Trade/Compliance

HS Code Lookup & Compliance

HS code hierarchy, SCOMET/dual-use flags, and how classification feeds duty and compliance rules.

What it is

HS classification is a hierarchy, not a flat code list. A top-level Chapter (2 digits) contains Headings (4 digits), which contain Subheadings (6 digits) — this 6-digit level is the internationally harmonized part. Below that, India adds its own 8-digit tariff line, the actual code a product is classified against. The same hierarchy is reused for services under a parallel SAC (Services Accounting Code) tree.

3

Hierarchy levels — chapter / heading / subheading

8

Digit India HSN tariff line

1

HS code per product — replaces, never adds

HSN (goods) vs SAC (services)

HSN
SAC
Covers
Physical goods
Services
Level 2
Chapter (e.g. 01 — Live Animals)
Group (e.g. 99 — All Services)
Level 4
Heading (e.g. 0101)
Major Head (e.g. 9954)
Level 6
Subheading (e.g. 010121)
Leaf code (e.g. 995411)

Product classification defaults to HSN. The lookup API defaults to the HSN tree unless a caller explicitly asks for SAC.

Attaching a code to a product

A product's HS code is a foreign key to the 8-digit HSN tariff line, not a free-text field — you search and select rather than type. Search matches on both the code and the description text, and each result shows its full chapter → heading → subheading path so an ambiguous description doesn't get misclassified. Country of origin and unit of measure are captured alongside it in the same product-form step, since duty and documentation calculations need all three together.

Note

A product can only carry one HS code at a time. Picking a different one always replaces the current selection — it is a correction, not an addition.
Screenshot pending — HSN search dropdown showing matching codes with hierarchy breadcrumbs
Search results show the full classification path, not just the leaf code.

How classification drives compliance

Once a product's HS code reaches a job (via a quotation line, an order line, and then a job's shipment line item), the code — and the chapter it belongs to — becomes a fact the job's rule engine evaluates. A curated set of HS chapters and prefixes are pre-flagged as export-controlled or restricted: radioactive elements (Chapter 2844) require a SCOMET Category 1 license, certain organic chemicals (2901) can trigger a Chemical Weapons Convention check, wireless/encryption devices (8543.70) need WPC type approval, and arms components (9305) require a SCOMET Category 6 license before they can ship at all. Import jobs check the same way for commodity-specific rules — plant-origin HS chapters trigger a phytosanitary inspection step, pharma chapters trigger a CDSCO license step, and so on.

This isn't a separate engine you configure per product

SCOMET, dual-use and regulatory-authority rules are authored once, centrally, as TradeRule rows matched against a job's HS codes and chapters — not something you set per product. Classifying the product correctly is what makes the right rule fire later; see the Export & Import Job Engine doc for how the engines and rules actually run.

Related

New to classifying products? Start with the HS Code Lookup guide. For how a classified product becomes a catalogue entry, see Products & Catalog.