ITC Requests Proposals to Amend the International HS in 2017
The International Trade Commission has issued a notice requesting proposals from interested parties and agencies to amend the international Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (Harmonized System, HS)1, with a view to keeping the HS current with changes in technology and trade patterns.
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The proposals will be reviewed by the ITC, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Department of Commerce (Bureau of the Census), for potential submission by the U.S. Government to the WCO in Brussels, Belgium.
Proposals are due by November 1, 2010.
Results of Fifth HS Review Cycle Expected To Take Effect January 2017
ITC is seeking proposals to amend the HS in connection with the Fifth Review Cycle of the WCO's HS Review Subcommittee (RSC). The fifth review began in 2010 with an expected implementation date for changes of January 1, 2017, for the U.S. and other WCO members. This review began with a view to examining proposals to amend the HS for inclusion in a WCO Recommendation to be issued in June 2014.
(The RSC began a series of systematic reviews of the entire HS in 1988. Four such reviews have been completed, resulting in WCO Recommendations that countries using the HS (including the U.S.) update their national tariffs to reflect international amendments.)
Resulting Changes Are Not Intended to Affect Tariff Rates
ITC states that changes in the HS that will result from this review cycle are not intended to affect tariff rates.
ITC Seeks Proposals for Changes to HS, Such as Simplification
ITC is seeking proposals for specific modifications to the HS (including the rules of interpretation, section and chapter notes, and the texts of 4-digit headings and 6-digit subheadings) that will further the goals set out by the HS Convention.
Interested parties, associations, and government agencies should submit specific language for proposed amendments to the HS, together with appropriate descriptive comments and, to the extent available, relevant trade data.
As part of this review, ITC particularly invites proposals concerning the following:
the deletion of HS headings or subheadings with low trade volume,
the separate identification of new products important in international trade, and/or
the simplification of the HS, e.g., by the elimination of classification provisions that are difficult to administer.
ITC Will Not Consider Proposals for Changes to National-Level Provisions
No proposals for changes to U.S. national-level provisions (including Additional U.S. Notes, 8-digit subheadings, 10-digit statistical annotations, and rates of duty) will be considered by ITC as part of this review.
In addition, ITC is not soliciting proposals for changes to the HS Explanatory Notes, which are maintained by the WCO. However, requests for changes to the Explanatory Notes (not arising from proposed legal amendments to the HS) may be sent by a WCO member administration directly to the WCO's Harmonized System Committee at any time.
1The HS comprises the broadest levels of categories in the HTS - the General Rules of Interpretation (GRIs), Section and Chapter titles, Section and Chapter legal notes, and heading and subheading texts to the 6-digit level of detail. Additional U.S. Notes, further subdivisions (8-digit subheadings and 10-digit statistical annotations) and statistical notes, as well as the entirety of chapters 98 and 99 and several appendixes, are national legal and statistical detail added for the administration of the U.S. tariff and statistical programs and are not part of this review process.
(See ITT's Online Archives or 07/21/09 news, 09072115, for BP summary of the WCO approving 2012 amendments to the HS.
See ITT's Online Archives or 08/30/05 news, 05083005, for BP summary of ITC's 2005 request for proposals to amend the HS in 2012 as part of the WCO fourth review.
See ITT's Online Archives or 10/25/06 news, 06102530, for final part of BP's 35-part series of summaries of the WCO recommended changes resulting from the third review cycle, with links to previous parts.)
- Proposals due by 11/01/10
ITC contact - David Beck (202) 205-2603 or david.beck@usitc.gov
ITC notice (D/N 1210-5, FR Pub 02/01/10) available at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-1913.pdf