligated to apply at that date under the provisions of this
Convention; or
(c) in respect of all parts of the Harmonized System, provided
that it has formally undertaken to apply the full six-digit
Harmonized System within the period of three years referred to in
paragraph 5 of Article 4 and until the expiration of that period.
Article 18
Reservations
No reservations to this Convention shall be permitted.
Article 19
Notifications by the Secretary General
The Secretary General shall notify Contracting Parties, other
signatory States, Member States of the Council which are not
Contracting Parties to this Convention, and the Secretary General
of the United Nations, of the following:
(a) Notifications under Article 4;
(b) Signatures, ratifications and accessions as referred to in
Article 12;
(c) The date on which the Convention shall enter into force in
accordance with Article 13;
(d) Notifications under Article 14;
(e) Denunciations under Article 15;
(f) Amendments to the Convention recommended under Article 16;
(g) Objections in respect of recommended amendments under
Article 16, and, where appropriate, their withdrawal; and
(h) Amendments accepted under Article 16, and the date of
their entry into force.
Article 20
Registration with the United Nations
This Convention shall be registered with the Secretariat of
the United Nations in accordance with the provisions of
Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations at the request of
the Secretary General of the Council.
In witness thereof the undersigned, being duly authorized
thereto, have signed this Convention.
Done at Brussels on the 14th day of June 1983 in the English
and French languages, both texts being equally authentic, in a
single original which shall be deposited with the Secretary
General of the Council who shall transmit certified copies thereof
to all the States and Customs or Economic Unions referred to in
Article 11.
|
