HSN amendments to be effective from 1.1.2007 - What’s new?
Is a mobile phone classified in the same heading as a traditional line telephone? Is a multi-function office machine incorporating a scanner, a copier, a printer and a fax to be regarded as a printer, a copier or something else? What is the distinction between a household vacuum cleaner and an industrial vacuum cleaner?
These questions are sought to be answered in the amended Harmonized System, coming into force on 1 January 2007. The HSN is the ultimate in tariff classification and it is supposed to contain a heading for every item in the world. But technology and ingenuity of the human mind do not wait for Customs officers gathered in Brussels to decide classification. Mind boggling and unimaginable products beyond the comprehension of the Tariff makers are hitting the market everyday. Amending the HS is in accordance with the HS Convention, which emphasizes the importance of ensuring that the HS is kept up to date in the light of changes in technology or in patterns of international trade and stipulates that it is for the HS Committee to propose such amendments as may be considered desirable, having regard, in particular, to the needs of users.
The work on the 2007 amendments commenced in the HS Review Sub-Committee in 2000 and the HS Committee finalized the work in May 2004. The amendments, in the form of a draft Recommendation, were subsequently submitted to the WCO Council which adopted the Recommendation at its Sessions in June 2004. The amendments were finally approved by the HS Contracting Parties in January 2005 and will come into force on 1 January 2007.