For importers · February 16, 2026
Certificate or declaration: how to understand what your product needs
How the forms of conformity confirmation differ, and who chooses the right one.
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8 min
The HS code (TN VED) is not a formality in a field of the declaration but the point from which all further requirements diverge: the duty rate, VAT, the need for permit documents, the application of non-tariff regulation measures.
How the code is built
Breakdown of the code 9405 40 990 0 — other LED luminaires
94 — group
2 digits
9405 — heading
4 digits
9405 40 — subheading
6 digits
9405 40 990 0 — commodity sub-subheading
10 digits
The first six digits are the same for the countries of the Harmonized System; the last four are the EAEU breakdown.
What affects classification
- Functional purpose. The main criterion: what the product is intended for, not what it looks like.
- Material. For many groups the material of the body or the base changes the heading altogether.
- Degree of processing. A blank, a semi-finished product and a finished product are classified differently.
- Completeness. A set supplied for retail sale is classified by the item that gives the set its essential character.
Rules of interpretation
Classification is governed by the six General Rules for the Interpretation of the HS code (TN VED). They are applied in sequence: until Rule 1 has worked, you do not move on to Rule 2. That is exactly why “a similar product at a competitor” is a poor guide.
What a mistake threatens
| Situation | Consequence |
|---|---|
| The code understates the duty rate | Additional charges and penalties, administrative liability |
| The code does not require permit documents, but the correct one does | Refusal of release, the cargo held at a temporary storage warehouse |
| The code is stated correctly, but the documents are issued for a different one | Mismatch of information, a request for additional documents |
How to check yourself
- Formulate the purpose of the product in one phrase — without marketing definitions
- Check the notes to the section and the group: they often directly exclude the product from the heading
- Compare the chosen heading with the explanatory notes to the EAEU HS code (TN VED)
- Check whether additional requirements appear for this code — permit documents, licences, quotas
- For large batches, request an advance classification ruling
Advance ruling
If the price of a mistake is high, the classification can be fixed officially: the customs authority issues an advance ruling on the classification of the goods. It is mandatory for application in declaring throughout the territory of the Union and removes the risk of a dispute about the code. The review period and the requirements for the application are set by the Customs Code of the EAEU.
Automatic selection
The platform suggests a code from the description of the product and shows which regulations and documents follow from it — together with the reasoning, so that you can double-check. This speeds up preparation, but does not replace the decision of the customs authority: more on the limitations is in the legal section.
What to do next with the selected code is covered in the article on choosing the form of the document.
How to read the explanatory notes to the nomenclature
The explanatory notes to the EAEU HS code (TN VED) are a multi-volume document that explains exactly what is included in each heading and what is excluded from it. For disputed goods this is the main source of arguments: it is to the explanatory notes that the customs authority refers when it disagrees with the declarant’s code.
- Notes to the section and the group. Read first: they often directly exclude the product from a heading that seems obvious.
- Texts of the headings. Compared literally, word for word, not by meaning.
- Explanatory notes to the subheadings. Clarify the boundaries between close options within one heading.
Disputed cases from practice
| Product | The fork | What decides |
|---|---|---|
| A desk lamp with a USB port | A luminaire or a charging device | The main function is lighting, the port is auxiliary |
| An armchair with a massage function | Furniture or medical equipment | The purpose according to the manufacturer’s documentation |
| A set of tableware with an electric hot plate | Tableware or an electrical appliance | Rule 3b: what gives the set its essential character |
| Sports nutrition | A food product or a dietary supplement | Composition, dosage, claimed effect |
Advice on documents
Collect a file on the product before submitting the declaration: technical description, photographs, composition, instructions, references to the explanatory notes. If a dispute arises, this set answers questions faster than correspondence with the supplier.
How the code is related to other requirements
The code is not an end in itself. Three groups of obligations depend on it: tariff (duty, VAT), non-tariff (licences, quotas, bans) and technical regulation requirements. A mistake in the code brings with it a mistake in the list of regulations, and therefore an incorrect conformity document. How this transition works was covered in the article on product lists.
What the code means in money
Classification is not only about permit documents. The amount you pay at the border depends directly on the code, and the difference between neighbouring sub-subheadings can be several-fold.
| Payment | How it is related to the code |
|---|---|
| Import duty | The rate is tied directly to the code: ad valorem as a percentage, specific per unit, or combined |
| VAT | The standard or preferential rate is determined by lists compiled by codes |
| Excise | For excisable categories — by code and volume |
| Anti-dumping and safeguard duties | Introduced selectively for specific codes and countries of origin |
| Recycling fee | Applied to certain groups defined by code |
A mistake in the code is therefore rarely “just a mistake”: if it reduced payments, the additional charge is calculated for the whole period of deliveries, not only the last one. The situation when a company imported for years under a “convenient” code and then received an additional charge on all declarations is typical.
Goods in disassembled form and incomplete articles
A separate fork that people remember when the cargo is already at a temporary storage warehouse. The rules of interpretation provide that an incomplete or unfinished article is classified as the finished one if it has its essential character. The same applies to goods supplied disassembled or unassembled.
- Equipment split into several deliveries. If one machine is assembled from the parts, it will not work to classify by individual units — customs will put them back together on paper.
- Furniture in flat packaging. It is classified as a finished article, not as a set of parts.
- An article without a non-essential element. The absence of an auxiliary part does not move the product to another heading.
- Spare parts and components separately. If they are indeed supplied as spare parts, classification follows its own rules — but the burden of justification lies with the declarant.
How this works for retail sets is covered in the article on sets and kits.
If customs does not agree with the code
The customs authority has the right to take a classification decision on its own if it considers the declared code wrong. This is not a verdict, but you must act quickly — the cargo is standing in the meantime.
- Request the decision in writing: it must contain reasoning with references to the notes and explanatory notes
- Assess whether there is anything to object to on the merits — and not only “it is more expensive for us this way”
- Collect evidence: technical description, composition, purpose, manufacturer’s documents, an expert opinion
- Consider releasing the goods against security for payment of the charges, so as not to hold the cargo
- If you disagree — appeal the decision to a higher authority or to court
The main lesson from practice: arguing after the fact is more expensive and takes longer than obtaining an advance classification ruling once. Especially when it concerns regular deliveries of the same product — more about this tool.
A file on the product
It is useful to keep a folder for each item: photographs, the manufacturer’s technical description, composition and materials, purpose, instructions, references to the notes and explanatory notes, the justification of the chosen code. When customs makes a request, the answer takes an hour, not a week of correspondence with the supplier.
The nomenclature changes
The HS code (TN VED) is not carved in stone: headings are introduced, merged and removed. A code under which you have imported for two years may cease to exist or change its content, and outwardly this does not show — until a declaration is rejected.
What to do about it:
- Check that codes are up to date before the start of the delivery season, not on the day the declaration is submitted
- Remember that a change of code brings with it the list of regulations, and therefore the conformity documents
- Take into account that an advance ruling is valid as long as the classification on which it is based is valid
The chain “code → regulations → documents” breaks exactly here: the code has changed, but the declaration was issued for the old list of regulations. How this transition works was covered in the article on product lists.
Check your product
Describe your product in plain words — the system will show the expected HS code (TN VED), the applicable regulations and the set of documents. Start the check.
