Chapter 33

Essential oils and resinoids; perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations

Section VI — Products of the chemical or allied industries · 7 headings · 29 subheadings

Duty in chapter 33 at a glance

Counted across the 81 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
61 of 81 stating a rate
Ad valorem range
1.1% – 6%
Dutiable per unit, not on value
2 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

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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 33 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) Natural oleoresins or vegetable extracts of heading 1301 or 1302;
  • (b) Soap or other products of heading 3401; or
  • (c) Gum, wood or sulfate turpentine or other products of heading 3805.

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.

Section VI notes PRODUCTS OF THE CHEMICAL OR ALLIED INDUSTRIES

1. (a) Goods (other than radioactive ores) answering to a description in heading 2844 or 2845 are to be classified in those headings and in no other heading of the tariff schedule.

(b) Subject to paragraph (a) above, goods answering to a description in heading 2843, 2846 or 2852 are to be classified in those headings and in no other heading of this section.

2. Subject to note 1 above, goods classifiable in heading 3004, 3005, 3006, 3212, 3303, 3304, 3305, 3306, 3307, 3506, 3707 or 3808 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 tariff schedule.

3. 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:

(a) Having regard to the manner in which they are put up, clearly identifiable as being intended to be used together without first being repacked;

(b) Entered together; and

(c) Identifiable, whether by their nature or by the relative proportions in which they are present, as being complementary one to another.

4. Where a product answers to a description in one or more of the headings in section VI by virtue of being described by name or function and also to heading 3827, then it is classifiable in a heading that references the product by name or function and not under heading 3827.

Additional U.S. Notes

1. In determining the amount of duty applicable to a solution of a single compound in water subject to duty in this section at a specific rate, an allowance in weight or volume, as the case may be, shall be made for the water in excess of any water of crystallization which may be present in the undissolved compound.

2. For the purposes of the tariff schedule:

(a) The term "aromatic" as applied to any chemical compound refers to such compound containing one or more fused or unfused benzene rings;

(b) The term "modified aromatic" describes a molecular structure having at least one six-membered heterocyclic ring which contains at least four carbon atoms and having an arrangement of molecular bonds as in the benzene ring or in the quinone ring, but does not include any such molecular structure in which one or more pyrimidine rings are the only modified aromatic rings present;

(c) For the purposes of headings 2902, 2907 and 3817, the term "alkyl" describes any saturated acyclic hydrocarbon group having six or more carbon atoms or, subject to note 1 to chapter 29, any mixtures of such groups averaging six or more carbon atoms.

3. The term "products described in additional U.S. note 3 to section VI" refers to any product not listed in the Chemical Appendix to the Tariff Schedule and--

(a) For which the importer furnishes the Chemical Abstracts Service (C.A.S.) registry number and certifies that such registry number is not listed in the Chemical Appendix to the Tariff Schedule; or

(b) Which the importer certifies not to have a C.A.S. registry number and not to be listed in the Chemical Appendix to the Tariff Schedule, either under the name used to make Customs entry or under any other name by which it may be known.

Chapter 33 — Notes

Legal Notes of the Harmonized System. Binding, and part of the international nomenclature.

1. This chapter does not cover:

(a) Natural oleoresins or vegetable extracts of heading 1301 or 1302;

(b) Soap or other products of heading 3401; or

(c) Gum, wood or sulfate turpentine or other products of heading 3805.

2. The expression "odoriferous substances" in heading 3302 refers only to the substances of heading 3301, to odoriferous constituents isolated from those substances or to synthetic aromatics.

3. Headings 3303 to 3307 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 3307 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.

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 33

3301 Essential oils (terpeneless or not), including concretes and absolutes; resinoids; extracted oleoresins; concentrates of essential oils in fats, in fixed oils, in waxes or the like, obtained by enfleurage or maceration; terpenic by products of the deterpenation of essential oils; aqueous distillates and aqueous solutions of essential oils

3302 Mixtures of odoriferous substances and mixtures (including alcoholic solutions) with a basis of one or more of these substances, of a kind used as raw materials in industry; other preparations based on odoriferous substances, of a kind used for the manufacture of beverages

3304 Beauty or make-up preparations and preparations for the care of the skin (other than medicaments), including sunscreen or sun tan preparations; manicure or pedicure preparations

3306 Preparations for oral or dental hygiene, including denture fixative pastes and powders; yarn used to clean between the teeth (dental floss), in individual retail packages

3307 Pre-shave, shaving or after-shave preparations, personal deodorants, bath preparations, depilatories and other perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations, not elsewhere specified or included; prepared room deodorizers, whether or not perfumed or having disinfectant properties

Common questions

What does HS chapter 33 cover?

Essential oils and resinoids; perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations. It contains 7 headings and 29 six-digit subheadings, and sits in Section VI (products of the chemical or allied industries).

What is excluded from chapter 33?

1. This chapter does not cover: (a) Natural oleoresins or vegetable extracts of heading 1301 or 1302; (b) Soap or other products of heading 3401; or (c) Gum, wood or sulfate turpentine or other products of heading 3805.

Are chapter 33's notes legally binding?

This chapter carries 7 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.