CBP Bulletin Notice on the 50th Session of the WCO HSC

September 6, 2012 by Tim Warren|Customs

In the Sept. 5 issue of the CBP Bulletin (Vol. 46, No. 37), CBP issued a notice detailing the dates and draft agenda for the 50th Session of the World Customs Organization's Harmonized System Committee, which will meet in Brussels on Sept. 19-28.

(Among other things, the HSC (1) issues classification decisions on the interpretation of the Harmonized System (HS) in the form of published tariff classification opinions or amendments to the Explanatory Notes, and (2) considers amendments to the legal text of the HS.)

The draft list of agenda items includes (partial list):

Report by the Secretariat. (partial list):

Approval of decisions taken by the Harmonized System Committee at its 49th Session.
Capacity building activities of the Nomenclature and Classification Sub-Directorate.
Cooperation with other international organizations.
New information provided on the WCO website.

General questions. (partial list):

New version of the HS Commodity Data Base: Electronic version of the HS Alphabetical Index and the Classification Decisions taken by the Harmonized System Committee
Possible amendment of Article 8 of the HS Convention with a view to removing the Council from its purely administrative role with regard to HS reservations, and to making the fast-track procedure the default reservation procedure
Revised revenue package.

Classification opinions. Amendments to the Compendium of Classification Opinions to reflect the decision to classify (partial list):

“HALVA Sesame Snack with Honey” in subheading 1704.90
“Nervinetas” in subheading 3004.90
“PermaNet” mosquito nets in subheading 6304.91
Ceiling type “split-system” air conditioner in subheading 8415.10

Further studies. (partial list):

Possible amendments to the Explanatory Note to heading 30.02
Classification of “cobalt manganese nickel hydroxide (CoMnNi(OH)2)” used for lithium-ion batteries (Request by Japan)
Possible amendments to the Explanatory Notes in respect of the term “roes”
Classification of certain types of tripods
Classification of “Xanthan Gum” (Request by India).

New questions. (partial list):

Possible misalignment between Note 2 (a) (5) and the last paragraph of Note 4 to Chapter 59
Classification of water bottles for bicycles
Classification of roof-mounted cargo boxes for motor vehicles

(Copies of available agenda-item documents may be obtained from either Joan Jackson (with CBP) at (202) 325-0010 or Fred Schottman (with the International Trade Commission) at (202) 205-2077.)