HS code for food supplements: heading 2106 or 3004, and how to get a binding answer

Sources read for the table: UK Trade Tariff, EU TARIC and EBTI. See the Sources block for dates.

Which HS code do food supplements go under?

In the UK Trade Tariff, tablets and capsules sold as food supplements go to heading 2106, which is titled "Food preparations not elsewhere specified or included". The rule sits in Additional Chapter Note 5 to chapter 21, with the reservation "unless elsewhere specified or included". The heading is where the search starts; the full code is longer and depends on the product and the importing country.

This note is part of the UK tariff; whether the importing country's tariff has the same rule, your broker confirms. We are a manufacturer of food supplements, not a customs broker, and this article shows what the public tariff text says. It gives no duty rate and does not state a code for your product, because the importing country's customs applies its own tariff.

What does note 1(a) of chapter 30 say about food supplements?

Note 1(a) says that chapter 30 does not cover "foods or beverages (such as dietetic, diabetic or fortified foods, food supplements, tonic beverages and mineral waters), other than nutritional preparations for intravenous administration (Section IV)". Chapter 30 is the pharmaceutical chapter of the tariff, and the note names food supplements among the goods that stay out of it. A supplement tablet therefore starts its search outside chapter 30.

The UK Trade Tariff is a national copy of the Harmonized System, the nomenclature set by the World Customs Organization. The WCO's tools with the Explanatory Notes are available by subscription, so check the wording of the note against the tariff of the importing country before you quote it in a contract.

What does the UK note on heading 2106 say about tablets and capsules?

Additional Chapter Note 5 to chapter 21 says: "Other food preparations presented in measured doses, such as capsules, tablets, pastilles and pills, and which are intended for use as food supplements are to be classified under heading 2106, unless elsewhere specified or included". Three tests sit in that sentence: a food preparation, a measured dose, and an intended use as a food supplement. A product has to pass all three.

Heading 2106 itself is titled "Food preparations not elsewhere specified or included", and the note is a UK national note. Two points follow from reading it closely:

• The note names capsules, tablets, pastilles and pills. It does not name softgels, powders, sachets, effervescent tablets, syrups or oils. Your broker confirms where each of those goes.
• "Unless elsewhere specified or included" means a more specific heading can take the product first. That is why a heading from a text is a starting point and a confirmed code is the answer.

Does a blister, a bottle or a sachet change the code?

The UK note turns on measured doses and on intended use, and it does not mention packaging at all. A tablet sold in a blister with a printed carton and the same tablet in a bottle are described by the same sentence. Whether a particular customs office treats the packing as relevant, your broker or importer confirms.

The pack still matters for the paperwork. A blister run with a printed carton is counted in cartons and blisters, a bottle run in bottles, a powder in kilograms. Ask your broker how the goods description on the invoice and the packing list should read, and send us the specification you both work from.

Is the UK code the same as the EU code or the code in the country I sell to?

No. The UK Trade Tariff, the EU's TARIC and the tariff of an importing country are separate national or union tariffs built on the Harmonized System. EU codes run to ten digits, so the four digit heading 2106 is only the start. The digits beyond the common level, and the duties attached to them, are set by each tariff, and a national note such as the UK one may have no twin elsewhere.

For a seller in Africa or the Gulf, the code that counts is the one in the tariff of the country where the goods are cleared. Your importer or customs broker there confirms it. Export documents lists what else travels with the batch, and the pre-arrival systems of Egypt, Nigeria and Kenya are covered in the article on pre-arrival filings.

Could a vitamin tablet be classified under 3004 instead of 2106?

The tariff text we read points the other way for food supplements: note 1(a) takes foods and food supplements out of chapter 30, and heading 3004 sits inside that chapter. So for a product that is a food supplement, 3004 is not where the text sends it. The question changes if the importing country treats the product as a medicine, because then the starting point is not the supplement rule at all.

That is a regulatory status question, not a tariff question, and it is settled by the authority of the importing country. Several markets draw their own line between food and medicine, for example in the Gulf; see the Middle East page. Your importer confirms the status of your product before the code is chosen, since the two answers go together.

How do I get a binding answer on the code?

In the EU, apply for Binding Tariff Information (BTI). EU customs can issue it, and the EBTI database gives access to BTI decisions. The EBTI page is the starting point: https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dds2/ebti/ebti_home.jsp?Lang=en.

For other countries, the route depends on the importing country's customs. Your importer confirms whether an advance ruling exists there and how to request it. What to prepare for any such request is the same:

• the product name and the dosage form (tablet, capsule, powder, sachet, effervescent, syrup or oil);
• the composition from the specification;
• the dose per unit and the count per pack;
• the intended use stated as a food supplement, as it will appear on the carton;
• the pack type (blister with carton, bottle, sachet).

What does your situation decide?

Each line shows what a choice costs in time or risk, not in money.

What do we need from you for the documents?

Send us the code your broker has confirmed, with the product, the dosage form and the countries of sale, in your enquiry. Ask your broker how the goods description should read. Each batch carries its Certificate of Analysis and specification. If your importer's file asks for a code in a particular format, say so in the enquiry.

Questions buyers ask about HS codes for supplements

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Export documents · For distributors and importers · North Africa · Middle East