The Combined Nomenclature (CN) is a tool for classifying goods, set up to meet the requirements of the Common Customs Tariff (CCT) and the EU's trade statistics. It is a further development of the World Customs Organization's Harmonized System nomenclature.
The CN is used to classify most goods when they are declared to customs in the EU. CN subheadings stated in declarations for imported and exported goods determine:
- which rate of customs duty applies
- how the goods are treated for statistical purposes or for other EU policies
What’s in the Combined Nomenclature?
The Combined Nomenclature includes:
- preliminary provisions (general rules for classification, rules related to duties or to nomenclatures, etc.)
- descriptions of the goods
- additional section/chapter notes and footnotes relating to CN subdivisions
- conventional duty rates – the EU tariff commitments in the WTO, and some EU autonomous duties
- supplementary units
- a set of tariff-related annexes (agriculture, chemistry, etc.) and a special coding system (Chapters 98 and 99).
- Each subdivision of the nomenclature is known as a ‘CN code’. It has an 8-digit code number followed by a description and a duty rate, and where relevant, a supplementary unit. CN codes may be accompanied by additional notes to indicate EU-specific additions to the Harmonized System. See illustration and example below
| Chapter in the Harmonized System (HS) | 2 digits | e.g. ‘Chapter 18 Cocoa and Cocoa Preparations’ |
| HS heading | 4 digits | e.g. ‘1806 Chocolate and other food preparations containing cocoa’ |
| HS subheading | 6 digits | e.g. ‘1806 10 — Cocoa powder, containing added sugar or sweetening matter’ |
| CN subheading | 8 digits | e.g. ‘1806 10 15 — — Containing no sucrose or containing less than 5 % by weight of sucrose (including invert sugar expressed as sucrose) or isoglucose expressed as sucrose’ |
Additional notes are EU-specific development of the Harmonized System notes:
| Harmonized System (WCO-International) |
 |
| EU-specific detail |
 |
To request an amendment to the combined nomenclature, find more details in the Code of conduct for the management of the Combined Nomenclature.
Legal texts
Explanatory notes
The CN can be interpreted with the aid of the explanatory notes, which explain the scope of the various tariff headings. The explanatory notes are established by Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87. They are not legally binding.
Explanatory notes to the Combined Nomenclature of the EU
Updates
Every year, Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 is updated and published as a stand-alone Regulation in the EU's Official Journal. Such updates include any changes agreed at the international level – either at the World Customs Organization (WCO) with regards to the Harmonized System (HS), or at the World Trade Organization (WTO) with regards to conventional duty rates. Other changes may be required to reflect the evolution of, for example, commercial policy, technological or statistical requirements.