Amendments to the Harmonized System Explanatory Notes

The following list contains the decisions taken by the Harmonized System Committee
(36th Session – September 2005) concerning amendments to the Harmonized
System Explanatory Notes. This publication will be updated regularly.

The Harmonized System Explanatory Notes are published by WCO in 4 volumes and
reflect the official interpretation of the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding
System. They also contain the text of the Subheading Explanatory Notes indicating
the scope and content of certain of the Harmonized System Subheadings. The
Explanatory Notes are available in English and French, the two official languages of
the WCO, and can be ordered directly (see “Bookshop” on this Web site). They are
also available on-line.

The amendments listed below are reproduced in the order of the current pages
concerned and will be incorporated into the aforementioned WCO publications in due
time by replacing the pages affected by the amendments made.

Advice
Parties seeking to import or export merchandise covered by a decision are advised to
verify the implementation of the decision by the importing or exporting country, as the
case may be.

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º º

CHAPTER 15.

Page 132. Heading 15.17. Heading text.

Add “(+)” after “HEADING 15.16”.

Page 133. Heading 15.17. New Subheading Explanatory Note.

Insert the following new Subheading Explanatory Note at the end of the present Note :

“°
° °

Subheading Explanatory Note.

Subheadings 1517.10 and 1517.90

For the purposes of subheadings 1517.10 and 1517.90, the physical properties of margarine shall
be determined by means of visual examination at a temperature of 10 °C. ”

CHAPTER 20.

Page 173. Heading 20.09. Last paragraph. Last sentence.

French text only.

Copyright © 2005 World Customs Organization. All rights reserved. Requests and inquiries concerning
translation, reproduction and adaptation rights should be addressed to copyright@wcoomd.org.
CHAPTER 21.

Page 177. Heading 21.02. Item (B). New second paragraph.

Insert the following new second paragraph :

“Certain products of this group may be put up as food supplements for human
consumption or animal feeding (e.g., in powder or tablet form) and may contain small
quantities of excipients, e.g., stabilising agents and anti-oxidants. Such products remain
classified here provided that the addition of such ingredients does not alter their character as
micro-organisms.”

Page 183. Heading 21.06. Item (16). Last paragraph (exclusions).

Delete and substitute :

“The heading further excludes :

(a) Preparations made from fruit, nuts or other edible parts of plants of heading 20.08, provided that the essential
character of the preparations is given by such fruit, nuts or other edible parts of plants (heading 20.08).

(b) Micro-organisms of heading 21.02 put up as food supplements for human consumption (heading 21.02).”

CHAPTER 22.

Page 186. Heading 22.01. Item (C).

French text only.

CHAPTER 26.

Page 240. Heading 26.21. Second paragraph. Item (1).

Delete and substitute :

“(1) Ash and clinker of mineral origin produced primarily from burning coal, lignite, peat or oil
in utility boilers. Its principal uses are as a raw material for cement manufacture, as a
supplement to cement in concrete, in mine backfill, as a mineral filler in plastics and
paints, as a lightweight aggregate in building block manufacture and in civil engineering
structures such as embankments, highway ramps and bridge abutments. It includes :
(a) Fly ash – finely divided particles entrained in furnace flue gases and removed from
the gas stream by bag or electrostatic filters;

(b) Bottom ash – more coarse ash removed by settlement from the gas stream
immediately after leaving the furnace;

(c) Boiler slag – coarse residues removed from the bottom of the furnace;

(d) Fluidised bed combustor ash (FBC-ash) - inorganic residues from burning coal or oil
in a fluidised bed of limestone or of dolomite.”

Copyright © 2005 World Customs Organization. All rights reserved. Requests and inquiries concerning
translation, reproduction and adaptation rights should be addressed to copyright@wcoomd.org.
CHAPTER 28.

Page 336. Heading 28.38. First paragraph.

1. Delete “cyanic acid (HO-C=N)” and substitute “cyanic acid (HO-C≡N)”.

2. Delete “thiocyanic acid (HS-C=N)” and substitute “thiocyanic acid (HS-C≡N)”.

Page 337. Heading 28.38. Part (C). First paragraph.

Delete “thiocyanic acid (HS-C=N)” and substitute “thiocyanic acid (HS-C≡N)”.

Page 345. Heading 28.41. Last paragraph. Exclusion (a).

Delete and substitute :

“(a) Precious metals (heading 28.43). ”

CHAPTER 38.

Page 683. Heading 38.08. Last paragraph. Exclusion (a) (iv).

French text only.

Page 703. Heading 38.24. Part (B). New Item (48).

Insert the following new Item (48) :

“(48) Mono-alkyl esters of long chain fatty acids derived from vegetable oils or animal fats
(so-called “biodiesel”) and used, in particular, as fuel for compression-ignition internal
combustion piston engines.

Blended products containing by weight 70 % or more of petroleum oils or of oils obtained from
bituminous minerals fall in heading 27.10.”

CHAPTER 49.

Page 906. Heading 49.07. Part (D). Last sentence.

Delete and substitute :

“It includes banknotes which, at the time of presentation, are not yet or are no longer legal
tender in any country. However, banknotes which are collectors’ pieces or which form a
collection, are classified in heading 97.05.”

CHAPTER 51.

Page 938. Heading 51.10. First paragraph. Item (2).

Delete and substitute :

Copyright © 2005 World Customs Organization. All rights reserved. Requests and inquiries concerning
translation, reproduction and adaptation rights should be addressed to copyright@wcoomd.org.
“(2) Yarns of horsehair. These yarns are obtained by spinning, generally using the shorter
horsehairs (those from the manes of equine animals or the tails of bovine animals). The
much longer horsehairs from the tails of equine animals cannot be spun. They are often
knotted end to end, forming continuous filaments which are used as the warp thread in
the manufacture of certain horsehair fabrics. In view of their use, filaments of this kind
are also classified in this heading. However, single horsehairs (not tied end to end) fall
in heading 05.03.

Horsehair yarns consisting of a bundle of horsehairs bound or gimped with yarn of

cotton or of another textile material remain classified in this heading.”

CHAPTER 57.

Page 1004. Heading 57.03. New second paragraph.

Insert the following new second paragraph :

“The heading also covers tufted carpets and other tufted textile floor coverings made
using a tufting gun or made by hand.”

CHAPTER 84.

Page 1602. Heading 84.79. Part (III). Item (11).

Delete “(other than hand tools of Chapter 82)” and substitute “, other than hand tools of
Chapter 82”.

Page 1608. Heading 84.81. Item (16).

French text only.

CHAPTER 90.

Page 1808. Heading 90.18. Item (2).

Delete “with electrosurgical instruments referred to in paragraph (6) below” and substitute “with
electro-surgical instruments referred in paragraph (7) below”.

Page 1811. Heading 90.19. Part (IV). Paragraph.

Delete and substitute :

“This apparatus provides for the treatment of diseases of the respiratory organs by using
the therapeutic properties of ozone (chemical formula O3), e.g., by inhaling.”

CHAPTER 95.

Page 1916. Heading 95.04. First paragraph. Item (2).

Delete and substitute :

Copyright © 2005 World Customs Organization. All rights reserved. Requests and inquiries concerning
translation, reproduction and adaptation rights should be addressed to copyright@wcoomd.org.
“(2) Video game consoles and other electronic games which can be used with a television
receiver, a video monitor or an automatic data processing machine monitor; video games
having a self-contained screen, whether or not portable; and audio visual games with
electronic displays (including vertical models on legs) used in the home or in game
arcades, sometimes operated, for example, by coins, tokens or credit cards.

Video game machines whose objective characteristics and principal function are such
that they are intended for entertainment purposes (game-playing) remain classified in
this heading, whether or not they fulfil the conditions of Note 5 (A) to Chapter 84
regarding automatic data processing machines.”

Page 1917. Heading 95.04. Exclusions paragraph. Exclusion (b).

Delete exclusion (b).

Reletter present exclusions (c) and (d) as (b) and (c), respectively.

CHAPTER 97.

Page 1947. Heading 97.05. Part (C).

1. First paragraph. First line.

Delete and substitute :

“These are coins, banknotes which are no longer legal tender, other than those of
heading 49.07, and medals presented as collections or as separate pieces; in the latter”.

2. Exclusions. New last paragraph.

Insert the following new last paragraph :

“Banknotes which are no longer legal tender, and which are not regarded as collectors’ pieces nor as
forming a collection, are classified in heading 49.07.”

_____________

Copyright © 2005 World Customs Organization. All rights reserved. Requests and inquiries concerning
translation, reproduction and adaptation rights should be addressed to copyright@wcoomd.org.