Archived – Standard Classification of Goods (SCG) - Notes 1996-2001

Section VI:  Products of the chemical or allied industries

Notes.

    1. Goods (other than radioactive ores) answering to a description in heading No. 28.44 or 28.45 are to be classified in those headings and in no other heading of the Classification.
    2. Subject to paragraph (a) above, goods answering to a description in heading No. 28.43 or 28.46 are to be classified in those headings and in no other heading of this Section.
  1. Subject to Note 1 above, goods classifiable in heading No. 30.04, 30.05, 30.06, 32.12, 33.03, 33.04, 33.05, 33.06, 33.07, 35.06, 37.07 or 38.08 by reason of being put up in measured doses or for retail sale are to be classified in those headings and in no other heading of the Classification.
  2. Goods put up in sets consisting of two or more separate constituents, some or all of which fall in this Section and are intended to be mixed together to obtain a product of Section VI or VII, are to be classified in the heading appropriate to that product, provided that the constituents are:
    1. having regard to the manner in which they are put up, clearly identifiable as being intended to be used together without first being repacked;
    2. presented together; and
    3. identifiable, whether by their nature or by the relative proportions in which they are present, as being complementary one to another.

Chapter 28:  Inorganic chemicals; organic or inorganic compounds of precious metals, of rare-earth metals, of radioactive elements or of isotopes

Notes.

  1. Except where their context otherwise require, the headings of this Chapter apply only to:
    1. Separate chemical elements and separate chemically defined compounds, whether or not containing impurities;
    2. The Products mentioned in (a) above dissolved in water;
    3. The Products mentioned in (a) above dissolved in other solvents provided that the solution constitutes a normal and necessary method of putting up these products adopted solely for reasons of safety or for transport and that the solvent does not render the product particularly suitable for specific use rather than for general use;
    4. The products mentioned in (a), (b) or (c) above with an added stabiliser (including an anti-caking agent) necessary for their preservation or transport;
    5. The products mentioned in (a), (b), (c) or (d) above with an added anti-dusting agent or a colouring substance added to facilitate their identification or for safety reasons, provided that the additions do not render the product particularly suitable for a specific use rather than for general use.
  2. In addition to dithionites and sulphoxylates, stabilised with organic substances (heading No. 28.31), carbonates and peroxocarbonates of inorganic bases (heading No. 28.36), cyanides, cyanide oxides and complex cyanides of inorganic bases (heading No. 28.37), fulminates, cyanates and thiocyanates, of inorganic bases (heading No. 28.38), organic products included in headings Nos. 28.43 to 28.46 and carbides (heading No. 28.49), only the following compounds of carbon are to be classified in this Chapter:
    1. Oxides of carbon, hydrogen cyanide and fulminic, isocyanic, thiocyanic and other simple or complex cyanogen acids (heading No. 28.11);
    2. Halide oxides of carbon (heading No. 28.12);
    3. Carbon disulphide (heading No. 28.13);
    4. Thiocarbonates, selenocarbonates, tellurocarbonates, selenocyanates, tellurocyanates, tetrathiocyanatodiamminochromates (reineckates) and other complex cyanates, of inorganic bases (heading No. 28.42);
    5. Hydrogen peroxide, solidified with urea (heading No. 28.47), carbon oxysulphide, thiocarbonyl halides, cyanogen, cyanogen halides and cyanamide and its metal derivatives (heading No. 28.51) other than calcium cyanamide, whether or not pure (Chapter 31).
  3. Subject to the provisions of Note 1 to Section VI, this Chapter does not cover:
    1. Sodium chloride or magnesium oxide, whether or not pure, or other products of Section V;
    2. Organo-inorganic compounds other than those mentioned in Note 2 above;
    3. Products mentioned in Note 2, 3, 4, or 5 to Chapter 31;
    4. Inorganic products of a kind used as luminophores, of heading No. 32.06;
    5. Artificial graphite (heading No. 38.01); products put up as charges for fire-extinguishers or put up in fire-extinguishing grenades, of heading No. 38.13; ink removers put up in packings for retail sale, of heading No. 38.24; cultured crystals (other than optical elements) weighing not less than 2.5 g each, of the halides of the alkali or alkaline-earth metals, of heading No. 38.24;
    6. Precious or semi-precious stones (natural, synthetic or reconstructed) or dust or powder of such stones (headings Nos. 71.02 to 71.05), or precious metals or precious metal alloys of Chapter 71;
    7. The metals, whether or not pure, metal alloys or cermets, including sintered metal carbides (metal carbides sintered with a metal), of Section XV; or
    8. Optical elements, for example, of the halides of the alkali or alkaline-earth metals (heading No. 90.01).
  4. Chemically defined complex acids consisting of a non-metal acid of sub-Chapter II and a metal acid of sub-Chapter IV are to be classified in heading No. 28.11.
  5. Headings Nos. 28.26 to 28.42 apply only to metal or ammonium salts or peroxysalts.

    Except where the context otherwise requires, double or complex salts are to be classified in heading No. 28.42.
  6. Heading No. 28.44 applies only to:
    1. Technetium (atomic No. 43), promethium (atomic No. 61), polonium (atomic No. 84) and all elements with an atomic number greater than 84;
    2. Natural or artificial radioactive isotopes (including those of the precious metals or of the base metals of Sections XIV and XV), whether or not mixed together;
    3. Compounds, inorganic or organic, of these elements or isotopes, whether or not chemically defined, whether or not mixed together;
    4. Alloys, dispersions (including cermets), ceramic products and mixtures containing these elements or isotopes or inorganic or organic compounds thereof and having a specific radioactivity exceeding 74 Bq/g (0.002 microcurie per gram);
    5. Spent (irradiated) fuel elements (cartridges) of nuclear reactors;
    6. Radioactive residues whether or not usable.

      The term "isotopes", for the purposes of this Note and of the wording of headings Nos. 28.44 and 28.45, refers to:
      • individual nuclides, excluding, however, those existing in nature in the monoisotopic state;
      • mixtures of isotopes of one and the same element, enriched in one or several of the said isotopes, that is, elements of which the natural isotopic composition has been artificially modified.
  7. Heading No. 28.48 includes copper phosphide (phosphor copper) containing more than 15% by weight of phosphorus.
  8. Chemical elements (for example, silicon and selenium) doped for use in electronics are to be classified in this Chapter, provided that they are in forms unworked as drawn, or in the form of cylinders or rods. When cut in the form of discs, wafers or similar forms, they fall in heading No. 38.18.

Chapter 29:  Organic chemicals

Notes.

  1. Except where the context otherwise requires, the headings of this Chapter apply only to:
    1. Separate chemically defined organic compounds, whether or not containing impurities;
    2. Mixtures of two or more isomers of the same organic compound (whether or not containing impurities), except mixtures of acyclic hydrocarbon isomers (other than stereoisomers), whether or not saturated (Chapter 27);
    3. The products of headings Nos. 29.36 to 29.39 or the sugar ethers and sugar esters, and their salts, of heading No. 29.40, or the products of heading No. 29.41, whether or not chemically defined;
    4. The Products mentioned in (a), (b) or (c) above dissolved in water;
    5. The Products mentioned in (a), (b) or (c) above dissolved in other solvents provided that the solution constitutes a normal and necessary method of putting up these products adopted solely for reasons of safety or for transport and that the solvent does not render the product particularly suitable for specific use rather than for general use;
    6. The products mentioned in (a), (b), (c), (d) or (e) above with an added stabiliser (including an anti-caking agent) necessary for their preservation or transport;
    7. The products mentioned in (a), (b), (c), (d), (e) or (f) above with an added anti-dusting agent or a colouring or odoriferous substance added to facilitate their identification or for safety reasons, provided that the additions do not render the product particularly suitable for specific use rather than for general use;
    8. The following products, diluted to standard strengths, for the production of azo dyes: diazonium salts, couplers used for these salts and diazotisable amines and their salts.
  2. This Chapter does not cover:

    a) Goods of heading No. 15.04 or crude glycerol of heading No. 15.20;

    b) Ethyl alcohol (heading No. 22.07 or 22.08);

    c) Methane and propane (heading No. 27.11);

    d) The compounds of carbon mentioned in Note 2 to Chapter 28;

    e) Urea (heading No. 31.02 or 31.05);

    f) Colouring matter of vegetable or animal origin (heading No. 32.03), synthetic organic colouring matter, synthetic organic products of a kind used as fluorescent brightening agents or as luminophores (heading No. 32.04) or dyes or other colouring matter put up in forms or packings for retail sale (heading No. 32.12);

    g) Enzymes (heading No. 35.07);

    h) Metaldehyde, hexamethylenetetramine and similar substances, put up in forms (for example, tablets, sticks or similar forms) for use as fuels, or liquid or liquefied-gas fuels in containers, of a kind used for filling or refilling cigarette or similar lighters, and of a capacity not exceeding 300 cm3 (heading No. 36.06);

    ij) Products put up as charges for fire-extinguishers or put up in fire-extinguishing grenades, of heading No. 38.13; ink removers put up in packings for retail sale, of heading No. 38.24;

    k) Optical elements, for example, of ethylenediamine tartrate (heading No. 90.01).

  3. Goods which could be included in two or more of the headings of this Chapter are to be classified in that one of those headings which occurs last in numerical order.
  4. In headings Nos. 29.04 to 29.06, 29.08 to 29.11 and 29.13 to 29.20, any reference to halogenated, sulphonated, nitrated or nitrosated derivatives includes a reference to compound derivatives, such as sulphohalogenated, nitrohalogenated, nitrosulphonated or nitrosulphohalogenated derivatives.

    Nitro or nitroso groups are not to be taken as "nitrogen-functions" for the purposes of heading No. 29.29.

    For the purposes of headings Nos. 29.11, 29.12, 29.14, 29.18 and 29.22, "oxygen-function" is to be restricted to the functions (the characteristic organic oxygen-containing groups) referred to in headings Nos. 29.05 to 29.20.
    1. The esters of acid-function organic compounds of sub-Chapters I to VII with organic compounds of these sub-Chapters are to be classified with that compound which is classified in the heading which occurs last in numerical order in these sub-Chapters.
    2. Esters of ethyl alcohol with acid-function organic compounds of sub-Chapters I to VII are to be classified in the same heading as the corresponding acid-function compounds.
    3. Subject to Note 1 to Section VI and Note 2 to Chapter 28:
      1. Inorganic salts of organic compounds such as acid-, phenol- or enol-function compounds or organic bases, of sub-Chapters I to X or heading No. 29.42, are to be classified in the heading appropriate to the organic compound; and
      2. Salts formed between organic compounds of sub-Chapters I to X or heading No. 29.42 are to be classified in the heading appropriate to the base or to the acid (including phenol- or enol-function compounds) from which they are formed, whichever occurs last in numerical order in the Chapter.
    4. Metal alcoholates are to be classified in the same heading as the corresponding alcohols except the case of ethanol (heading No. 29.05).
    5. Halides of carboxylic acids are to be classified in the same heading as the corresponding acids.
  5. The compounds of headings Nos. 29.30 and 29.31 are organic compounds the molecules of which contain, in addition to atoms of hydrogen, oxygen or nitrogen, atoms of other non-metals or of metals (such as sulphur, arsenic, mercury or lead) directly linked to carbon atoms.

    Heading No. 29.30 (organo-sulphur compounds) and heading No. 29.31 (other organo-inorganic compounds) do not include sulphonated or halogenated derivatives (including compound derivatives) which, apart from hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen, only have directly linked to carbon the atoms of sulphur or of a halogen which give them their nature of sulphonated or halogenated derivatives (or compound derivatives).
  6. Headings Nos. 29.32, 29.33 and 29.34 do not include epoxides with a three-membered ring, ketone peroxides, cyclic polymers of aldehydes or of thioaldehydes, anhydrides of polybasic carboxylic acids, cyclic esters of polyhydric alcohols or phenols with polybasic acids, or imides of polybasic acids.

    These provisions apply only when the ring-position hetero-atoms are those resulting solely from the cyclising function or functions here listed.

Subheading Note.

  1. Within any one heading of this Chapter, derivatives of a chemical compound (or group of chemical compounds) are to be classified in the same subheading as that compound (or group of compounds) provided that they are not more specifically covered by any other subheading and that there is no residual subheading named "Other" in the series of subheadings concerned.

Chapter 30:  Pharmaceutical products

Notes.

  1. This Chapter does not cover:
    1. Foods or beverages (such as dietetic, diabetic or fortified foods, food supplements, tonic beverages and mineral waters) (Section IV);
    2. Plasters specially calcined or finely ground for use in dentistry (heading No. 25.20);
    3. Aqueous distillates or aqueous solutions of essential oils, suitable for medicinal uses (heading No. 33.01);
    4. Preparations of headings Nos. 33.03 to 33.07, even if they have therapeutic or prophylactic properties;
    5. Soap or other products of heading No. 34.01 containing added medicaments;
    6. Preparations with a basis of plaster for use in dentistry (heading No. 34.07); or
    7. Blood albumin not prepared for therapeutic or prophylactic uses (heading No. 35.02).
  2. For the purposes of heading No. 30.02, the expression "modified immunological products" applies only to monoclonal antibodies (MABs), antibody fragments, antibody conjugates and antibody fragment conjugates.
  3. For the purposes of headings Nos. 30.03 and 30.04 and of Note 4 (d) to this Chapter the following are to be treated:
    1. As unmixed products:
      1. Unmixed products dissolved in water;
      2. All goods of Chapter 28 or 29; and
      3. Simple vegetable extracts of heading No. 13.02, merely standardised or dissolved in any solvent;
    2. As products which have been mixed:
      1. Colloidal solutions and suspensions (other than colloidal sulphur);
      2. Vegetable extracts obtained by the treatment of mixtures of vegetable materials; and
      3. Salts and concentrates obtained by evaporating natural mineral waters.
  4. Heading No. 30.06 applies only to the following, which are to be classified in that heading and in no other heading of the Classification:
    1. Sterile surgical catgut, similar sterile suture materials and sterile tissue adhesives for surgical wound closure;
    2. Sterile laminaria and sterile laminaria tents;
    3. Sterile absorbable surgical or dental haemostatics;
    4. Opacifying preparations for X-ray examinations and diagnostic reagents designed to be administered to the patient, being unmixed products put up in measured doses or products consisting of two or more ingredients which have been mixed together for such uses;
    5. Blood-grouping reagents;
    6. Dental cements and other dental fillings; bone reconstruction cements;
    7. First-aid boxes and kits; and
    8. Chemical contraceptive preparations based on hormones or spermicides.

Chapter 31:  Fertilisers

Notes.

  1. This Chapter does not cover:
    1. Animal blood of heading No. 05.11;
    2. Separate chemically defined compounds (other than those answering to the descriptions in Note 2 (A), 3 (A), 4 (A) or 5 below); or
    3. Cultured potassium chloride crystals (other than optical elements) weighing not less than 2.5 g each, of heading No. 38.24; optical elements of potassium chloride (heading No. 90.01).
  2. Heading No. 31.02 applies only to the following goods, provided that they are not put up in the forms or packages described in heading No. 31.05:
    1. Goods which answer to one or other of the descriptions given below:
      1. Sodium nitrate, whether or not pure;
      2. Ammonium nitrate, whether or not pure;
      3. Double salts, whether or not pure, of ammonium sulphate and ammonium nitrate;
      4. Ammonium sulphate, whether or not pure;
      5. Double salts (whether or not pure) or mixtures of calcium nitrate and ammonium nitrate;
      6. Double salts (whether or not pure) or mixtures of calcium nitrate and magnesium nitrate;
      7. Calcium cyanamide, whether or not pure or treated with oil;
      8. Urea, whether or not pure.
    2. Fertilisers consisting of any of the goods described in (A) above mixed together.
    3. Fertilisers consisting of ammonium chloride or of any of the goods described in (A) or (B) above mixed with chalk, gypsum or other inorganic non-fertilising substances.
    4. Liquid fertilisers consisting of the goods of subparagraph (A) (ii) or (viii) above, or of mixtures of those goods, in an aqueous or ammoniacal solution.
  3. Heading No. 31.03 applies only to the following goods, provided that they are not put up in the forms or packages described in heading No. 31.05:
    1. Goods which answer to one or other of the descriptions given below:
      1. Basic slag;
      2. Natural phosphates of heading No. 25.10, calcined or further heat-treated than for the removal of impurities;
      3. Superphosphates (single, double or triple);
      4. Calcium hydrogenorthophosphate containing not less than 0.2% by weight of fluorine calculated on the dry anhydrous product.
    2. Fertilisers consisting of any of the goods described in (A) above mixed together, but with no account being taken of the fluorine content limit.
    3. Fertilisers consisting of any of the goods described in (A) or (B) above, but with no account being taken of the fluorine content limit, mixed with chalk, gypsum or other inorganic non-fertilising substances.
  4. Heading No. 31.04 applies only to the following goods, provided that they are not put up in the forms or packages described in heading No. 31.05:
    1. Goods which answer to one or other of the descriptions given below:
      1. Crude natural potassium salts (for example, carnallite, kainite and sylvite);
      2. Potassium chloride, whether or not pure, except as provided in Note 1 (c) above;
      3. Potassium sulphate, whether or not pure;
      4. Magnesium potassium sulphate, whether or not pure.
    2. Fertilisers consisting of any of the goods described in (A) above mixed together.
    3. Ammonium dihydrogenorthophosphate (monoammonium phosphate) and diammonium hydrogenorthophosphate (diammonium phosphate), whether or not pure, and inter mixtures thereof, are to be classified in heading No. 31.05.
    4. For the purposes of heading No. 31.05, the term "other fertilisers" applies only to products of a kind used as fertilisers and containing, as an essential constituent, at least one of the fertilising elements nitrogen, phosphorus or potassium.

Chapter 32:  Tanning or dyeing extracts; tannins and their derivatives; dyes, pigments and other colouring matter; paints and varnishes; putty and other mastics; inks

Notes.

  1. This Chapter does not cover:
    1. Separate chemically defined elements or compounds (except those of heading No. 32.03 or 32.04, inorganic products of a kind used as luminophores (heading No. 32.06), glass obtained from fused quartz or other fused silica in the forms provided for in heading No. 32.07, and also dyes and other colouring matter put up in forms or packings for retail sale, of heading No. 32.12);
    2. Tannates or other tannin derivatives of products of headings Nos. 29.36 to 29.39, 29.41 or 35.01 to 35.04; or
    3. Mastics of asphalt or other bituminous mastics (heading No. 27.15).
  2. Heading No. 32.04 includes mixtures of stabilised diazonium salts and couplers for the production of azo dyes.
  3. Headings Nos. 32.03, 32.04, 32.05 and 32.06 apply also to preparations based on colouring matter (including, in the case of heading No. 32.06, colouring pigments of heading No. 25.30 or Chapter 28, metal flakes and metal powders), of a kind used for colouring any material or used as ingredients in the manufacture of colouring preparations. The headings do not apply, however, to pigments dispersed in non-aqueous media, in liquid or paste form, of a kind used in the manufacture of paints, including enamels (heading No. 32.12), or to other preparations of heading No. 32.07, 32.08, 32.09, 32.10, 32.12, 32.13 or 32.15.
  4. Heading No. 32.08 includes solutions (other than collodions) consisting of any of the products specified in headings Nos. 39.01 to 39.13 in volatile organic solvents when the weight of the solvent exceeds 50% of the weight of the solution.
  5. The expression "colouring matter" in this Chapter does not include products of a kind used as extenders in oil paints, whether or not they are also suitable for colouring distempers.
  6. The expression "stamping foils" in heading No. 32.12 applies only to thin sheets of a kind used for printing, for example, book covers or hat bands, and consisting of:
    1. Metallic powder (including powder of precious metal) or pigment, agglomerated with glue, gelatin or other binder; or
    2. Metal (including precious metal) or pigment, deposited on a supporting sheet of any material.

Chapter 33:  Essential oils and resinoids; perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations

Notes.

  1. This Chapter does not cover:
    1. Natural oleoresins or vegetable extracts of heading No. 13.01 or 13.02;
    2. Soap and other products of heading No. 34.01; or
    3. Gum, wood or sulphate turpentine or other products of heading No. 38.05.
  2. The expression "odoriferous substances" in heading No. 33.02 refers only to the substances of heading No. 33.01, to odoriferous constituents isolated from those substances or to synthetic aromatics.
  3. Headings Nos. 33.03 to 33.07 apply, inter alia, to products, whether or not mixed (other than aqueous distillates and aqueous solutions of essential oils), suitable for use as goods of these headings and put up in packings of a kind sold by retail for such use.
  4. The expression "perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations" in heading No. 33.07 applies, inter alia, to the following products: scented sachets; odoriferous preparations which operate by burning; perfumed papers and papers impregnated or coated with cosmetics; contact lens or artificial eye solutions; wadding, felt and nonwovens, impregnated, coated or covered with perfume or cosmetics; animal toilet preparations.

Chapter 34:  Soap, organic surface-active agents, washing preparations, lubricating preparations, artificial waxes, prepared waxes, polishing or scouring preparations, candles and similar articles, modelling pastes, "dental waxes" and dental preparations with a basis of plaster

Notes.

  1. This Chapter does not cover:
    1. Edible mixtures or preparations of animal or vegetable fats or oils of a kind used as mould release preparations (heading No. 15.17);
    2. Separate chemically defined compounds; or
    3. Shampoos, dentifrices, shaving creams and foams, or bath preparations, containing soap or other organic surface-active agents (heading No. 33.05, 33.06 or 33.07).
  2. For the purposes of heading No. 34.01, the expression "soap" applies only to soap soluble in water. Soap and the other products of heading No. 34.01 may contain added substances (for example, disinfectants, abrasive powders, fillers or medicaments). Products containing abrasive powders remain classified in heading No. 34.01 only if in the form of bars, cakes or moulded pieces or shapes. In other forms they are to be classified in heading No. 34.05 as "scouring powders and similar preparations".
  3. For the purposes of heading No. 34.02, "organic surface-active agents" are products which when mixed with water at a concentration of 0.5% at 20 °C and left to stand for one hour at the same temperature:
    1. give a transparent or translucent liquid or stable emulsion without separation of insoluble matter; and
    2. reduce the surface tension of water to 4.5 x 10 ² N/m (45 dyne/cm) or less.
  4. In heading No. 34.03 the expression "petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals" applies to the products defined in Note 2 to Chapter 27.
  5. In heading No. 34.04, subject to the exclusions provided below, the expression "artificial waxes and prepared waxes" applies only to:
    1. Chemically produced organic products of a waxy character, whether or not water-soluble;
    2. Products obtained by mixing different waxes;
    3. Products of a waxy character with a basis of one or more waxes and containing fats, resins, mineral substances or other materials.

      The heading does not apply to:
      1. Products of heading No. 15.16, 34.02 or 38.23, even if having a waxy character;
      2. Unmixed animal waxes or unmixed vegetable waxes, whether or not refined or coloured of heading No. 15.21;
      3. Mineral waxes or similar products of heading No. 27.12, whether or not intermixed or merely coloured; or
      4. Waxes mixed with, dispersed in or dissolved in a liquid medium (headings Nos. 34.05, 38.09, etc.).

Chapter 35:  Albuminoidal substances; modified starches; glues; enzymes

Notes.

  1. This Chapter does not cover:
    1. Yeasts (heading No. 21.02);
    2. Blood fractions (other than blood albumin not prepared for therapeutic or prophylactic uses), medicaments or other products of Chapter 30;
    3. Enzymatic preparations for pre-tanning (heading No. 32.02);
    4. Enzymatic soaking or washing preparations or other products of Chapter 34;
    5. Hardened proteins (heading No. 39.13); or
    6. Gelatin products of the printing industry (Chapter 49).
  2. For the purposes of heading No. 35.05, the term "dextrins" means starch degradation products with a reducing sugar content, expressed as dextrose on the dry substance, not exceeding 10%.

    Such products with a reducing sugar content exceeding 10% fall in heading No. 17.02.

Chapter 36:  Explosives; pyrotechnic products; matches; pyrophoric alloys; certain combustible preparations

Notes.

  1. This Chapter does not cover separate chemically defined compounds other than those described in Note 2 (a) or (b) below.
  2. The expression "articles of combustible materials" in heading No. 36.06 applies only to:
    1. Metaldehyde, hexamethylenetetramine and similar substances, put up in forms (for example, tablets, sticks or similar forms) for use as fuels; fuels with a basis of alcohol, and similar prepared fuels, in solid or semi-solid form;
    2. Liquid or liquefied-gas fuels in containers of a kind used for filling or refilling cigarette or similar lighters and of a capacity not exceeding 300 cm3; and
    3. Resin torches, firelighters and the like.

Chapter 37:  Photographic or cinematographic goods

Notes.

  1. This Chapter does not cover waste or scrap.
  2. In this Chapter the word "photographic" relates to the process by which visible images are formed, directly or indirectly, by the action of light or other forms of radiation on photosensitive surfaces.

Chapter 38:  Miscellaneous chemical products

Notes.

  1. This Chapter does not cover:
    1. Separate chemically defined elements or compounds with the exception of the following:
      1. Artificial graphite (heading No. 38.01);
      2. Insecticides, rodenticides, fungicides, herbicides, anti-sprouting products and plant-growth regulators, disinfectants and similar products, put up as described in heading No. 38.08;
      3. Products put up as charges for fire-extinguishers or put up in fire-extinguishing grenades (heading No. 38.13);
      4. Products specificed in Note 2 (a) or 2 (c) below.
    2. Mixtures of chemicals with foodstuffs or other substances with nutritive value, of a kind used in the preparation of human foodstuffs (generally, heading No. 21.06).
    3. Medicaments (heading No. 30.03 or 30.04).
    4. Spend catalysts of a kind used for the extraction of base metals or for the manufacture of chemical compounds of base metals (heading No. 26.20), spent catalysts of a kind used principally for the recovery of precious metal (heading No. 71.12) or catalysts consisting of metals or metal alloys in the form of, for example, finely divided powder or woven gauze (Section XIV or XV).
  2. Heading No. 38.24 includes the following goods which are not to be classified in any other heading of the Classification:
    1. Cultured crystals (other than optical elements) weighing not less than 2.5 g each, of magnesium oxide or of the halides of the alkali or alkaline-earth metals;
    2. Fusel oil; Dippel's oil;
    3. Ink removers put up in packings for retail sale;
    4. Stencil correctors and other correcting fluids put up in packings for retail sale; and
    5. Ceramic firing testers, fusible (for example, Seger cones).

Archived – Standard Classification of Goods (SCG) - Notes 1996-2001

Section V:  Mineral products

Chapter 25:  Salt; sulphur; earths and stone; plastering materials, lime and cement

Notes.

  1. Except where their context or Note 4 to this Chapter otherwise requires, the headings of this Chapter cover only products which are in the crude state or which have been washed (even with chemical substances eliminating the impurities without changing the structure of the product), crushed, ground, powdered, levigated, sifted, screened, concentrated by flotation, magnetic separation or other mechanical or physical processes (except crystallisation), but not products which have been roasted, calcined, obtained by mixing or subjected to processing beyond that mentioned in each heading.

    The products of this Chapter may contain an added anti-dusting agent, provided that such addition does not render the product particularly suitable for a specific use rather than for general use.
  2. This Chapter does not cover:
    1. Sublimed sulphur, precipitated sulphur or colloidal sulphur (heading No. 28.02);
    2. Earth colours containing 70% or more by weight of combined iron evaluated at Fe2O3 (heading No. 28.21);
    3. Medicaments or other products of Chapter 30;
    4. Perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations (Chapter 33);
    5. Setts, curbstones or flagstones (heading No. 68.01); mosaic cubes or the like (heading No. 68.02); roofing, facing or damp course slates (heading No. 68.03);
    6. Precious or semi-precious stones (heading No. 71.02 or 71.03);
    7. Cultured crystals (other than optical elements) weighing not less than 2.5 g each, of sodium chloride or of magnesium oxide, of heading No. 38.24; optical elements of sodium chloride or of magnesium oxide (heading No. 90.01);
    8. Billiard chalks (heading No. 95.04); or
    9. Writing or drawing chalks or tailors' chalks (heading No. 96.09).
    10. Writing or drawing chalks or tailors' chalks (heading No. 96.09).
  3. Any products classifiable in heading No. 25.17 and any other heading of the Chapter are to be classified in heading No. 25.17.
  4. Heading No. 25.30 applies, inter alia, to: vermiculite, perlite and chlorites, unexpanded; earth colours, whether or not calcined or mixed together; natural micaceous iron oxides; meerschaum (whether or not in polished pieces); amber; agglomerated meerschaum and agglomerated amber, in plates, rods, sticks or similar forms, not worked after moulding; jet; strontianite (whether or not calcined), other than strontium oxide; broken pottery.

Chapter 26:  Ores, slag and ash

Notes.

  1. This Chapter does not cover:
    1. Slag or similar industrial waste prepared as macadam (heading No. 25.17);
    2. Natural magnesium carbonate (magnesite), whether or not calcined (heading No. 25.19);
    3. Basic slag of Chapter 31;
    4. Slag wool, rock wool or similar mineral wools (heading No. 68.06);
    5. Waste or scrap of precious metal or of metal clad with precious metal; other waste or scrap containing precious metal or precious metal compounds, of a kind used principally for the recovery of precious metal (heading No. 71.12);
    6. Copper, nickel or cobalt mattes produced by any process of smelting (Section XV).
  2. For the purposes of headings Nos. 26.01 to 26.17, the term "ores" means minerals of mineralogical species actually used in the metallurgical industry for the extraction of mercury, of the metals of heading No. 28.44 or of the metals of Section XIV or XV, even if they are intended for non-metallurgical purposes. Headings Nos. 26.01 to 26.17 do not, however, include minerals which have been submitted to processes not normal to the metallurgical industry.
  3. Heading No. 26.20 applies only to ash and residues of a kind used in industry either for the extraction of metals or as a basis for the manufacture of chemical compounds of metals.

Chapter 27:  Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation; bituminous substances; mineral waxes

Notes.

  1. This Chapter does not cover:
    1. Separate chemically defined organic compounds, other than pure methane and propane which are to be classified in heading No. 27.11;
    2. Medicaments of heading No. 30.03 or 30.04; or
    3. Mixed unsaturated hydrocarbons of heading No. 33.01, 33.02 or 38.05.
  2. References in heading No. 27.10 to "petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals" include not only petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals but also similar oils, as well as those consisting mainly of mixed unsaturated hydrocarbons, obtained by any process, provided that the weight of the non-aromatic constituents exceeds that of the aromatic constituents.

    However, the references do not include liquid synthetic polyolefins of which less than 60% by volume distils at 300 °C, after conversion to 1,013 millibars when a reduced-pressure distillation method is used (Chapter 39).

Subheading Notes.

  1. For the purposes of subheading No. 2701.11, "anthracite" means coal having a volatile matter limit (on a dry, mineral-matter-free basis) not exceeding 14%.
  2. For the purposes of subheading No. 2701.12, "bituminous coal" means coal having a volatile matter limit (on a dry, mineral-matter-free basis) exceeding 14% and a calorific value limit (on a moist, mineral-matter-free basis) equal to or greater than 5,833 kcal/kg.
  3. For the purposes of subheadings Nos. 2707.10, 2707.20, 2707.30, 2707.40 and 2707.60, the terms "benzole", "toluole", "xylole", "naphthalene" and "phenols" apply to products which contain more than 50% by weight of benzene, toluene, xylene, naphthalene or phenols, respectively.

Archived – Standard Classification of Goods (SCG) - Notes 1996-2001

Section IV:  Prepared foodstuffs; beverages, spirits and vinegar; tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes

Note.

  1. In this Section the term "pellets" means products which have been agglomerated either directly by compression or by the addition of a binder in a proportion not exceeding 3% by weight.

Chapter 16:  Preparations of meat, of fish or of crustaceans, molluscs or other aquatic invertebrates

Notes.

  1. This Chapter does not cover meat, meat offal, fish, crustaceans, molluscs or other aquatic invertebrates, prepared or preserved by the processes specified in Chapter 2 or 3 or heading No. 05.04.
  2. Food preparations fall in this Chapter provided that they contain more than 20% by weight of sausage, meat, meat offal, blood, fish or crustaceans, molluscs or other aquatic invertebrates, or any combination thereof. In cases where the preparation contains two or more of the products mentioned above, it is classified in the heading of Chapter 16 corresponding to the component or components which predominate by weight. These provisions do not apply to the stuffed products of heading No. 19.02 or to the preparations of heading No. 21.03 or 21.04.

Subheading Notes.

  1. For the purposes of subheading No. 1602.10, the expression "homogenised preparations" means preparations of meat, meat offal or blood, finely homogenised, put up for retail sale as infant food or for dietetic purposes, in containers of a net weight content not exceeding 250 g. For the application of this definition no account is to be taken of small quantities of any ingredients which may have been added to the preparation for seasoning, preservation or other purposes. These preparations may contain a small quantity of visible pieces of meat or meat offal. This subheading takes precedence over all other subheadings of heading No. 16.02.
  2. The fish and crustaceans specified in the subheadings of heading No. 16.04 or 16.05 under their common names only, are of the same species as those mentioned in Chapter 3 under the same name.

Chapter 17:  Sugars and sugar confectionery

Note.

  1. This Chapter does not cover:
    1. Sugar confectionery containing cocoa (heading No. 18.06);
    2. Chemically pure sugars (other than sucrose, lactose, maltose, glucose and fructose) or other products of heading No. 29.40; or
    3. Medicaments or other products of Chapter 30.

Subheading Note.

  1. For the purposes of subheadings Nos. 1701.11 and 1701.12, "raw sugar" means sugar whose content of sucrose by weight, in the dry state, corresponds to a polarimeter reading of less than 99.5 °.

Chapter 18:  Cocoa and cocoa preparations

Notes.

  1. This Chapter does not cover the preparations of heading No. 04.03, 19.01, 19.04, 19.05, 21.05, 22.02, 22.08, 30.03 or 30.04.
  2. Heading No. 18.06 includes sugar confectionery containing cocoa and, subject to Note 1 to this Chapter, other food preparations containing cocoa.

Chapter 19:  Preparations of cereals, flour, starch or milk; pastrycooks' products

Notes.

  1. This Chapter does not cover:
    1. Except in the case of stuffed products of heading No. 19.02, food preparations containing more than 20% by weight of sausage, meat, meat offal, blood, fish or crustaceans, molluscs or other aquatic invertebrates, or any combination thereof (Chapter 16);
    2. Biscuits or other articles made from flour or from starch, specially prepared for use in animal feeding (heading No. 23.09); or
    3. Medicaments or other products of Chapter 30.
  2. For the purposes of heading No. 19.01, the terms "flour" and "meal" mean:
    1. Cereal flour and meal of Chapter 11, and
    2. Flour, meal and powder of vegetable origin of any Chapter, other than flour, meal or powder of dried vegetables (heading No. 07.12), of potatoes (heading No. 11.05) or of dried leguminous vegetables (heading No. 11.06).
  3. Heading No. 19.04 does not cover preparations containing more than 6% by weight of cocoa calculated on a totally defatted basis or coated with chocolate or other food preparations containing cocoa of heading No. 18.06 (heading No. 18.06).
  4. For the purposes of heading No. 19.04, the expression "otherwise prepared" means prepared or processed to an extent beyond that provided for in the headings of or Notes to Chapter 10 or 11.

Chapter 20:  Preparations of vegetables, fruit, nuts or other parts of plants

Notes.

  1. This Chapter does not cover:
    1. Vegetables, fruit or nuts, prepared or preserved by the processes specified in Chapter 7, 8 or 11;
    2. Food preparations containing more than 20% by weight of sausage, meat, meat offal, blood, fish or crustaceans, molluscs or other aquatic invertebrates, or any combination thereof (Chapter 16); or
    3. Homogenised composite food preparations of heading No. 21.04.
  2. Headings Nos. 20.07 and 20.08 do not apply to fruit jellies, fruit pastes, sugar-coated almonds or the like in the form of sugar confectionery (heading No. 17.04) or chocolate confectionery (heading No. 18.06).
  3. Headings Nos. 20.01, 20.04 and 20.05 cover, as the case may be, only those products of Chapter 7 or of heading No. 11.05 or 11.06 (other than flour, meal and powder of the products of Chapter 8) which have been prepared or preserved by processes other than those referred to in Note 1 (a).
  4. Tomato juice the dry weight content of which is 7% or more is to be classified in heading No. 20.02.
  5. For the purposes of heading No. 20.09, the expression "juices, unfermented and not containing added spirit" means juices of an alcoholic strength by volume (see Note 2 to Chapter 22) not exceeding 0.5% vol.

Subheading Notes.

  1. For the purposes of subheading No. 2005.10, the expression "homogenised vegetables" means preparations of vegetables, finely homogenised, put up for retail sale as infant food or for dietetic purposes, in containers of a net weight content not exceeding 250 g. For the application of this definition no account is to be taken of small quantities of any ingredients which may have been added to the preparation for seasoning, preservation or other purposes. These preparations may contain a small quantity of visible pieces of vegetables. Subheading No. 2005.10 takes precedence over all other subheadings of heading No. 20.05.
  2. For the purposes of subheading No. 2007.10, the expression "homogenised preparations" means preparations of fruit, finely homogenised, put up for retail sale as infant food or for dietetic purposes, in containers of a net weight content not exceeding 250 g. For the application of this definition no account is to be taken of small quantities of any ingredients which may have been added to the preparation for seasoning, preservation or other purposes. These preparations may contain a small quantity of visible pieces of fruit. Subheading No. 2007.10 takes precedence over all other subheadings of heading No. 20.07.

Chapter 21:  Miscellaneous edible preparations

Notes.

  1. This Chapter does not cover:
    1. Mixed vegetables of heading No. 07.12;
    2. Roasted coffee substitutes containing coffee in any proportion (heading No. 09.01);
    3. Flavoured tea (heading No. 09.02);
    4. Spices or other products of headings Nos. 09.04 to 09.10;
    5. Food preparations, other than the products described in heading No. 21.03 or 21.04, containing more than 20% by weight of sausage, meat, meat offal, blood, fish or crustaceans, molluscs or other aquatic invertebrates, or any combination thereof (Chapter 16);
    6. Yeast put up as a medicament and other products of heading No. 30.03 or 30.04; or
    7. Prepared enzymes of heading No. 35.07.
  2. Extracts of the substitutes referred to in Note 1 (b) above are to be classified in heading No. 21.01.
  3. For the purposes of heading No. 21.04, the expression "homogenised composite food preparations" means preparations consisting of a finely homogenised mixture of two or more basic ingredients such as meat, fish, vegetables or fruit, put up for retail sale as infant food or for dietetic purposes, in containers of a net weight content not exceeding 250 g. For the application of this definition, no account is to be taken of small quantities of any ingredients which may be added to the mixture for seasoning, preservation or other purposes. Such preparations may contain a small quantity of visible pieces of ingredients.

Chapter 22:  Beverages, spirits and vinegar

Notes.

  1. This Chapter does not cover:
    1. Products of this Chapter (other than those of heading No. 22.09) prepared for culinary purposes and thereby rendered unsuitable for consumption as beverages (generally heading No. 21.03);
    2. Sea water (heading No. 25.01);
    3. Distilled or conductivity water or water of similar purity (heading No. 28.51);
    4. Acetic acid of a concentration exceeding 10% by weight of acetic acid (heading No. 29.15);
    5. Medicaments of heading No. 30.03 or 30.04; or
    6. Perfumery or toilet preparations (Chapter 33).
  2. For the purposes of this Chapter and of Chapters 20 and 21, the "alcoholic strength by volume" shall be determined at a temperature of 20 °C.
  3. For the purposes of heading No. 22.02, the term "non-alcoholic beverages" means beverages of an alcoholic strength by volume not exceeding 0.5% vol. Alcoholic beverages are classified in headings Nos. 22.03 to 22.06 or heading No. 22.08 as appropriate.

Subheading Note.

  1. For the purposes of subheading No. 2204.10, the expression "sparkling wine" means wine which, when kept at a temperature of 20 °C in closed containers, has an excess pressure of not less than 3 bars.

Chapter 23:  Residues and waste from the food industries; prepared animal fodder

Note.

  1. Heading No. 23.09 includes products of a kind used in animal feeding, not elsewhere specified or included, obtained by processing vegetable or animal materials to such an extent that they have lost the essential characteristics of the original material, other than vegetable waste, vegetable residues and by-products of such processing.

Chapter 24:  Tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes

Note.

  1. This Chapter does not cover medicinal cigarettes (Chapter 30).

Archived – Standard Classification of Goods (SCG) - Notes 1996-2001

Section III:  Animal or vegetable fats and oils and their cleavage products; prepared edible fats; animal or vegetable waxes

Chapter 15:  Animal or vegetable fats and oils and their cleavage products; prepared edible fats; animal or vegetable waxes

Notes.

  1. This Chapter does not cover:
    1. Pig fat or poultry fat of heading No. 02.09;
    2. Cocoa butter, fat or oil (heading No. 18.04);
    3. Edible preparations containing by weight more than 15% of the products of heading No. 04.05 (generally Chapter 21);
    4. Greaves (heading No. 23.01) or residues of headings Nos. 23.04 to 23.06;
    5. Fatty acids, prepared waxes, medicaments, paints, varnishes, soap, perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations, sulphonated oils or other goods of Section VI; or
    6. Factice derived from oils (heading No. 40.02).
  2. Heading No. 15.09 does not apply to oils obtained from olives by solvent extraction (heading No. 15.10).
  3. Heading No. 15.18 does not cover fats or oils or their fractions, merely denatured, which are to be classified in the heading appropriate to the corresponding undenatured fats and oils and their fractions.
  4. Soap-stocks, oil foots and dregs, stearin pitch, glycerol pitch and wool grease residues fall in heading No. 15.22.

Archived – Standard Classification of Goods (SCG) - Notes 1996-2001

Section II:  Vegetable products

Note.

  1. In this Section the term "pellets" means products which have been agglomerated either directly by compression or by the addition of a binder in a proportion not exceeding 3% by weight.

Chapter 06:  Live trees and other plants; bulbs, roots and the like; cut flowers and ornamental foliage

Notes.

  1. Subject to the second part of heading No. 06.01, this Chapter covers only live trees and goods (including seedling vegetables) of a kind commonly supplied by nursery gardeners or florists for planting or for ornamental use; nevertheless it does not include potatoes, onions, shallots, garlic or other products of Chapter 7.
  2. Any reference in heading No. 06.03 or 06.04 to goods of any kind shall be construed as including a reference to bouquets, floral baskets, wreaths and similar articles made wholly or partly of goods of that kind, account not being taken of accessories of other materials. However, these headings do not include collages or similar decorative plaques of heading No. 97.01.

Chapter 07:  Edible vegetables and certain roots and tubers

Notes.

  1. This Chapter does not cover forage products of heading No. 12.14.
  2. In headings Nos. 07.09, 07.10, 07.11 and 07.12 the word "vegetables" includes edible mushrooms, truffles, olives, capers, marrows, pumpkins, aubergines, sweet corn (Zea mays var. saccharata) Capsicum or of the genus Pimenta, fennel, parsley, chervil, tarragon, cress and sweet marjoram (Majorana hortensis or Origanum majorana).
  3. Heading No. 07.12 covers all dried vegetables of the kinds falling in headings Nos. 07.01 to 07.11, other than:
    1. dried leguminous vegetables, shelled (heading No. 07.13);
    2. sweet corn in the forms specified in headings Nos. 11.02 to 11.04;
    3. flour, meal, powder, flakes, granules and pellets of potatoes (heading No. 11.05);
    4. flour, meal and powder of the dried leguminous vegetables of heading No. 07.13 (heading No. 11.06).
  4. However, dried or crushed or ground fruits of the genus Capsicum or of the genus Pimenta are excluded from this Chapter (heading No. 09.04).

Chapter 08:  Edible fruit and nuts; peel of citrus fruit or melons

Notes.

  1. This Chapter does not cover inedible nuts or fruits.
  2. Chilled fruits and nuts are to be classified in the same headings as the corresponding fresh fruits and nuts.
  3. Dried fruit or dried nuts of this Chapter may be partially rehydrated, or treated for the following purposes:
    1. For additional preservation or stabilisation (e.g., by moderate heat treatment, sulphuring, the addition of sorbic acid or potassium sorbate),
    2. To improve or maintain their appearance (e.g., by the addition of vegetable oil or small quantities of glucose syrup), provided that they retain the character of dried fruit or dried nuts.

Chapter 09:  Coffee, tea, maté and spices

Notes.

  1. Mixtures of the products of headings Nos. 09.04 to 09.10 are to be classified as follows:
    1. Mixtures of two or more of the products of the same heading are to be classified in that heading;
    2. Mixtures of two or more of the products of different headings are to be classified in heading No. 09.10.

      The addition of other substances to the products of headings Nos. 09.04 to 09.10 (or to the mixtures referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) above) shall not affect their classification provided the resulting mixtures retain the essential character of the goods of those headings. Otherwise such mixtures are not classified in this Chapter; those constituting mixed condiments or mixed seasonings are classified in heading No. 21.03.
  2. This Chapter does not cover Cubeb pepper (Piper cubeba) or other products of heading No. 12.11.

Chapter 10:  Cereals

Notes.

    1. The products specified in the headings of this Chapter are to be classified in those headings only if grains are present, whether or not in the ear or on the stalk.
    2.  The Chapter does not cover grains which have been hulled or otherwise worked. However, rice, husked, milled, polished, glazed, parboiled or broken remains classified in heading No. 10.06.
  1. Heading No. 10.05 does not cover sweet corn (Chapter 7).

Subheading Note.

  1. The term "durum wheat" means wheat of the Triticum durum species and the hybrids derived from the inter-specific crossing of Triticum durum which have the same number (28) of chromosomes as that species.

Chapter 11:  Products of the milling industry; malt; starches; inulin; wheat gluten

Notes.

  1. This Chapter does not cover:
    1. Roasted malt put up as coffee substitutes (heading No. 09.01 or 21.01);
    2. Prepared flours, meals or starches of heading No. 19.01;
    3. Corn flakes or other products of heading No. 19.04;
    4. Vegetables, prepared or preserved, of heading No. 20.01, 20.04 or 20.05;
    5. Pharmaceutical products (Chapter 30); or
    6. Starches having the character of perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations (Chapter 33).
    1. Products from the milling of the cereals listed in the table below fall in this Chapter if they have, by weight on the dry product:
      1. a starch content (determined by the modified Ewers polarimetric method) exceeding that indicated in Column (2); and
      2. an ash content (after deduction of any added minerals) not exceeding that indicated in column (3).
      Otherwise, they fall in heading No. 23.02. However, germ of cereals, whole, flattened, in flakes or ground is always classified in heading No. 11.04.
    2. Products falling in this Chapter under the above provisions shall be classified in heading No. 11.01 or 11.02 if the percentage passing through a woven metal wire cloth sieve with the aperture indicated in Column (4) or (5) is not less, by weight, than that shown against the cereal concerned.

      Otherwise, they fall in heading No. 11.03 or 11.04.
       
      Products from the milling of the cereals listed in the table below fall in this Chapter if they have, by weight on the dry product
      Cereal
      (1)
      Starch content
      (2)
      Ash content
      (3)
      Rate of passage through a sieve with an aperture of
      315 micrometres
      (microns)
      (4)
      500 micrometres
      (microns)
      (5)
      Wheat and rye 45% 2.5% 80% -
      Barley 45% 3% >80% -
      Oats 45% 5% 80% -
      Maize (corn) and grain sorghum 45% 2% - 90%
      Rice 45% 1.6% 80% -
      Buckwheat 45% 4% 80% -
  2. For the purposes of heading No. 11.03, the terms "groats" and "meal" mean products obtained by the fragmentation of cereal grains, of which:
    1. in the case of maize (corn) products, at least 95% by weight passes through a woven metal wire cloth sieve with an aperture of 2 mm;
    2. in the case of other cereal products, at least 95% by weight passes through a woven metal wire cloth sieve with an aperture of 1.25 mm.

Chapter 12:  Oil seeds and oleaginous fruits; miscellaneous grains, seeds and fruit; industrial or medicinal plants; straw and fodder

Notes.

  1. Heading No. 12.07 applies, inter alia, to palm nuts and kernels, cotton seeds, castor oil seeds, sesamum seeds, mustard seeds, safflower seeds, poppy seeds and shea nuts (karite nuts). It does not apply to products of heading No. 08.01 or 08.02 or to olives (Chapter 7 or Chapter 20).
  2. Heading No. 12.08 applies not only to non-defatted flours and meals but also to flours and meals which have been partially defatted or defatted and wholly or partially refatted with their original oils. It does not, however, apply to residues of headings Nos. 23.04 to 23.06.
  3. For the purposes of heading No. 12.09, beet seeds, grass and other herbage seeds, seeds of ornamental flowers, vegetable seeds, seeds of forest trees, seeds of fruit trees, seeds of vetches (other than those of the species Vicia faba ) or of lupines are to be regarded as "seeds of a kind used for sowing".

    Heading No. 12.09 does not, however, apply to the following even if for sowing:
    1. Leguminous vegetables or sweet corn (Chapter 7);
    2. Spices or other products of Chapter 9;
    3. Cereals (Chapter 10); or
    4. Products of headings Nos. 12.01 to 12.07 or 12.11.
  4. Heading No. 12.11 applies, inter alia, to the following plants or parts thereof: basil, borage, ginseng, hyssop, liquorice, all species of mint, rosemary, rue, sage and wormwood.

    Heading No. 12.11 does not, however, apply to:
    1. Medicaments of Chapter 30;
    2. Perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations of Chapter 33; or
    3. Insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, disinfectants or similar products of heading No. 38.08.
  5. For the purpose of heading No. 12.12, the term "seaweeds and other algae" does not include:
    1. Dead single-cell micro-organisms of heading No. 21.02;
    2. Cultures of micro-organisms of heading No. 30.02; or
    3. Fertilisers of heading No. 31.01 or 31.05.

Chapter 13:  Lac; gums, resins and other vegetable saps and extracts

Note.

  1. Heading No. 13.02 applies, inter alia, to liquorice extract and extract of pyrethrum, extract of hops, extract of aloes and opium.

    The heading does not apply to:
    1. Liquorice extract containing more than 10% by weight of sucrose or put up as confectionery (heading No. 17.04);
    2. Malt extract (heading No. 19.01);
    3. Extracts of coffee, tea or maté (heading No. 21.01);
    4. Vegetable saps or extracts constituting alcoholic beverages (Chapter 22);
    5. Camphor, glycyrrhizin or other products of heading No. 29.14 or 29.38;
    6. Medicaments of heading No. 30.03 or 30.04 or blood-grouping reagents (heading No. 30.06);
    7. Tanning or dyeing extracts (heading No. 32.01 or 32.03);
    8. Essential oils, concretes, absolutes, resinoids, extracted oleoresins, aqueous distillates or aqueous solutions of essential oils or preparations based on odoriferous substances of a kind used for the manufacture of beverages (Chapter 33); or
    9. Natural rubber, balata, gutta-percha, guayule, chicle or similar natural gums (heading No. 40.01).

Chapter 14:  Vegetable plaiting materials; vegetable products not elsewhere specified or included

Notes.

  1. This Chapter does not cover the following products which are to be classified in Section XI: vegetable materials or fibres of vegetable materials of a kind used primarily in the manufacture of textiles, however prepared, or other vegetable materials which have undergone treatment so as to render them suitable for use only as textile materials.
  2. Heading No. 14.01 applies, inter alia, to bamboos (whether or not split, sawn lengthwise, cut to length, rounded at the ends, bleached, rendered non-inflammable, polished or dyed), split osier, reeds and the like, to rattan cores and to drawn or split rattans. The heading does not apply to chipwood (heading No. 44.04).
  3. Heading No. 14.02 does not apply to wood wool (heading No. 44.05).
  4. Heading No. 14.03 does not apply to prepared knots or tufts for broom or brush making (heading No. 96.03).

Archived – Standard Classification of Goods (SCG) - Notes 1996-2001

Section I:  Live animals; animal products

Notes.

  1. Any reference in this Section to a particular genus or species of an animal, except where the context otherwise requires, includes a reference to the young of that genus or species.
  2. Except where the context otherwise requires, throughout the Classification any reference to "dried" products also covers products which have been dehydrated, evaporated or freeze-dried.

Chapter 01:  Live animals

Note.

  1. This Chapter covers all live animals except:
    1. Fish and crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates, of heading No. 03.01, 03.06 or 03.07;
    2. Cultures of micro-organisms and other products of heading No. 30.02; and
    3. Animals of heading No. 95.08.

Chapter 02:  Meat and edible meat offal

Note.

  1. This Chapter does not cover:
    1. Products of the kinds described in headings Nos. 02.01 to 02.08 or 02.10, unfit or unsuitable for human consumption;
    2. Guts, bladders or stomachs of animals (heading No. 05.04) or animal blood (heading No. 05.11 or 30.02); or
    3. Animal fat, other than products of heading No. 02.09 (Chapter 15).

Chapter 03:  Fish and crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates

Notes.

  1. This Chapter does not cover:
    1. Marine mammals (heading No. 01.06) or meat thereof (heading No. 02.08 or 02.10);
    2. Fish (including livers and roes thereof) or crustaceans, molluscs or other aquatic invertebrates, dead and unfit or unsuitable for human consumption by reason of either their species or their condition (Chapter 5); flours, meals or pellets of fish or of crustaceans, molluscs or other aquatic invertebrates, unfit for human consumption (heading No. 23.01); or
    3. Caviar or caviar substitutes prepared from fish eggs (heading No. 16.04).
  2. In this Chapter the term "pellets" means products which have been agglomerated either directly by compression or by the addition of a small quantity of binder.

Chapter 04:  Dairy produce; birds' eggs; natural honey; edible products of animal origin, not elsewhere specified or included

Notes.

  1. The expression "milk" means full cream milk or partially or completely skimmed milk.
  2. For the purposes of heading No. 04.05:
    1. the term "butter" means natural butter, whey butter or recombined butter (fresh, salted or rancid, including canned butter) derived exclusively from milk, with a milkfat content of 80% or more but not more than 95% by weight, a maximum milk solids-not-fat content of 2% by weight and a maximum water content of 16% by weight. Butter does not contain added emulsifiers, but may contain sodium chloride, food colours, neutralising salts and cultures of harmless lactic-acid-producing bacteria.
    2. the expression "dairy-spread" means a spreadable emulsion of the water-in-oil type, containing milkfat as the only fat in the product, with a milkfat content of 39% or more but less than 80% by weight.
  3. Products obtained by the concentration of whey and with the addition of milk or milkfat are to be classified as cheese in heading No. 04.06 provided that they have the three following characteristics:
    1. a milkfat content, by weight of the dry matter, of 5% or more;
    2. a dry matter content, by weight, of at least 70% but not exceeding 85%; and
    3. they are moulded or capable of being moulded.
  4. This Chapter does not cover:
    1. Products obtained from whey, containing by weight more than 95% lactose, expressed as anhydrous lactose calculated on the dry matter (heading No. 17.02); or
    2. Albumins (including concentrates of two or more whey proteins, containing by weight more than 80% whey proteins, calculated on the dry matter) (heading No. 35.02) or globulins (heading No. 35.04).

Subheading Notes.

  1. For the purposes of subheading No. 0404.10, the expression "modified whey" means products consisting of whey constituents, i.e., whey from which all or part of the lactose, proteins or minerals have been removed, whey to which natural whey constituents have been added, and products obtained by mixing natural whey constituents.
  2. For the purposes of subheading No. 0405.10 the term "butter" does not include dehydrated butter or ghee (subheading No. 0405.90).

Chapter 05:  Products of animal origin, not elsewhere specified or included

Notes.

  1. This Chapter does not cover:
    1. Edible products (other than guts, bladders and stomachs of animals, whole and pieces thereof, and animal blood, liquid or dried);
    2. Hides or skins (including furskins) other than goods of heading No. 05.05 and parings and similar waste of raw hides or skins of heading No. 05.11 (Chapter 41 or 43);
    3. Animal textile materials, other than horsehair and horsehair waste (Section XI); or
    4. Prepared knots or tufts for broom or brush making (heading No. 96.03).
  2. For the purpose of heading No. 05.01, the sorting of hair by length (provided the root ends and tip ends respectively are not arranged together) shall be deemed not to constitute working.
  3. Throughout the Classification, elephant, walrus, narwhal and wild boar tusks, rhinoceros horns and the teeth of all animals are regarded as "ivory".
  4. Throughout the Classification, the expression "horsehair" means hair of the manes or tails of equine or bovine animals.

Standard Classification of Goods (SCG), 2000 and 2001

The Standard Classification of Goods (SCG) is the standard for classifying goods at Statistics Canada. The SCG is based upon the international Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS), which makes up the first six digits of the SCG code. Up to three digits are added to reflect statistical requirements for import, export and production statistics. The SCG was last officially published in 1996 and before that in 1992. The SCG is, however, updated each year, the most recent changes being for 2001. The 2001 version was used to classify goods on the Annual Survey of Manufactures (ASM), up until the 2003 survey. For 2004 the ASM will classify goods using the ASM List of Goods. It is the two most recent versions of the SCG which users can access on this site. While not available in printed format, the classification is available in electronic form, in various formats from Standards Division, Statistics Canada.

SCG 2001

SCG 2000

Other Links

Introduction


NAICS

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is an industry classification system developed by the statistical agencies of Canada, Mexico and the United States. Created against the background of the North American Free Trade Agreement, it is designed to provide common definitions of the industrial structure of the three countries and a common statistical framework to facilitate the analysis of the three economies. NAICS is based on supply side or production oriented principles, to ensure that industrial data, classified to NAICS , is suitable for the analysis of production related issues such as industrial performance.

Economic statistics describe the behaviour and activities of economic transactors and of the transactions that take place among them. The economic transactors for which NAICS is designed are businesses (and other organizations) engaged in the production of goods and services. They include farms, incorporated and unincorporated business and government business enterprises. They also include government institutions and agencies engaged in the production of marketed and non-marketed services, as well as organizations such as professional associations and unions and charitable or non-profit organizations and the employees of households.

Businesses (and other organizations) undertake activities and produce goods and services. Economic activities can be described in terms of the combination of resources (the labour, capital, raw material and service inputs associated with a production process) that are used to produce goods and services. Businesses maintain accounting records about their activities. Their accounts mirror their management or operating structure. In its simplest form, the operating structure of a business will be composed of a single producing unit in which the function of management and production are combined. In large businesses, the producing units at which, or from which, production takes place may be grouped into an organizational unit for financial management, administrative or accounting purposes. In complex businesses, there may be a hierarchical grouping of producing units into more than one level of organizational units, for which different accounting records are maintained.

For single unit businesses, the financial and production data that will be available through their accounting records will be about the same unit. In the case of complex businesses, consolidated financial and balance sheet accounts are maintained for the higher-level organizational units of the operating structure and production accounts are maintained for producing units.

The organizational unit of the business that has autonomy with respect to financial and investment decision making, as well as the authority to allocate resources for the production of goods and services, is described as the enterprise. It is the level at which consolidated financial and balance sheet accounts are maintained. Producing units are described as establishments when the business maintains records about their activities, from which it is possible to compile information about the value of their output, material and service inputs and the extent to which labour and capital were used in the production of output. They may produce goods and services for sale to other establishments, or they may produce goods for further processing by other establishments within the same enterprise. Producing units are described as ancillary units when they are separate units that manage, administer or produce services for the use of other establishments belonging to the same enterprise. In small businesses the establishment and the enterprise often coincide. Generally, financial statistics are compiled for enterprises and production statistics are compiled for establishments (and ancillary units).

NAICS is a comprehensive system encompassing all economic activities. It has a hierarchical structure. At the highest level, it divides the economy into 20 sectors. At lower levels, it further distinguishes the different economic activities in which businesses are engaged.

NAICS is designed for the compilation of production statistics and, therefore, for the classification of data relating to establishments (and locations). It takes into account the specialization of activities generally found at the level of the producing units of businesses. The criteria used to group establishments into industries in NAICS are similarity of input structures, labour skills or production processes used.

While NAICS is designed for the classification of units engaged in market and non-market production, as defined by the System of National Accounts, it can also be used to classify own-account production, such as the unpaid work of households.

NAICS can also be used for classifying enterprises (and companies). However, when NAICS is used for the classification of enterprises and the compilation of financial statistics of businesses, the following caveat applies: NAICS has not been specially designed to take account of the wide range of vertically or horizontally integrated activities of large and complex, multi-establishment enterprises. Hence, there will be a few large and complex enterprises whose activities may be spread over the different sectors of NAICS , in such a way that classifying them to one sector will misrepresent the range of their activities. However, in general, the larger proportion of the activities of each complex enterprise are more likely to fall within the sector, subsector and industry group levels of the classification than within the industry levels. Hence, the higher levels of the classification are more suitable for the classification of enterprises than are the lower levels. It should also be kept in mind that when businesses are composed of establishments belonging to different NAICS industries, their enterprise level data will show a different industrial distribution, when classified to NAICS , than will their establishment level data, and the two sets of data will not be directly comparable.

NAICS Canada has been designed for statistical purposes. Government departments and agencies and other users that use it for administrative, legislative and other non-statistical purposes are responsible for interpreting the classification for the purpose or purposes for which they use it.


Structure and Coding System of NAICS and NAICS Canada

NAICS is the agreed upon common framework for the production of comparable statistics by the statistical agencies of the three countries, Canada, Mexico and the United States. Its hierarchical structure is composed of sectors (two-digit code), subsectors (three-digit code), industry groups (four-digit code), and industries (five-digit code).

NAICS agreements define the boundaries of the twenty sectors into which the classification divides the economies of the three countries. Although, typically, agreement has been reached that comparable data will be made available for Canada, Mexico and the United States up to the five-digit industry level of NAICS , differences in the organization of production in the economies of the three countries or time constraints necessitated certain exceptions. For certain of the sectors or subsectors, three-country agreement was reached only on their boundaries rather than on detailed industry structures. The sectors (subsectors) falling into this category are utilities; wholesale trade; retail trade; securities, commodity contracts, and other financial investment and related activities; real estate; lessors of other non-financial intangible assets (except copyrighted works); waste management and remediation services; personal and laundry services; religious, grant-making, civic and professional and other membership organizations; and public administration. In other instances, agreement was reached only up to the industry group level.

Because of the similarity in the way their economic activities are organized, greater comparability was reached between Canada and the United States. For each of the sectors named above, except wholesale trade and public administration, Canada and the United States have agreed upon a structure that maximizes data comparability between them.

NAICS agreements permit each country to create industries below the NAICS level to meet national needs. Canada and the US have established the same or comparable national industries where possible.

The numbering system that has been adopted is a six-digit code, of which the first five digits are used to describe the NAICS levels that will be used by the three countries to produce comparable data. The first two digits designate the sector, the third digit designates the subsector, the fourth digit designates the industry group and the fifth digit designates industries. The sixth digit is used to designate national industries.

In general, the use of the same code indicates that the sector, subsector, industry group, industry or national industry are comparable, even if the title used in the three countries may differ because of differences in the use of language. In only a few cases, because it was necessary for the U.S. to use all of the numbers available to establish their national detail, has the same code been used for different industries (the codes are 323119, 332999, and 334512).

NAICS with Canadian detail will be designated NAICS Canada, while Mexico and the United States will produce NAICS with their own six-digit detail, which they will publish as SCIAN Mexico and NAICS United States.

Comparability among the three countries is indicated by superscript abbreviations at the end of industry titles in the Classification Structure and Descriptions chapters of NAICS Canada 2002. A superscript "CAN" (CAN) indicates a Canadian industry, "Mex" (MEX) indicates Canadian and Mexican industries are comparable, and "US" (US) indicates Canadian and United States industries are comparable. When no superscript appears, the Canadian, Mexican and United States industries are comparable.

NAICS Canada 2002 consists of 20 sectors, 103 subsectors, 328 industry groups, 728 industries and 928 national industries and replaces NAICS Canada 1997. Concordances showing the relationship between the changed sectors of these two versions of NAICS Canada are shown in the Concordance chapter of this manual.

The structure and hierarchy of NAICS has been designed to allow for maximum data comparability among three countries whose economies differ in size and complexity, rather than to reflect the size or importance of industries in each country. Therefore, some Canadian industries that were at the three-digit level of the 1980 SIC can now be found at the five- and six-digit levels of NAICS Canada.


Historical Background

Statistics Canada has developed and used Standard Industrial Classifications (SIC) of different vintages since 1948. The first Canadian Standard Industrial Classification was developed in 1948 to meet the government's need to establish a more comprehensive and fully integrated system of economic reporting, in support of the key objectives of its post-war reconstruction programme outlined in the 1945 White Paper (on Employment and Income). The 1948 SIC brought together different industry descriptions in use, at the time, each of which was applied to data about different aspects of the economy based on different definitions. It facilitated data comparability, by providing a framework of common concepts, terminology and groupings of industries for their use. The introduction to the 1948 SIC manual stated that it was designed for the classification of the establishment but a precise definition was not provided.

In the major revision of the SIC in 1960, the importance of the need for a standard unit of observation was emphasized by the provision of a standard definition of the establishment. The variables needed to assemble the "basic industrial statistics" required for the analysis of the different sectors of the economy were specified and, among other characteristics, the establishment became the smallest unit capable of reporting that set of variables. The 1970 revision updated the industry groupings to reflect changes in the industrial structure of the economy.

The 1980 revision of the SIC was again a major one. This revision more directly linked the SIC to the System of National Accounts (SNA). It specified the universe of production to be as defined for the production accounts of the SNA. It drew a picture of all the variables that needed to be collected from or allocated to the establishment, in order to calculate value added by establishment for the Input Output accounts and Real Domestic Product by industry. It gave more emphasis to the role of "ancillary" activities in the collection of an integrated system of economic statistics and emphasized the difference between technical and ancillary activities and the role of ancillary units in accounting for total production. By using available statistics, it more explicitly used measures of specialization and coverage to delineate manufacturing industries. It recommended the use of the 1980 SIC for the classification of establishments and the compilation of production statistics.

In 1980 a separate Classification of Companies and Enterprises was produced for the compilation of financial statistics related to enterprises. This classification, designed for the classification of companies and enterprises, took account of vertically integrated enterprises and created special classes for them at the lowest level of the classification. The higher levels of the classification cut across the traditional groupings of industrial classifications based on separating primary, secondary and tertiary activities in the economy and created sector groupings that drew together single and vertically integrated enterprises engaged in the production of similar product groups.

It was customary to revise the SIC at ten-year intervals; however, by 1990 not all the economic statistics programs of Statistics Canada had implemented the 1980 SIC . It was decided to postpone the revision and to take into account the statistical needs of the Free Trade Agreement signed in January 1994. The needs were met by developing NAICS , an industrial classification common to Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Changes to Canadian and world economies continue to impact on classification systems. NAICS was revised for 2002 to achieve increased comparability among the three countries in selected areas and to identify additional industries for new and emerging activities. To that end, the construction sector has been revised and comparability has been achieved, for the most part, at the NAICS industry (five-digit) level. Industries were created for Internet services providers and web search portals, and Internet publishing and broadcasting.


The Conceptual Framework of NAICS

NAICS is based on a production-oriented, or supply-based conceptual framework in that establishments are grouped into industries according to similarity in the production processes used to produce goods and services. A production oriented industry classification system ensures that statistical agencies in the three countries can produce information on inputs and outputs, industrial performance, productivity, unit labour costs, employment, and other statistics that reflect structural changes occurring in the three economies.

The activity of an establishment can be described in terms of what is produced, namely the type of goods and services produced, or how they are produced, namely, the raw material and service inputs used and the process of production or skills and technology used.

To create industries, establishments can be grouped using the criterion of similarity of output or the criterion of similarity of inputs, processes, skills and technology used. Previous Canadian SIC 's and for that matter the International Standard Industrial Classifications of the United Nations ( ISIC , ISIC Rev 1, ISIC Rev 2 and ISIC Rev 3), have all used mixed criteria to create the industries of the classification.

NAICS is based on a single production-oriented concept. Producing units are grouped into industries according to similarities in their production processes. The boundaries between industries demarcate, in principle, differences in production processes and production technologies. This means that, in the language of economics, producing units within an industry have similar production functions that differ from those of producing units in other industries.

It is possible to view the production process as consisting of two dimensions, industries and products. The unit of observation of the industrial classification for the production of industrial statistics is the producing unit or the establishment, and the industrial classification is primarily a grouping of producing units, not products. Groupings of producing units permit the collection of industrial statistics that bring together information about the inputs and outputs of establishments. Because establishments each produce a number of products, in different combinations, using different technologies, it is hardly possible to bring together and group all the establishments producing a particular product. It is more useful to use a production-oriented approach to bring together, into industries, establishments with common input structures, and to compile data on their product outputs. This permits the compilation of comprehensive data on the total output of each product by industry and across all industries. The needs of analysts to study market shares and the demand for products can more effectively be met by compiling data relating to the products produced by industries and using a product classification based on demand-oriented criteria to group products by markets served.


The Development of NAICS

NAICS was developed by Statistics Canada, Mexico's Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática (INEGI) and the Economic Classification Policy Committee (ECPC) of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

The three countries agreed upon the conceptual framework of the new system and the principles upon which NAICS was to be developed.

  1. NAICS would be based on a production-oriented or supply-based conceptual framework. This means that producing units that use similar production processes would be grouped together in NAICS .
  2. Special attention would be given to developing production-oriented classifications for
    1. new and emerging industries
    2. services industries in general and
    3. industries engaged in the production of advanced technologies.
  3. Time series continuity would be maintained to the extent possible. However, changes in the economy and proposals from data users would be considered. In addition, in order to create a common system for all three countries, adjustments would be required for sectors where the United States, Canada and Mexico had incompatible definitions.
  4. In the interest of a wider range of international comparisons, the three countries would strive for greater compatibility with the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities ( ISIC Rev 3) by minimising the extent to which the lowest levels of NAICS crossed the boundaries of the 2-digit level of ISIC Rev 3.

To help with the development of NAICS , a User Committee meeting was called in November 1994 and extensive consultation was undertaken in Canada with Federal and Provincial Government Departments and Agencies, Business and Trade Associations, economic analysts and the advisory committees of Statistics Canada.

A Co-ordinating Committee and subcommittees, which covered Agriculture; Mining and Manufacturing; Construction; Distribution Networks (retail and wholesale trade, transportation, communications and utilities); Finance; Insurance and Real Estate; Business and Personal Services and Health; Social Assistance and Public Administration, were responsible for developing the proposed structure of NAICS , in co-operation with representatives from INEGI and the statistical agencies of the US . Proposals from all three countries concerning individual industries were considered for acceptance, if the proposed industry was based on the production-oriented concept of the system. The structure of NAICS was developed in a series of three-country meetings and formally accepted by the senior representatives of the ECPC, INEGI and Statistics Canada.

The final structure of NAICS was accepted by the Heads of Statistics Canada, INEGI and the Office of Management and Budget of the US on December 10, 1996.


Statistical Units

Businesses have an operating structure and also a legal structure. They define and register themselves in terms of legal units for the ownership of assets. The legal structure forms the legal base of the business. Businesses usually submit corporate tax returns to government revenue authorities for the units that comprise its legal structure. A business derives its autonomy from the common ownership and control of its resources regardless of the number of legal units under which it registers them.

Though in the case of most businesses the legal and operating structures of the business coincide, particularly when the business is comprised of a single legal and operating entity, this is not always the case. In addition, accounting practices differ from business to business and the entities for which economic and financial data are available may represent yet another view of the business. It therefore becomes necessary to delineate the statistical structure of businesses and to define statistical units or the unit of observation about which economic data will be compiled and classified. This is done by a process known as profiling. Businesses are consulted about their legal and operating structures and their accounting practices. A four-tier statistical structure is then delineated. The standardised model developed at Statistics Canada for business surveys consists of a four-level hierarchy of business units. They are the Enterprise, the Company, the Establishment and the Location.


Definitions

At the lowest level of the operating structure of businesses are producing units, such as the mill, plant, factory, farm, mine, warehouse, store, airline terminal or movie theatre. The location, as a statistical unit, is defined as a producing unit at a single geographical location at which or from which economic activity is conducted and for which, at a minimum, employment data are available.

The establishment is the level at which all accounting data required to measure production are available. The establishment, as a statistical unit, is defined as the most homogeneous unit of production for which the business maintains accounting records from which it is possible to assemble all the data elements required to compile the full structure of the gross value of production (total sales or shipments, and inventories), the cost of materials and services, and labour and capital used in production. Provided that the necessary accounts are available, the statistical structure replicates the operating structure of the business. In delineating the establishment, however, producing units may be grouped. An establishment comprises at least one location but it can also be composed of many.

There are a number of special cases for delineating establishments. In situations in which accounting records can provide all the data needed to identify a separate establishment for each distinct activity being undertaken from the same premises, particularly if they are activities belonging to different industries, two separate establishments may be delineated. An example would be the case of restaurants or shops in a hotel. In such cases, each activity is delineated as a separate establishment, provided that: no one industry description in the classification includes such combined activities; all the data required to define an establishment are available for each activity; and output and employment are significant for both activities. If an establishment crosses provincial boundaries, it is split into two establishments. In the areas of Construction, Transportation and Communication, activities tend to be dispersed. The individual sites, projects, fields, networks, lines or systems of such activities are not normally treated as establishments. The establishment is represented by those relatively permanent main or branch offices, terminals, stations etc. that are either (1) directly responsible for supervising such activities or (2) the base from which personnel operate to carry out these activities. Units producing goods for further processing by other establishments within the enterprise are treated as separate establishments, provided that they are a profit centre or a cost centre for which, at a minimum, transfer prices and the quantity of goods transferred for further processing can be reported by the business.

In some complex businesses, there are units that exclusively produce services in support of other units within the same enterprise. Examples of such units are transportation units, central administrative units and head offices. Such units are known as ancillary units and they are delineated according the number and location of establishments that they serve or manage and the availability of accounting information concerning their operations. Three typical cases can be described.

When the ancillary unit manages or serves only one establishment, a separate location is identified, reporting to the establishment managed or served. An exception is made in the case where the two locations are in different provinces, in which case two establishments are delineated. An example of this case is a mining company with a mining location in one province and a head office location in another province. Two establishments would be delineated, one coded to Mining and the other to the Head Office Industry.

When the ancillary unit manages or serves more than one establishment, but there is insufficient accounting information to delineate it as an establishment, it is identified as an ancillary establishment, with an accompanying location.

Finally, if the ancillary unit manages or serves more than one establishment and it is a cost centre or a discretionary expense centre for which data on all its costs including labour and depreciation can be reported by the business, it is identified as an establishment, with an accompanying location.

The Company is the level at which operating profit can be measured. The company, as a statistical unit, is defined as the lowest level organizational unit for which income and expenditure accounts and balance sheets are maintained from which operating profit and the rate of return on capital can be derived. An enterprise may consist of one or more companies.

The enterprise is an autonomous unit for which a complete set of financial statements is available. The enterprise, as a statistical unit, is defined as a business unit that directs and controls the allocation of resources relating to its operations, and for which consolidated financial and balance sheet accounts are maintained. International transactions, an international investment position and a consolidated financial position for the unit can be derived from these consolidated accounts. The enterprise corresponds to an institutional unit engaged in economic activity as defined in the System of National Accounts 1993. The System of National Accounts defines an institutional unit as an economic entity that is capable, in its own right, of owning assets, incurring liabilities, and engaging in economic activities and in transactions with other entities. In the case of most small- and medium-sized businesses, the enterprise and the establishment are identical. Large and complex enterprises, however, consist of more than one establishment, which may belong to different NAICS industries.


Reporting Arrangements

Information required about a statistical unit, as defined above, may or may not be available from the unit itself. Particularly in the case of businesses with complex operating structures, reporting arrangements will have to be made with the business to collect the required data about the statistical unit or to attribute all production costs to the producing establishments. These arrangements will differ from one business to the next, depending upon their particular record keeping practices. For example, it may be necessary to obtain information about goods and services purchased for the use by establishments from a Head Office, which could be at the company level, and to allocate the costs back to the using establishments, whether this is done in the accounting records of the business or not.


Determining the Unit's Industry Classification

The Classification of Establishments

NAICS is principally a classification system for establishments and for the compilation of production statistics. An establishment is classified to an industry when its principal activity meets the definition for that industry. This is a straightforward determination for establishments engaged in a single activity, but where establishments are engaged in more than one activity, it is necessary to establish procedures for identifying its principal activity.

In most cases, when an establishment is engaged in more than one activity, the activities are treated as independent. The activity with the largest value-added (value of outputs minus cost of inputs) is identified as the establishment's principal activity, and the establishment is classified to the industry corresponding to that activity. In practice, it is often necessary to use other variables, such as revenue, shipments or employment, as proxies for value-added.

In some cases, however, combined activities are given special recognition. These combinations occur in both goods-producing and services-producing sectors. They are a consequence of the technology of production or of efficiencies to be gained from combining certain activities in the same establishment.

Some of these combinations occur so commonly or frequently that the combination can be treated as an activity in its own right, and explicitly classified to an existing industry or to an industry created for the combination. An example of a combined activity for which a single industry has been created is shipbuilding and repairing. Shipyards have production facilities, such as dry docks, that can be used either to build new ships or to repair ships. A typical establishment will do both in varying degrees depending upon the relative demand for new ships and repair services. A single industry, Shipbuilding and Repairing (336611), has therefore been created for classifying all establishments engaged in this combination of activities. A different type of combination of activities is that of establishments engaged in the sale of new cars that often also engage in providing repair services. In NAICS , they are coded to New Car Dealers (44111), regardless of their major source of revenue in any given period. The classification does not attempt to take account of all possible combinations of activities, but rather identifies those that normally occur together and are economically significant.

The ratio of the various outputs of a combined activity can change with the business cycle. However, movements of establishments from one industry to another should be based on significant and lasting shifts in their activities. In general, a period longer than a year is appropriate before changing the industry classification of establishments with mixed activities. It is a principle of NAICS that an establishment should remain classified in the same industry unless its production process changes. Once the combined activity is recognized to be a distinct activity or production process, rather than using the primary activity rule, it is in the interest of stability that the combination be coded to one industry, regardless of the relative importance of the different activities as sources of revenue in any given period.

Another type of combined activity is the joint production of goods and services. These are activities that involve the production of two or more products, with the same factors of production, in the same establishment. These types of combined activities are arbitrarily assigned to a single industry class in NAICS . An example is the production of meat and of raw hides, both of which are the product of animal slaughtering. They are produced simultaneously by the same production process. This combined activity is assigned to the Animal (except poultry) Slaughtering industry (311611). Another example is that of sugar and molasses, which is assigned to the Sugar Manufacturing industry (31131).

Finally, another type of combined activity involves establishments engaged in activities that are related by virtue of vertical integration, in other words in activities in which the output of one stage of production is the input to a later stage of production. In these cases, the general rule is that the establishment is classified to the activity of the last stage of production. There are exceptions to the rule, however. Where an earlier stage is vastly predominant in terms of technology, machinery, equipment and labour, the establishment is classified according to the activity associated with that earlier stage of production. Examples include establishments that make steel and also produce steel castings, which are classified to Iron and Steel Mills and Ferro-Alloy Manufacturing (33111) and establishments that produce, pulp, paper and paper products, which are classified to Paper Mills (32212).

Vertically integrated activities are also defined in the services-producing sectors. For example, while establishments that design software to customer specifications are classified in Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151), establishments that both design and publish software are classified as Software Publishers (51121).

The Classification of Ancillary Units

Ancillary units can be classified in two ways. They can be classified to the industry of their own activity or to the principal industry of the establishments managed or served. For example, a transportation unit that serves manufacturing establishments can be classified to transportation (its own activity) or to manufacturing (the activity managed or served). The System of National AccountsFootnote 1 advocates the allocation of the costs of ancillary units to the output of all the establishments managed or served by them. For the compilation of provincially disaggregated industrial statistics, however, it is necessary to show the employment and value-added of separate ancillary units against their own activity, in the province in which they are located. To meet these competing requirements, Statistics Canada has adopted the following practices.

In the case of an ancillary unit that manages or serves only one establishment, the separate ancillary location is classified to its own activity. Where the two locations are in different provinces, and therefore two establishments have been delineated, the ancillary location and establishment will be classified to their own activity.

When the ancillary unit manages or serves more than one establishment, but there is insufficient accounting information to delineate it as an establishment, the ancillary establishment will be classified to the principal activity of the units managed or served, while the accompanying ancillary location will be classified to its own activity.

Finally, in the case of an ancillary unit that manages or serves more than one establishment and for which all necessary data required to identify it as an establishment are available, both the establishment and the accompanying location will be classified to their own activity.

The Classification of Companies

Companies are classified to NAICS by using the principle of assigning them to the industry of the establishment or group of establishments that account for the majority of its value-added.

The Classification of Enterprises

It has been pointed out above that NAICS is not specially designed for the classification of complex enterprises, that is those with establishments in different NAICS sectors. However, enterprises can be classified to NAICS by using the principle of assigning the enterprise to the industry of the establishment or group of establishments that account for the largest proportion of the value added of the enterprise. In general, the higher levels of NAICS better represent the activities of diversified enterprises engaged in many activities.


The Relationship of NAICS Canada and the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC Rev 3)Footnote 2

Recognizing that economic statistics are substantially more useful if they are also internationally comparable, the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations adopted the original version of the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) in 1948. Since then, ISIC has been revised in 1958, 1968 and most recently in 1989. At this time, the Council recommended that member states adopt, as soon as possible, ISIC Revision 3, with such modifications as may be necessary to meet national requirements, without disturbing the framework of the classification and use ISIC Rev 3 in reporting data classified according to kind of economic activity for the purposes of international comparison.

In accordance with these recommendations and mindful of the need to provide data classified to ISIC Rev 3 for purposes of international comparability, the statistical agencies of the three North American countries agreed that, in the development of NAICS , they would strive to create industries that, at least, did not cross the two-digit boundaries of ISIC Rev 3. This minimal agreement was reached in the knowledge that very detailed comparison would not be possible without considerably greater harmonization.

NAICS , like ISIC , was principally designed to provide a classification for grouping establishments based on the kind of activity in which they are primarily engaged. Whereas the main criteria employed in delineating the divisions, groups and classes of ISIC are: (a) the character of the goods and services produced; (b) the uses to which the goods and services are put; and (c) the inputs, the process and technology of production, it is the third criterion of ISIC Rev 3 that forms the conceptual basis of NAICS which makes it unique among industrial classifications in being based on a single criterion.

Footnotes

Footnote 1

Inter-Secretariat Working Group on National Accounts, System of National Accounts 1993 (Brussels/Luxembourg, New York, Paris, Washington, D.C.: 1993), p.116.

Return to footnote 1 referrer

Footnote 2

United Nations, International Standard Industrial Classification of all Economic Activities, Statistical Papers Series M No. 4, Rev. 3, 1990

Return to first footnote 2 referrer

NAICS 2002 has a five-digit classification structure, with a six-digit for national industries. With some important exceptions, it provides a set of standard 5-digit industries that describe the industrial structure and composition of the Canadian, United States and Mexican economies at selected levels of aggregation where agreement occurred among the three countries on a compatible classification. Below the agreed-upon level of compatibility each country has added additional detailed six-digit industries, as necessary to meet national needs, provided that this additional detail aggregates to the NAICS level. Exceptions to the rule of five-digit industry level NAICS compatibility are shown below in a table.

Exceptions to the rule of five-digit industry level NAICS 2002 comparability
NAICS level ends at:
2-digit Sector Wholesale Trade;
Retail Trade; and
Public Administration.
3-digit Subsector * Waste Management and Remediation Services;
Credit Intermediation and Related Activities;
Utilities;
Personal and Laundry Services; and
Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional and other Similar Organisations.
4-digit Industry Group Finance (except subsector 522), and Insurance: Real Estate

* Subsector 526 in Finance is a NAICS Canada subsector only.

Accordingly, each country has its own NAICS manual, called respectively:

  • NAICS Canada 2002
  • NAICS United States 2002
  • SCIAN Mexico 2002

Separate agreements providing for detailed industry comparability between Canada and the United States were reached for the utilities; retail trade; and finance and insurance sectors.


Differences in NAICS 2002 Manuals

Classes below the NAICS level are specific to each country and do not show up in the other countries' NAICS Manuals. Difference between these codes in NAICS Canada, NAICS US, and SCIAN Mexico reflect:

  1. differences in relative size which allows for more national industry detail in selected sectors ( e.g. , Manufacturing in the United States)
  2. classes which are analytically important to one country for cultural, economic or institutional reasons ( e.g. , Cultural Industries in Canada)
  3. detail each country has chosen to fill in the classification below the NAICS level.
  4. limited time and resources available for developing NAICS .

In many cases, the national detail in the NAICS Canada and NAICS US Manuals are similar. Note that residual 6-digit classes can end in either and 8 or a 9. Within each sector, the country with the larger number of 6-digit classes identified their residual classes with a code ending in 9. As a rule, the 6-digit classes of the three countries carry the same code when they refer to similar industries and different codes when they refer to different industries. However, in rare instances, when the combined number of Canadian and US 6-digit classes exceeded 10, this resulted in an identical code for classes with a different content. There are only 3 such cases, viz:

Identical codes for classes with a different content
NAICS Canada 2002 Code NAICS US 2002
Other Printing 323119 Other Commercial Printing
All Other Miscellaneous Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing 332999 All Other Miscellaneous Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing
Measuring, Medical and Controlling Devices Manufacturing 334512 Automatic Environmental Control Manufacturing for Residential, Commercial, and Appliance Use

In the published paper version (12-501-XPE), comparable NAICS classes are identified by using the following superscripts:

Comparable NAICS classes are identified by using the following superscripts.
Symbol Explanation
CAN Canadian industry only
MEX Canadian and Mexican industries are comparable
US Canadian and United States industries are comparable
[Blank] [No superscript symbol] Canadian, Mexican and United States industries are comparable.

Comparable NAICS classes can be viewed here by cliking on the NAICS Sector Codes.

Mobility status, five years, of person, category

The data for this variable are reported using the following classification(s) and/or list(s):

'Mobility status, five years' refers to the status of a person with regard to the place of residence on the reference day in relation to the place of residence on the same date five years earlier.

'Person' refers to an individual and is the unit of analysis for most social statistics programmes.