commodity code finder

What is a Commodity Code?

Commodity codes are used to define an items purpose and material it’s made from i.e. a kettle maybe called a kettle but its commodity description would be an electrical machinery-other thermic devices used for domestic purposes but if made of copper it will be a completely different code.

Commodity codes are mainly used for tax and duties purposes. Depending on what the goods are determines the tariff (what percentage of the value of goods) will be applied as duty. Commodity codes are also used by couriers and security to ascertain exactly what is in a package very quickly; therefore adding a commodity code speeds up the screening process.

TIP: always add commodity codes. You may get tax relief on certain items saving you money, it also helps stop delays. Security looks at packages and puts any aside that they are unsure about and then towards the end of the day check them. If they don’t have enough time your parcel may miss its flight and be delayed by a day.

When using our system you can store names of goods and their commodity codes so that if you regularly send the same goods it saves a lot of time.

Finding Commodity Codes

There are three ways to go about this:

• 1. Type the name of your good followed by ‘commodity codes’ into a search engine i.e. ‘wooden table commodity code’. Quite often you we see a search result that has the right code. You should double check this with method two.
• 2. Go to https://www.gov.uk/trade-tariff/sections. You can either type in the name of your goods into the search bar or look at the table below the search bar and find the category the best describes your goods. Each time you click on a category another one will appear that gets closer to the exact description of your goods until you have a full commodity code.

Finding a bamboo chopping board:

• Section IX: Wood and articles of wood; wood charcoal; cork and articles of cork; manufactures of straw, of esparto or of other plaiting materials; basket-ware and wickerwork
• 44 Wood and articles of wood; wood charcoal
• 19 tableware and kitchenware of wood
• Bread boards, chopping boards and similar boards 44 19 110000

So the commodity code for a bamboo chopping board is 44 19 110000

This can be tricky at first to get your head around. The best tip is to go through every category on the page and then decide which one best suits your goods for each page.

• 3. We are always here to help and you are finding it hard to follow.