On 23 September 2024, the European Commission published the proposal to amend the EU Combined Nomenclature (“CN”). We set our below key updates in this proposal:
- To facilitate the monitoring of specific goods arising from changes in requirements relating to statistics, commercial policy, technological and commercial developments, the following new subheadings will be introduced in the CN:
- New subheading for ‘sharks and shark fins’ in Chapter 3;
- New subheading for ‘tomatoes’ in Chapter 7;
- New subheading for ‘biofuels’ in Chapter 27;
- New subheading for ‘liquid urea’ in Chapter 31;
- New subheadings for ‘wood waste’ and ‘laminate floor covering’ in Chapter 44;
- New subheading for ‘steel laminations and stator and rotor cores’ in Chapter 85.
- In addition, given recommendations by the World Customs Organization, new subheadings in Chapter 27 and 29 will be introduced.
- Chapter 85 will be simplified (i.e., by removing additional note 2 on the definition of ‘modem’ for the purposes of subheadings 8528 71 15 and 8528 71 91 as part of the implementation of the Information Technology Agreement.
- To provide clarity and avoid misinterpretation, product descriptions under the following will be amended: (a) CN 1518 00 95; (b) additional note 2 to Chapter 76; and (c) supplementary unit for CN 2903 41 00 and 2903 42 00.
- Additional notes 1, 2 and 5 to Chapter 23 to will be amended to facilitate the sampling and analysis for the official control of feed.
- A supplementary unit will be introduced for mammals classified under CN 0106 19 00.
The declaration of goods upon import, export, or when subject to intra-Community trade statistics between EU Member States is based on the CN. This sets the customs duty rate that is applicable as well as determines how the products are handled for statistical purposes. Therefore, the CN is an essential working instrument for industry and the customs authorities of the EU Member States.
The proposal for the CN 2025 can be found here. We expect the Implementing Regulation to be published in the EU Official Journal within a month. The amended version of the CN will apply from 1 January 2025.
