On 28 October 2016, the WCO released the 2017 edition of the HS Nomenclature, the world’s global standard for classifying goods in international trade, which will enter into force on 01 January 2017.
Used by over 200 countries and economic or Customs unions as well as by international organisations such as the United Nations Statistical Division (UNSD) and the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the HS Convention currently has 154 Contracting Parties, making it the WCO’s most successful instrument to date.
The 2017 Edition of the HS Nomenclature includes 242 sets of amendments (including some complementary amendments): 85 relating to the agricultural sector; 45 to the chemical sector; 22 to the wood sector; 15 to the textile sector; 6 to the base metal sector; 25 to the machinery sector; 18 to the transport sector; an additional 26 that apply to a variety of other sectors; and a total of 5,387 separate groups of goods identified by a 6-digit code (compared to 5,205 in the 2012 edition).