On July 12, the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) published a report on changes to certain HS/CIQ combinations for China. Among other things, new codes for farmed cod have been added, and codes for "Other fresh fillets" and "Other frozen fillets" have been removed.
The listing to China in CIFER requires producers to enter specific commodity codes for the products to be exported. Furthermore, one may experience challenges at border crossings if products are either listed to China under the wrong HS/CIQ combination or lack registration for specific commodity codes.
Changes to HS and CIQ codes that fall under the listing requirements according to Decree 248 can therefore have consequences for producers of these products. See the full report here. See the full list of commodity codes that have been added or removed here to assess whether your business may be affected. The Seafood Council recommends that businesses that may be affected check their approval in CIFER and submit an amendment application if necessary. More information on how this can be done can be found in our Single Window guide linked in the sidebar.
Commodity codes removed
Commodity codes for the following products have been removed: HS 0304490090 and CIQ number 999, as well as HS 0304890090 and CIQ code 999. These codes apply to the category of other frozen and fresh fillets. New commodity codes have the same HS code but have received new CIQ codes to distinguish between farmed and wild-caught. Therefore, if you are previously registered for the HS and CIQ combinations mentioned above, you must submit an amendment application with the new commodity codes.
New commodity codes
In addition to new commodity codes for the category mentioned above, specific codes for farmed cod have now been added. This applies to fresh, frozen, dried, salted, and marinated products. Producers registered for such products are recommended to check the list linked above against their registered products and consider submitting an amendment application.
