AUSTRALIAN HARMONIZED EXPORT COMMODITY CLASSIFICATION (AHECC)2002 Edition

This edition of the AHECC becomes operative on 1 January 2002.

The ABS has recently completed a review of the AHECC to incorporate changes required as a result of a World Customs Organization (WCO) review of the international Harmonized Description and Coding System (Harmonized System or HS). Australia and most countries throughout the world use the HS as the basis for the classification of internationally traded goods as they pass their country's customs frontier.

Australia extends the 6-digit international HS by two digits to classify exports using the AHECC. The extensions are for statistical purposes, to provide a finer level of detail to meet Australian user requirements, with the statistical codes maintained by the ABS.

As well as the changes brought about by the international review, this new edition of the AHECC reflects a number of other changes:

some codes have been combined as a result of a review of the need for the existing statistical codes for low value exports;there are no asterisks to identify changes to the AHECC codes due to the extensive nature of the changes; and,an updated index has not been included. A review of the index is expected to be completed for inclusion with the July 2002 replacement pages.

Due to the significance of the changes made, the ABS has reprinted the entire AHECC. Please replace the contents of your AHECC folder with the accompanying pages. Coloured section dividers have been included to make replacing AHECC sections easier. You will need to retain the tabbed section dividers.

The 2002 edition of the AHECC will be the last version released by the ABS as a paper publication. Future releases of replacement pages and new editions will be made electronically from the ABS web site. The first will be the AHECC Replacement pages (Cat. no. 1233.0.00.001) to take effect on 1 July 2002.

Subscribers should check the International Trade theme page on the ABS web site for the most recent information relating to the AHECC and other developments in international trade statistics (www.abs.gov.au, see Themes, International Trade). If you have any queries regarding your AHECC subscription, please contact Subscription Services, by phone 1300 366 323, by fax (03) 9615 7848 or by email subscriptions@abs.gov.au

December 2001

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AUSTRALIAN HARMONIZED

EXPORT

COMMODITY CLASSIFICATION

(AHECC)

2002 EDITION

Dennis TrewinAustralian Statistician

Australian Bureau of StatisticsEmbargo : 11:30AM Thursday 13 December 2001

ABS Cat. no. 1233.0ISBN 0 642 47752 3

Commonwealth of Australia 2001

This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission from AusInfo. Requests or inquiries concerning reproduction should by addressed to the Manager, Legislative Services, AusInfo, GPO Box 84, Canberra, ACT 2601.

In all cases the ABS must be acknowledged as the source when reproducing or quoting any part of an ABS publication or other product.

Produced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics

AUSTRALIAN HARMONIZED EXPORT COMMODITY CLASSIFICATION

2002 EDITION

PART CONTENTS PAGE

1 INTRODUCTION AND EXPLANATORY PAGES

1.1 Purpose of the AHECC E/011.2 General rules for the interpretation of the Harmonized System E/021.3 Classifying goods to the AHECC E/031.4 Chapters 98 and 99 of the AHECC E/041.5 Instructions for completing an export entry E/051.6 Confidentiality of trade statistics E/171.7 Requests for changes to statistical code E/171.8 Availability of trade statistics E/181.9 Contact officers E/19

2 SUMMARY OF CLASSIFICATION, CODES AND ABBREVIATIONS

2.1 Summary of classification A/012.2 Units of quantity A/062.3 Abbreviations A/072.4 Invoice currency codes A/082.5 Australian port codes A/092.6 Countries of Final Destination and alphabetic codes A/11

3 KEY OF CHANGES K/01

4 INDEX OF COMMODITIES I/01

5 DETAILED EXPORT COMMODITY CLASSIFICATION

Section 1-3 01/01Section 4-5 16/01Section 6 28/01Section 7 39/01Section 8-10 41/01Section 11-12 50/01Section 13-15 68/01Section 16 84/01Section 17-21 86/01Chapter 98-99 98/01

E/01

1. INTRODUCTION AND EXPLANATORY NOTES

1.1 PURPOSE OF THE AHECC

The Australian Harmonized Export Commodity Classification (AHECC) is designed:

for use by exporters and agents to classify goods when providing export declarations to Australian Customs Service (Customs); andto assist users in the interpretation of export statistics published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The AHECC is based on the 6-digit items of the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (Harmonized System or HS). The HS is a broad classification system of approximately 5,000 6-digit headings which are used to classify internationally traded goods as they enter or leave a country. It was developed and is maintained by the World Customs Organization (WCO). First introduced on 1 January 1988, it has been adopted by most trading nations, including Australia. It enables information on traded goods to be compared internationally.

Australia expands the international HS to produce two different classifications for imports and exports. These classifications are the Combined Australian Customs Tariff Nomenclature and Statistical Classification (referred to as the Customs Tariff or simply the Tariff) and the Australian Harmonized Export Commodity Classification (referred to as the AHECC).

The extensions to the HS exist:

for Customs purposes, to differentiate between imported goods grouped under a single 6-digit HS code. Such differentiation is generally driven by the need to impose varying import duty rates on similar goods. This is achieved by adding two digits to the HS code, making an 8-digit code. This extension to the HS is maintained by Customs.for statistical purposes, to provide a finer level of detail. This is achieved by adding two digits to the combination of HS and Customs 8-digit codes for imports and to the 6-digit HS codes for exports. The statistical codes are maintained by the ABS.

The international HS is subject to ongoing review by the WCO to ensure it:

reflects newly developed commodities and changes in the types of commodities traded;meets administrative requirements (for example for the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)); andminimises the burden on data providers by requesting only the level of detail that is administratively and statistically relevant.

Major changes to the international HS are implemented every four or five years. The first set of major changes was made on 1 January 1992 and impacted almost exclusively on the Explanatory Notes used to interpret the HS. The next round of major changes to the HS was implemented on 1 January 1996. The third set of revisions was postponed from 1 January 2000 and will be implemented on 1 January 2002.

In addition to incorporating amendments to the Harmonized System, changes to the statistical items are introduced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) for a variety of reasons. These reasons may include the rationalisation of units of quantity; the creation of more meaningful descriptors for existing statistical items; the creation of additional codes to accommodate changes in technology and user requests; or the amalgamation of codes which are recording minimal volumes of trade.

E/02

1.2 GENERAL RULES FOR THE INTERPRETATION OF THE HARMONIZED SYSTEM

Rules for classification of goods in the Harmonized System are prescribed in Schedule 2 of the Customs Tariff. These rules are applicable to the AHECC and are reproduced below.