The World Customs Organisation (WCO) Harmonised System Committee (HSC) held its 61st session from 6-16 March, attended by more than 120 participants representing 67 Contracting Parties to the HS, as well as a number of international and regional organisations.
During this session, the HSC took 275 classification decisions, 251 of which related to pharmaceutical products (International Non-proprietary Names, INN). These decisions apply to a wide range of products covered by the HS Nomenclature as a whole in at least seven different areas.
Productive discussions were held on how to classify products newly released onto the world market, primarily in areas which included cutting-edge technology (for example, 3D printing pens, super luminescent diode modules, communication antennas, equipment for manufacturing LCD modules, a smartphone and an unmanned aerial vehicle).
The HSC also adopted four sets of amendments to the Explanatory Notes and approved 36 new Classification Opinions, and just one Classification Opinion was deleted.
As part of the work to prepare the Seventh Edition of the HS (HS 2022), 30 sets of amendments to the Nomenclature were adopted. Some decisions were submitted to the HS Review Sub-Committee for consideration of possible amendments to the Nomenclature, particularly on issues relating to the environment and human security or for the clarification of texts on the classification of goods such as light-emitting diode products and flat-screen display units.
The HSC also took a number of decisions to refer questions of classification of goods of a scientific nature to the Scientific Sub-Committee for further clarification and detailed examination, such as cell therapy products, for example.