Also called tariff classification, HTS code, CBSA
What is a Harmonized System code?
The international number that classifies a product for customs, and decides the duty on it.
What else it is called
- Other names
- tariff classification, HTS code, CBSA
- In French
- code du Système harmonisé
Related entries
Understanding harmonized System code
The number that tells a customs authority what your product is. The first six digits are set internationally through the World Customs Organization and mean the same thing in every member country; Canada adds further digits for its own tariff rates and trade statistics, giving a ten-digit classification on an import declaration.
Two things about it catch Canadian manufacturers out. The classification is the importer’s legal responsibility even when a broker keyed it in, and brokers classify from the description you gave them. And the code drives both the rate of duty and whether a preferential trade agreement can be claimed, so an error is expensive in both directions: quietly overpaying duty for years, or underpaying and being corrected all at once with interest.
The Canada Border Services Agency issues advance rulings on classification. For any product you ship in volume, that is the cheapest certainty available, and it binds the agency rather than merely reassuring you.
In practice
An advance ruling from the Canada Border Services Agency converts an argument you might lose later into a decision you can rely on. Worth it for any product you ship in volume.
Frequently asked
Who is responsible if the classification is wrong?
The importer of record. Using a customs broker does not transfer the liability, and the broker classified from your product description - so the quality of what you tell them is the control you actually have.
How far back can the Canada Border Services Agency reassess?
Years, not months, and with interest and penalties on top of the duty. This is why a classification you are unsure about is worth an advance ruling now rather than a hopeful entry repeated for five years.