Chapter 15
Animal,vegetable or microbial fats and oils and their cleavage products; prepared edible fats; animal or vegetable waxes
Section III — Animal,vegetable or microbial fats and oils and their cleavage products; prepared edible fats; animal or vegetable waxes · 21 headings · 53 subheadings
Duty in chapter 15 at a glance
Counted across the 137 US national lines beneath this chapter's subheadings. It says what kind of chapter this is before you read ninety headings to find out.
- Duty-free lines
- 22 of 137 stating a rate
- Ad valorem range
- 2.3% – 19.1%
- Dutiable per unit, not on value
- 74 lines are charged per kilogram, litre or item rather than as a percentage of the customs value. A landed-cost estimate built from value alone will understate the duty on those.
Preference programmes appearing in this chapter
Named from General Note 3(c)(i). A programme appearing here does not mean it applies to your goods — that depends on the line, the origin and the agreement's rules of origin.
What this chapter excludes
These notes push goods out of chapter 15 even when a subheading's wording seems to fit. They are the fastest way to find out you are in the wrong chapter.
1. This chapter does not cover:
- (a) Pig fat or poultry fat, of heading 0209;
- (b) Cocoa butter, fat or oil (heading 1804);
- (c) Edible preparations containing by weight more than 15 percent of the products of heading 0405 (generally chapter 21);
- (d) Greaves (heading 2301) or residues of headings 2304 to 2306;
- (e) Fatty acids, prepared waxes, medicaments, paints, varnishes, soap, perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations, sulfonated oils or other goods of section VI; or
- (f) Factice derived from oils (heading 4002).
2. Heading 1509 does not apply to oils obtained from olives by solvent extraction (heading 1510).
3. Heading 1518 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.
Legal notes
Reproduced from the published tariff schedule. Section and chapter notes are binding and part of the nomenclature; statistical notes are US reporting rules and are not classification law.
Chapter 15 — Notes
Legal Notes of the Harmonized System. Binding, and part of the international nomenclature.
1. This chapter does not cover:
(a) Pig fat or poultry fat, of heading 0209;
(b) Cocoa butter, fat or oil (heading 1804);
(c) Edible preparations containing by weight more than 15 percent of the products of heading 0405 (generally chapter 21);
(d) Greaves (heading 2301) or residues of headings 2304 to 2306;
(e) Fatty acids, prepared waxes, medicaments, paints, varnishes, soap, perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations, sulfonated oils or other goods of section VI; or
(f) Factice derived from oils (heading 4002).
2. Heading 1509 does not apply to oils obtained from olives by solvent extraction (heading 1510).
3. Heading 1518 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 1522.
Chapter 15 — Subheading Notes
Subheading Notes. Binding, scoped to subheadings.
1. For the purposes of subheading 1509.30, virgin olive oil has a free acidity expressed as oleic acid not exceeding 2.0 g/100 g and can be distinguished from the other virgin olive oil categories according to the characteristics indicated in the Codex Alimentarius Standard 33-1981.
2. For the purposes of subheadings 1514.11 and 1514.19, the expression “low erucic acid rape or colza oil” means the fixed oil which has an erucic acid content of less than 2 percent by weight.
Chapter 15 — Additional U.S. Notes
Additional U.S. Notes. Binding in the United States; not part of the international HS.
1. Products of American fisheries are provided for in chapter 98.
Chapter 15 — Statistical Notes
US statistical reporting only. NOT classification law.
1. The unit of quantity “kg cmsc” (kilograms cows’ milk solids content) includes all cows milk components other than water.
2. For a list of approved standards for "Certified organic", see General Statistical Note 6.
Notes are reproduced from the published tariff schedule. They govern classification, but reading them is not the same as applying them to your goods — that is what a broker or a binding ruling is for.
Headings in chapter 15
1501 Pig fat (including lard) and poultry fat, other than that of heading 0209 or 1503
1502 Fats of bovine animals, sheep or goats, other than those of heading 1503
1504 Fats and oils and their fractions, of fish or marine mammals, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified
1507 Soybean oil and its fractions, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified
1508 Peanut (ground-nut) oil and its fractions, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified
1509 Olive oil and its fractions, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified
1510 Other oils and their fractions, obtained solely from olives, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified, including blends of these oils and fractions with oils or fractions of heading 1509
1511 Palm oil and its fractions, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified
1512 Sunflower-seed, safflower or cottonseed oil, and fractions thereof, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified
1513 Coconut (copra), palm kernel or babassu oil, and fractions thereof, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified
1514 Rapeseed, colza or mustard oil, and fractions thereof, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified
1515 Other fixed vegetable or microbial fats and oils (including jojoba oil) and their fractions, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified
1516 Animal, vegetable or microbial fats and oils and their fractions, partly or wholly hydrogenated, inter-esterified, re-esterified or elaidinized, whether or not refined, but not further prepared
1517 Margarine; edible mixtures or preparations of animal, vegetable or microbial fats or oils or of fractions of different fats or oils of this chapter, other than edible fats or oils or their fractions of heading 1516
1521 Vegetable waxes (other than triglycerides), beeswax, other insect waxes and spermaceti, whether or not refined or colored
Other chapters
Common questions
What does HS chapter 15 cover?
Animal,vegetable or microbial fats and oils and their cleavage products; prepared edible fats; animal or vegetable waxes. It contains 21 headings and 53 six-digit subheadings, and sits in Section III (animal,vegetable or microbial fats and oils and their cleavage products; prepared edible fats; animal or vegetable waxes).
What is excluded from chapter 15?
1. This chapter does not cover: (a) Pig fat or poultry fat, of heading 0209; (b) Cocoa butter, fat or oil (heading 1804); (c) Edible preparations containing by weight more than 15 percent of the products of heading 0405 (generally chapter 21); (d) Greaves (heading 2301) or residues of headings 2304 to 2306;
Are chapter 15's notes legally binding?
This chapter carries 13 binding note paragraph(s) — legal notes of the Harmonized System, plus any US-specific Additional U.S. Notes. They decide classification, and they outrank the wording of an individual subheading. A further 2 statistical note paragraph(s) govern US reporting only and are not classification law.