Introduction

The Standard Classification of Transported Goods (SCTG) consists of a blend of transportation characteristics, commodity similarities, and industry-of-origin considerations, designed to create statistically significant categories. It is a structured list that is defined at its less-detailed levels according to the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS), and at more-detailed levels, according to patterns of industrial activity. Other factors in the definition of categories were transportation considerations such as volume, revenue, value, origin, and destination.

SCTG is a Canada-U.S. initiative, designed to provide categories for the 1997 U.S. Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) and to improve the integration of Canadian transportation data, particularly for marine, truck, and rail. The classification is also designed to permit comparison of Canadian and U.S. transportation data. In addition, because of its HS basis, SCTG can be used for other international comparisons. SCTG is an important development in the creation of an integrated system of classification that is used for economic analysis, covering production, shipments, and international trade.

Currently, Canadian transportation data are compiled according to three different classifications. The Standard Commodity Classification (SCC), which is the former Statistics Canada commodity standard, continues to be used for rail and truck data, whereas marine data for several years have been based on the Standard Classification of Goods (the SCG, which is Canada's extension of the HS). In addition, rail and truck data are not grouped in the same way, because truck data are based directly on the SCC, whereas rail data are obtained by converting to the SCC the Standard Transportation Commodity Code (STCC) of the Association of American Railroads (AAR). Truck data and most marine data are collected by Statistics Canada according to the detail provided on shipping documents and grouped into a few hundred categories. In contrast, Statistics Canada receives only aggregated rail data.

The U.S. used the STCC for the collection and publication of 1993 CFS data, but it was inadequate, because, among other weaknesses, STCC is primarily a rail-carrier-based classification. The CFS, however, is a shipper survey that collects information about commodities shipped by all modes, as well as intermodal movements. The SCTG has been designed to provide commodity groupings that better reflect goods transported by all modes.

Classification Structure and Data Significance

The structure of the SCTG is hierarchical, consisting of four levels that contain groupings based on HS or SCG "building blocks". These groupings are designed to create statistically significant transportation categories. The SCTG follows the classification principles that each level covers the universe of transported goods, and that each category in each level is mutually exclusive. These levels range from a minimum of 42 categories to a maximum of 512 categories.

The first, or two-digit, level consists of 42 HS-based categories, and is designed to provide analytically-useful commodity groupings for those users who are interested in an overview of groupings of transported goods. Where possible, these categories consist of industry-of-origin groupings within HS definitions.

The second, or three-digit, level consists of 137 HS-based categories. At this level, the categories consist of goods for which very significant product movements are expected to be recorded in both Canada and the U.S., thus providing the best basis for Canada-U.S. comparisons. There are two exceptions to the use of HS categories at the three-digit, or international, level. The first exception relates to non-food waste products (SCTG 41). In most cases, the HS identifies such waste, but where it does not, SCG detail was used to group these products. The other exception is for refined petroleum and coal products (SCTGs 17-19), which are defined according to SCG details in order to compensate for the lack of international agreement about useful sub-headings of HS 27.10.

The third, or four-digit, level consists of 291 HS- or SCG-based categories. This level of the SCTG is designed to create categories that reflect industry patterns and transportation characteristics that are often not provided for in HS categories. Data-wise, these categories are more important than those of the most-detailed level of the SCTG, and often consist of portions of HS categories as defined by SCG detail. It is likely that Canada will only use a selection of four-digit SCTG categories, because of confidentiality, insignificant data, or data-reliability issues.

The fourth, or five-digit, level consists of 512 HS- or SCG-based categories. This level, which often consists of SCG detail, is the collection level for the CFS, with each category designed to capture significant data that reflects industry patterns and transportation characteristics. For multimodal Canadian data, only some of the five-digit categories will be used, because many of these categories will yield only insignificant data. For data relating to single modes, however, more of the five-digit categories will be useful. In Canada, this level is not a collection level, but the first possible level of aggregation of the micro detail obtained from shipping documents for marine and truck transport. For rail data, the aim will be to continue to receive data obtained from the detailed STCC categories, but aggregated according to the SCTG. The richness of detail at this five-digit level is sufficient to accommodate those situations where a Canadian product is relatively more important to Canada than it is to the U.S., particularly where it is difficult to track shipments from one country to the other.

The SCTG is defined by HS or SCG codes only at the three-, four-, and five-digit levels, for presentation purposes. Many of the 42 categories at the two-digit analytical level would be defined by only one or a few codes. Others, however, would require extensive lists of codes, which are not as useful in defining the contents of these less-detailed categories as they are for the more-detailed distinctions.

Although the blend of the criteria used to create the SCTG resulted in four different levels of categories, many of the categories are identical at more than one level. One grouping--"Pharmaceutical Products" (SCTG 21)--is even identical at all four levels. In this case, four different criteria coincide at each level. The most-detailed, or collection, level corresponds to an industry-of-origin grouping, which is identical to an HS category that, in turn, is identified as an analytically useful product description.

For Canadian use only, the SCTG includes an additional category (42), which is subdivided into 4 three-digit categories that are further disaggregated into 16 categories. The first of the three-digit categories relates to mail and parcels. The contents of parcels cannot be identified, nor can the contents of mail other than items such as advertising flyers. It should be noted that, in the CFS, mailed parcels constitute one of the seven modes for which commodity information is collected. The contents of the second category, "Trailers on flat cars (TOFC), containers on flat cars (COFC), and other shipping containers, returned empty", are identified, but constitute transported goods for which there are no associated direct revenues, in that they are a cost of the provision of transportation services. The third category, which consists of unidentified freight or cargo, is associated with revenues, but the generally smaller size of the individual shipments results in their assembly with other small shipments in containers, thus forming a grouping that is impractical to identify by component. The fourth category relates to "Goods on company service". This covers significant movement of goods, which are owned by the transporting company and do not generate revenue. This might include the movement of service equipment to service rail cars in need of repair.

Classification According to Transportation Characteristics

The combination of the HS and SCG provides many thousands of categories to use as building blocks in the development of a standard classification of transported goods. Data significance was used to select appropriate categories for the SCTG, starting with the most aggregative categories and working down to the most detailed categories, according to the criteria of significance established for each of the four levels. The creation of SCTG categories was usually done by selecting from the structure of the HS or SCG (i.e., by using HS or SCG categories), or by grouping HS or SCG categories to form more significant categories. Both the individual categories or their groupings within the structure tend to follow industry lines, because each most-detailed category of the HS generally contains only the outputs of a single industry (although there are many exceptions), and transportation of these products is based on the characteristics of these products. Sometimes, however, SCTG categories were formed from HS or SCG categories that cut across the structure of the HS, in order to group products according to their shipping characteristics. In the SCTG, for example, raw agricultural products, such as tobacco leaves and sugar beets, were grouped because they are moved in bulk by similar kinds of transportation equipment.

Relationship to Industries-of-Origin

The more-detailed levels of the SCTG can be associated with four-digit industry classes for both the Canadian and American SICs, as well as NAICS. This is because, with the exception of residual categories, most four- and five-digit SCTG categories primarily contain the products of only one industry. This feature will facilitate comparison with industry data, as well as with other classifications based on the U.S. SIC, such as the U.S. Numerical List of Manufactured and Mineral Products (Product Codes) and the STCC.

Relationship to Other Commodity Classifications

In Canada, detailed HS or SCG categories are used to define the inputs and outputs of goods for industries as well as for classifying imports and exports. Comparison of these categories and those of the SCTG can thus be achieved by grouping such categories into the relatively few transportation categories.

In the U.S., imports and exports are HS-based, thus they can be compared to the SCTG, by grouping these much-more-detailed commodity categories into the relatively few transportation categories. For industrial commodity data, however, the U.S. uses an SIC-based Numerical List of Manufactured and Mineral Products. This list of products can only be compared to the SCTG by grouping the product codes to their SIC level, and then grouping them to their corresponding four-or five-digit SCTG categories.

Difficulties in Creating Data-Significant Categories

In developing the SCTG it was difficult to make reliable judgements about the significance of possible HS- or SCG-based categories, for several reasons. Firstly, the most-current U.S. CFS data (1993) were collected according to the STCC and only the most-aggregative-level data (48 categories) had been released at the time of the development of the SCTG. Secondly, these data could only be linked to HS categories through the use of a concordance developed by the AAR that links U.S. import categories to STCC, and the quality of this concordance had not been determined. Thirdly, Canada has good SCG-based transportation data, but only for marine. Rail data continue to be reported according to STCC categories, and truck data, according to a sample of commodities that are organized according to Canada's old commodity classification. Several years ago, SCG-based classifications had been developed for each of rail and trucking, but never used. At that time, related linkages were developed. These linkages were utilized to convert 1992 and 1994 data into proxy SCTG data. Finally, taking into account all of the relevant classifications involved in developing the SCTG, there was an enormous amount of detail to contend with. Despite all these challenges, the SCTG should provide much better data than is currently available.

Difficulties in Designing SCTG

Almost always the HS "building blocks" enabled the creation of categories that are useful for the classification of transported goods, but these categories had to recognize the limitations of the HS categories, which sometimes caused problems. For one group of products, for example, a small amount of adjustment had to be made. SCTG 32 covers metal basic shapes and 33 covers articles of metal. Many of the categories of HS Chapter 81 (the less-important base metals) have been assigned to either SCTG 32 or 33 according to SCG details. Of these SCG categories, a few consist of both basic shapes and articles, but they have been assigned to either SCTG 32 or 33, based on relative importance.

"Parts" are difficult to categorize, and it is difficult to distinguish between parts and accessories. The aim in categorizing parts was to use an approach that is as useful as possible from a reporting and identification perspective. In the SCTG, parts are normally associated with the machinery, equipment, or apparatus without which these products could not operate. This association works well for those shipments of new goods, which are often accompanied by additional parts. It also seems to work well for separate shipment of replacement parts, as their identification is usually in relation to the goods of which they form a part. Parts that are associated with a wide range of machines and equipment, however, are not easy to deal with. In such cases, the HS was used as a basis to define these parts as separate pieces of equipment in their own right (e.g., all pumps are together in SCTG, including motor vehicle fuel-oil pumps). The HS was also used to define motor vehicle parts. Despite these definitions, however, it is the respondents that ultimately have to be relied on to appropriately identify parts.

The HS generally does not make a distinction between paper and paperboard. In order to obtain industry-friendly groupings of these products, however, it was necessary to make these distinctions. SCG details were utilized, as was technical information about the products.

Agricultural products was a difficult grouping to compile, because its components are drawn from several different areas of the HS.

Both chemicals and textiles are organized differently in the HS than they are in industrial classifications. For SCTG purposes, these products were re-grouped.

Data Continuity

For users of CFS data, a concordance will be required to assist in linking the 1993 STCC-based survey results to those of the 1997 SCTG-based results. This could be done by directly comparing the two classifications, but would require many difficult-to-make decisions about the considerable number of instances where the two classifications are not compatible. It could also be done indirectly, by utilizing the AAR concordance of STCC to U.S. import tariffs, but only after the quality of this concordance has been determined. Because the AAR concordance uses the HS-extended tariff codes, it has the same basis as the SCTG categories. The immensity of this concordance, however, is a major problem, but it should be noted that its use will also be considered for data continuity purposes by Canada and for use in production of current data.

For Canadian data, the concordance that will link current data for marine transport to future SCTG-based data can utilize the fact that current data are based on the SCG. Truck data would have to be linked by a concordance that relates SCC-based truck categories to the SCTG, but it can be based on the recent work done by Transportation Division to provide proxy SCTG categories for truck data, as well as marine and rail data. This work utilized the concordances between SCC-based data for truck and rail and the SCG-based classifications for these two modes that had been prepared by Standards Division several years ago. With regard to rail data, it might be possible to link it to the SCTG by also utilizing the AAR concordance of STCC to U.S. import tariffs, rather than directly concording SCC-based rail categories to the SCTG. In any case, it will be difficult to link SCC-based rail categories because they have already been converted from STCC-based categories (in other words, a two-stage conversion of data will be required).

Changes to the HS

As of January 1988, forty-five countries first used the HS for international trade data. Canada also introduced the HS into its manufacturing data as of that year. The U.S., however, did not start using the HS for international trade data until January 1989 and is currently working on the future introduction of the HS into its manufacturing data.

As of January 1996, about 500 changes were made to the HS. These changes include new 6-digit categories, revisions to the coverage of some 4-digit categories as well as to 6-digit categories, and a chapter change for one 4-digit group of commodities. All of the 1996 changes have been incorporated into SCTG. In comparing the revised HS to its earlier version, it should be noted that sometimes the same codes continue to be used for categories that have been revised.

Hazardous Materials

The SCTG does not identify specific categories of products as being hazardous, nor does it include a special grouping of its categories under the title of "hazardous". This is because the HS does not include degree of hazardousness as a classification criterion. The STCC does, however, contain an additional listing of categories that are considered to be hazardous materials, and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development has produced a list of about 3,000 categories of hazardous products, but it is not based on the HS. There is, however, a class for hazardous chemical waste products. (See waste)

Implementation of, and Possible Future Changes to, SCTG Categories

Once the SCTG has been used by the U.S. for the 1997 CFS, information about the usefulness of the various categories, particularly the most-detailed ones, will become available. This information could be used to make some minor changes, but major changes would have a serious impact on data continuity.

In Canada, the SCTG can be incorporated into marine transport statistics with the least impact on data continuity, because these statistics are collected according to SCG-based classifications. This incorporation will require a re-grouping of data obtained from the "library" of reported descriptions that had been coded several years ago to the most-detailed level possible of the SCG. The process of determination of significant categories will result in a unique version of SCTG for marine data (i.e., the categories of the standard will be adjusted when required to reflect only categories important to marine transport). A similar re-grouping will be required for truck data. Rail data should be changed as soon as possible from the current STCC-converted-to-SCC basis to a STCC-converted-to-SCG basis, utilizing the AAR's concordance of STCC to U.S. import categories. Once data are obtained for these three series, consideration could be given to making minor changes to the SCTG.

In Canada, the SCTG will also be used to produce multimodal statistics. The comparison of marine, truck, and rail data will be based on those SCTG categories that are common to these three modes. For analytical purposes, all of the SCTG two-digit categories should be included in this comparison. For Canada-U.S. purposes, and for purposes of international comparison, ideally data for all of the three-digit categories should also be made available. At the four- and five-digit levels, however, there will only be some SCTG categories for which multimodal data are available.

For U.S. purposes, the five-digit level was designed to be the collection level of the CFS, with the less-detailed levels available for analysis or publication. Because each level of the SCTG covers all transported goods, however, the more-aggregated levels might also be used to assist in data collection--particularly, the three-digit level, which is the universally defined HS level.

It is hoped that this classification will prove useful for a variety of transportation applications and will be adopted by those who find it useful for collection and analysis of transportation data.

Procedures Used in SCTG Category Descriptions

In order to achieve consistency, a number of procedures were established:

1. HS terminology is used, unless it was deemed necessary to adjust it to reflect North American (Canada-U.S.) usage. SCTG categories that are defined exclusively by a single HS heading or subheading usually are identical to such headings, so long as they were written from a "stand-alone" perspective. The advantage of using HS terminology is that it is often defined or described in the HS Notes.
2. Two types of identification are used for residual categories. "Other..." is used in the title of residual categories whose content is defined by the immediately higher-level category minus specified categories. Categories beginning with "other" can be found at the 3-, 4-, or 5-digit levels and are identified by codes ending in "9" or "90". "N.e.c." is used in the title of residual categories that contain products, some of which are identified elsewhere in SCTG. Categories ending with "...n.e.c." appear only at the 2-digit level.
3. "Including... " followed by a list of examples is used extensively in the description of 5-digit categories only. The list of products following "including" are not meant to be exhaustive of the universe of the category, but to include the more important examples as well as the less-obvious ones, with the intention of providing users with an understanding of the range of products covered by the category.
4. "Except..." is used to identify those products that could be considered to be part of a particular category but that, for SCTG purposes, are not included in the category. "Except..." is used at all levels of the SCTG, but mostly at the 3-, 4-, or 5-digit levels.

SCTG Development Team

The Team consisted of, from Statistics Canada: Keith Hannett and Andreas Trau of Standards Division, under the direction of Shaila Nijhowne, and Louis Pierre, under the direction of Michel Cloutier and Tricia Trépanier (and, earlier, David Dodds) of Transportation Division; from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Volpe Centre: Nat Bottigheimer, under the direction of Mike Rossetti; and Walter Neece, on contract to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, under the direction of Jim Aanestad.

Classification

The following table displays the Standard Classification of Transported Goods (SCTG). The first column gives the SCTG number. The following column gives its description while the last column contains the HS/SCG 1996 codes.

Introduction 1996

The Standard Classification of Goods (SCG) is the standard used by Statistics Canada to collect commodity data and to uniquely identify such data in data banks. It is an extension of the international Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, designed to meet Canadian requirements for extra detail.

The first published edition applied to the 1988 reference year, and the second edition applied to the 1992 year. The third edition of the SCG covers the 1996 reference year. For the years between the first two editions, the classification was updated by annual supplements consisting of replacement pages. After 1992, annual supplements were not published but available on a cost recovery basis. The standard for commodity statistics prior to 1988 was the Standard Commodity Classification which was published in 1959 and revised in 1972.

The Standard Classification of Goods provides a structure for the collection of commodity data. Survey managers select from the Standard the appropriate level of detail that is relevant for the nature of the universe surveyed and the purpose of the survey. Where the structure is not suitable, alternative structures may be developed, using classes from the standard as building blocks. The versions in this website identify the codes selected for collecting data in current surveys covering imports, exports and production as well as in the annual survey of products shipped and materials used by manufacturers.

The Standard Classification of Goods (SCG) is one of a number of standards used in Statistics Canada to facilitate the collection and publication of an integrated set of statistics. An example of another such standard is the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), which is designed to classify the establishments that produce goods or services. The SCG provides a structured list of goods, the classes being mutually exclusive, while collectively exhausting the universe of goods to be classified. It consists of a hierarchy of classes, with a different classification criterion applied at each level of the classification. Each class is identified by a code number, with the structure of the code indicating the level of the hierarchy. Although each class identified must have economic significance, the application of the principles of classification does not necessarily result in a similar degree of economic significance among categories at any given level of the hierarchy. Maintaining the stability of the SCG facilitates the comparison of data about goods, among different series for a given reference year or over time for any given series. On the other hand, to reflect changes in the economy and new requirements for statistics, the finest level of detail in the classification structure will be revised periodically.

The SCG replaces the Standard Commodity Classification (SCC), which was the first commodity standard applied by Statistics Canada. The SCC was developed and published during the 1950s and a revised edition was released in 1972. The SCC was implemented gradually over the years. It was introduced in the 1960s for imports (the Import Commodity Classification, or MCC), for exports (the Export Commodity Classification, or XCC), and for the commodities transported by rail, road and water. In the 1970s it was extended to the Census of Manufactures (the Industrial Commodity Classification, or ICC), an expanded import classification (the Canadian International Trade Classification, or CITC), and the Input-Output Tables (the Principal Commodity Groups, or PCG). In the early 1980s it was introduced into the family expenditure surveys and the Consumer Price Index.

The Standard Commodity Classification was not itself used as a coding manual. Instead, applied manuals based upon the standard were developed. These manuals drew from the standard, by using some classes as they were in the SCC, and by combining or splitting other classes, but usually respecting the classification structure. Normally, the first three digits of the standard coding system appeared in the derived classifications.

The SCG is based upon the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (Harmonized System, or HS), in that it incorporates the HS classification (descriptions and codes), legal notes, and the general rules of interpretation. Thereby, it can apply HS classification support such as the explanatory notes, the services of the HS Secretariat and other support associated with the HS. The SCG, however, extends the six-digit HS coding system, by an additional two digits. This extension was required to provide more statistical detail for goods that are manufactured in Canada, for the materials used in their manufacture, and for goods that are imported or exported. The extension also attempted, as far as possible, to maintain comparability with earlier data on goods.

The idea of an international standard commodity description and coding system grew out of a need to simplify and expedite trade documentation of all types, including customs documentation. A group of trading organizations responded to this need. Included in this group were the International Chamber of Shipping, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, and the Economic Commission for Europe. They believed that trade documentation would be faster and more accurate if a standard root code could be built into all product identification codes and assigned at the point of production and if the same root code could be incorporated into all the administrative classifications used in trade (e.g., customs tariffs, freight rate schedules, statistical classifications). Such an international standard for commodity classification would:

• expedite international trade documentation;
• reduce the expense incurred by redescribing, reclassifying and recoding goods as they move from one classification system to another in the course of international trade;
• facilitate the standardization of trade documentation and the transmission of data;
• improve the accuracy of commodity statistics; and
• facilitate the collection, comparison and analysis of commodity statistics.

The most widely-used international coding system at the time was the Customs Co-operation Council Nomenclature, which was maintained by the World Customs Organization (WCO)^{Footnote 1}, an organization to which most countries belong. The WCO was established to standardize tariff nomenclatures and facilitate the clearance of goods at international borders. Accordingly, under their auspices, a committee was established to develop the Harmonized System. Work began in 1973 and the classification was completed in 1983. Canada was represented by officials from Revenue Canada (Customs and Excise) and Statistics Canada.

To implement the HS, each country signs a convention (the International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System) binding itself to adopt the descriptions and codes of the HS and the rules governing its application for customs tariffs, import statistics and export statistics. The system was adopted in January 1988 by forty-five countries or customs unions, including Canada, the European Economic Community and Japan. It was adopted by the United States of America in January 1989.

To facilitate the compilation of market data, Statistics Canada also implemented the HS for production statistics, beginning with information for 1988. In fact, Statistics Canada has a policy stipulating that the HS become the definitional basis for all of the commodity statistics it produces. In many countries, trade classifications have been based upon the Standard International Trade Classification, and production classifications on national industrial classifications. These countries have experienced difficulty in converting commodity classifications to an HS base. Canada is accustomed to integrated commodity classification since, previously, both trade and production classifications were based upon the SCC.

The classification structure of the HS is sufficiently different from that of the SCC to complicate comparison, particularly for residual classes. The HS is designed primarily to facilitate the "identification" and coding of goods; therefore, it is principally organized by component material, a characteristic that is apparent from a physical examination of the goods. The SCC, on the other hand, was designed primarily to facilitate "analysis" of commodity statistics and is principally organized by stage of fabrication (i.e., crude materials, fabricated materials and end products, with the first two categories subdivided by component material, and the third, by use). The benefits of improved quality and comparability of data from adopting the HS, however, are deemed to more than compensate for the breaks in historical continuity and the regrouping of data required for analysis of commodity data.

The Standard Classification of Goods

1. Structure

   The HS (and thus the SCG) was designed for the classification of goods on the basis of their physical characteristics, in the sense that one should be able to apply objective criteria to correctly classify a good or verify its classification, by examining it or asking a laboratory to test its physical or chemical properties. The corollary is that certificates of origin or intended use are not required to classify a good. The use of physical characteristics was thought to be the best way of getting reliably coded data.

   The main objective in developing the SCG was to add a level of commodity detail to the HS structure. This was necessary because the detail in the HS reflects the commodities that were significant in international trade during the 1970s. Additional national requirements for commodity statistics, particularly for commodities that are significant mainly in domestic production, had to be added to the HS. In developing the SCG, it was important to identify commodities that are significant for analytical purposes but also are defined in such a way that they can be reported from records kept by respondents or coded from documentation that travels with the goods.

   The SCG consists of a hierarchy of chapters (two-digit codes), headings (four-digit codes) and subheadings (six-digit codes and eight-digit codes), organized primarily by component material, beginning with crude products and proceeding through further stages of processing, then mixtures and products made from a variety of materials. Numerical codes are used. A count of these codes, by level, is given in the following table:

   SCG Count, By Level

   Level	1988	1996	2001
   Two-digit codes	96	96	96
   Four-digit codes	1,241	1,241	1,241
   Six-digit codes	5,019	5,113	5,113
   Eight-digit codes	12,499	15,087	15,266

   At the two-, four- and six-digit level, the list of goods is exhaustive. To obtain a complete list of codes at maximun detail, it is necessary to add those six-digit subheadings that have not been extended to the eight-digit level (codes in which the 7th and 8th digits are blank) to the count of 8 digit codes. The number of lowest-level codes thus obtained is 16,960 in 1996 and 17,104 in 2001.

   In the classification, commodity descriptions are sometimes employed at the fifth and seventh digit levels to simplify the presentation. Codes have been assigned to the five and seven-digit level, because some of them were required for data collection.

   The structure of the SCG can be illustrated by the example of Sockeye salmon in airtight containers:

   16	chapter	two digits	Preparations of meat, of fish or of crustaceans, molluscs or other aquatic invertebrates
   16.04	heading	four digits	Prepared or preserved fish; caviar and caviar substitutes prepared from fish eggs
   1604.1	subheading	five digits	Fish, whole or in pieces, but not minced
   1604.11	subheading	six digits	Salmon
   1604.11.1	subheading	seven digits	In airtight containers
   1604.11.14	subheading	eight digits	Sockeye

   Sometimes the coding structure is simpler, as in Cocoa beans, whole or broken, raw or roasted:

   18	chapter	two digits	Cocoa and cocoa preparations
   18.01	heading	four digits	Cocoa beans, whole or broken, raw or roasted
   1801.00	subheading	six digits	Cocoa beans, whole or broken, raw or roasted

   In this latter case, the heading is repeated at the subheading level, and "00" is added to the code, but in the SCG, the heading description is not again repeated at the eight-digit level (i.e., 1801.00.00). This is because, for many headings there was no need to create further subheadings for data collection below the six-digit level. The addition of a significant number of duplicated six-digit-level descriptions (as illustrated above for the four-digit level) would have added considerably to the number of 8 digit classes.

2. Terminology and spelling

   The terminology and spelling in the HS generally follows usage in England or France. The HS Convention calls for application of the HS descriptions exactly as written in English or French, to avoid confusion in comparing statistics. If, for example, the description of a class published by a given country differs from the HS description, users might suspect that the class content has been altered, even though the code is the same. The HS convention (Article 3) does, however, provide some flexibility, by allowing a country to make "...textual adaptations as may be necessary to give effect to the Harmonized System in its domestic law". Countries whose official language is neither English nor French have more freedom in writing descriptions. The application of HS descriptions in Canada creates some difficulties, as Canadian usage of the English and French languages is somewhat different from that in England or France, which were considered as language authorities, respectively, when the HS descriptions were prepared. The concessions (at the six-digit level) to Canadian practice were as follows:

   • "aluminium" in the HS is converted to "aluminum" in the SCG
   • "tyre" is converted to "tire"
   • "trucks" in heading 86.03 has been qualified as "trucks (cars)"
   • "wagons" in heading 86.06 has been qualified as "wagons (freight cars)"
   • "golf cars" in subheading 8703.10 has been qualified as "golf cars (carts)"
   • selected HS terms in heading 87.05 have been replaced by Canadian terms - i.e., "breakdown lorries" by "wreckers", "crane lorries" by "mobile cranes", "concrete-mixer lorries" by "concrete-mixers", "road sweeper lorries" by "road sweepers", and "spraying lorries" by "spraying vehicles"
   • "invalid carriages" has been replaced by "wheelchairs" (87.13 and 8714.20)
   • the period at the end of four-digit descriptions and the colon at the end of subheadings have been dropped, and there are some other minor differences.

   Beyond the six-digit level, the intention was to be consistent with HS subheading descriptions, but spelling tends to reflect that of the author of the description. Furthermore, a set of alternative descriptions has been developed for use with industry questionnaires where HS terminology was deemed inadequate to elicit the required information, or "stand alone" descriptions (not requiring reference to the heading text) were required.

3. Units of measure

   At this time, the SCG does not show a unit of measure for each commodity class. These units, however, are useful, and most commodity surveys collect data for both units of measure and value. Although decisions have been made about the most appropriate unit of measure for most commodities, the remaining problem cases are difficult to resolve. It is difficult, for example, to determine whether weight or number is the most useful unit of measure for some commodities. As well, some commodities may require two units of measure (e.g., weight and area are complementary units of measure for textile fabrics).

4. Industry of origin

   Another objective of the SCG is to define each commodity class in such a way that it can be related to its industry of origin. Monthly commodity data for trade and production grouped by industry of origin can be used as a crude indicator of change in industry output, value added, demand for materials, and capacity utilization, and other measures which are normally available only from annual industry reports that are published years later. Furthermore, establishments are usually assigned to industries according to the products they produce. By using a commodity by industry concordance (which matches each of the lowest-level SCG codes to the industry deemed to be the primary producer of this product), it is possible to classify establishments to industries according to their reported products, and to verify the industry code for a given establishment when its annual statistical report is being processed. Although, in fact, some commodities are not principally produced by only one industry and many are produced as secondary products by different industries, the relationship holds true sufficiently well that the assignment of commodities to industries in this manner produces a useful tool. Accordingly, a concordance linking each of the lowest-level SCG codes to its industry of origin (at the six-digit NAICS level) has been prepared (see concordances).

5. Interpretative rules and legal notes

   Formal notes and rules are an integral part of the HS and, therefore, the SCG. They consist of the section and chapter legal notes at the top of each chapter and a set of interpretive rules (see General Rules for the Interpretation of the Harmonized System). These notes and rules are formal, in that countries signing the convention to implement the HS bind themselves to follow them, and any disputes over an HS-based classification of a commodity would be argued in court in their context. The rules and notes are also applicable to the classes at the seven- and eight digit levels.

6. Current coverage

   The SCG identifies the level of data collected in surveys of imports, exports, material used and shipments, by respondents to the Annual Survey of Manufactures as well as commodity data gathered in a variety of current surveys. The goods identified for each survey reflects the uniqueness of each universe surveyed and illustrate the manner in which different surveys can be accomodated within one general classification. Futhermore, the classes selected reflect the demand for data, their availability, questionnaire or coding manual design, method of data collection, and confidentiality of the information. The alphabetic codes used to identify these levels of data collection have the following meanings:

   Imports (I)

   These codes are related to the commodities for which import data were collected for the specified reference year. The implementation of the HS for import statistics differs from that of the other series, because import statistics are coded according to the joint tariff-statistical code shown in the Customs Tariff (CT). In the CT code, the six-digit HS component is followed by two digits for tariff purposes, then two more digits for statistical purposes; the full ten digits being required to identify a specific commodity. Where statistical requirements are incompatible with the tariff structure, identical statistical breakouts are required from two or more tariff classes to facilitate the regrouping of data to meet statistical requirements. The SCG, having an eight-digit code and being a statistical classification, did not adopt all tariff codes; therefore, it identifies import classes that are identical to tariff classes or to groupings of tariff classes. A concordance linking the codes of the CT to those of the SCG carrying the flag I is available from Standards Division.

   Exports (E)

   These codes appear in the Canadian Export Classification for the appropriate reference year. There are a number of exceptions which are available from Standards Division.

   Shipments (S)

   These codes were used to collect data on shipments of goods as reported in Section 8 of the questionnaires for the Annual Survey of Manufactures.

   Materials (M)

   These codes were used to collect data on energy and materials used by manufacturers as reported in Section 5 and Section 6 of questionnaires for the 1996 Annual Survey of Manufactures. Where an S or M is not shown in a chapter, data is collected at the 2 digit or chapter level.

   Current surveys (C)

   These codes are used to collect data on specific goods in a variety of sub-annual surveys of manufacturers. The C codes cannot be used as a classification in the sense of covering the whole universe as is the case for the I, E, S and M codes. The surveys using these codes focus on very narrow ranges of commodities.

   It will be evident from a perusal of the flags that the definition of the "Other" classes differs according to the survey identified. When more classes are identified in one survey than another, the "Other" class will not be comparable.

   In spite of the large number of commodity classes, the commodity detail is insufficient to meet all requirements. This may be due to lack of space within the relevant range of codes or to the necessity to accommodate a different classification structure. In such cases, additional digits are allowed at the discretion of the subject-matter divisions. At this time, for example, nine-digit codes for use in the Annual Survey of Manufactures have been provided for in the SCG file. These codes and their descriptions are included in the versions of the SCG on this website.

7. Updating

   The SCG is updated annually. See Annex E for a concordance and indication of the changes between 1995 and 1996. Updates come from a number of sources, including HS changes, incorporation of new detail from new surveys, changes in commodity detail covered by existing surveys, and basic changes resulting from commodity classification research.

   "Harmonized System Changes 1996"

   HS changes originate from the HS Committee which is composed of representatives from all signatories to the HS convention. This committee meets regularly at the offices of the World Customs Organization in Brussels, Belgium. It is supported by a permanent secretariat. Proposals for HS changes are submitted to the committee through national representatives. Normally, three or four years elapse between the time a proposal is presented to the committee and the time it affects the collection of data, and thus the SCG. The first set of changes affecting the HS component of the SCG came into effect on January 1, 1992 and consisted of a minimal number of description changes, additions and deletions. The next set of Harmonized System changes came into effect on January 1, 1996 and have been incorporated into this version of the SCG. The 1996 HS changes are significant in number and scope and reflect WCO recommendations or user initiated requests for revision. The text of approximately 125 HS headings, subheadings and classification numbers were modified by the WCO in order to revise or clarify meaning. As well, the 1996 HS changes included 253 deletions of six-digit subheadings, and the addition of 348 new six-digit subheadings. The deletion and addition of subheadings have allowed for more appropriate classification structures, for the incorporation of new technological products such as 'compact disc' products (see HS 8524.31) and to provide more detail for goods whose trade values are high. The 1996 HS changes impact a large number of eight digit SCG codes. A significant portion of the over 2000 code deletions and the over 2600 code additions are a result of the 1996 HS code changes. Every attempt was made to recreate, under the new HS code numbers, the SCG classes that were deleted. In some cases, however, the new HS structure precludes this, the result being a break in historical continuity. Another significant change to the HS takes place on January 1, 2002.

   "Other changes"

   Changes also occur when new surveys are incorporated into the SCG. At this time a process of integration takes place, in which commodities at the appropriate level of the SCG are selected and negotiations are undertaken, in order to modify the seventh and eighth digits of the SCG to reflect the best arrangement for a standard. Most changes arise from ongoing surveys. Routinely, in the last half of each calendar year, a series of meetings to discuss changes in commodity detail to be covered by the various surveys in the next reference year takes place. From these meetings, changes to the SCG are made to reflect the latest requirements for commodity data, and survey coverage for the next data year is settled. Finally, in-depth studies of selected commodity groups are conducted periodically, taking into account the nature of the commodities on the market, requirements for data and modifications to the classification structure. A significant portion of the SCG should undergo such scrutiny annually, from which well-documented proposals for changes should be produced.

   Annual updates to the 1988 edition of the manual were released as a set of replacement pages. This proved to be an administrative burden for purchasers of the manual because of the relatively large number of replacement pages, although the actual number of changes was not great compared to the total number of classes, and also because libraries found such updates to be inconvenient. For these reasons, and since the manual is a basic reference rather than an operating manual, it has been decided beginning with the 1992 manual to discontinue issuing an annual updating supplement. Nevertheless, the classification will continue to be updated annually to fulfill its primary function which is to facilitate the integration of the commodity classifications used in Statistics Canada. These updates will be available to user specifications, priced according to the specification. Contact Standards Division for this service.

8. HS implementation, by survey

   The SCG is intended as a standard for application to all commodity surveys conducted by Statistics Canada. The following table provides a status report on the extent to which the SCG was implemented by January 1, 1996:

   SCG Implementation in Commodity Surveys

   Survey	Number of Survey Categories	Implementation Date
   Imports	16,818 categories	January 1988
   Exports	5,889 categories	January 1988
   Annual Survey of Manufactures (240 different industry questionnaires)	7,406 categories of shipments; 3,566 categories of materials	1988 data year
   Industry Division current surveys (approx. 54)	varies by industry	about 90% were SCG-based for 1992 data
   Water transport	483 categories	1991 data, to be replaced by SCTGFootnote 2
   Truck transport	unknown	to be based on SCTGFootnote 2
   Rail transport	unknown	to be based on SCTGFootnote 2
   Dairy product surveys	varies by survey	draft classification ready 1991
   Other Agriculture Division surveys	varies by survey	preliminary work done 1991
   Family expenditure surveys	over 300 categories of goods	preliminary work done 1992
   Consumer Price Index	over 182 categories of goods	no action to date
   Capital Expenditure Surveys	varies by survey	field test completed and accepted by Methods and Standards Committee; not yet implemented, with the exception of Electric Power Industry Survey, 1991
   Footnotes Footnote 2 Standard Classification of Transported Goods is a classification developped by Statistics Canada and a group of statistical agencies in the United States, based on the SCG, that will permit comparison of data for transported goods. Return to footnote 2 referrer

9. Concordances

   Concordances are prepared to assist users of commodity statistics to compare classifications and to link data. Two of the concordances included in this publication show how the codes actually used to collect data on imports (Annex C) and exports (Annex D) relate to the SCG. These concordances may be used to compare classifications or regroup data since the relationship between exports or imports and the SCG is 1 to 1 or many to one. Concordances in which classes in one classification relate to more than one class in another must provide ratios before the concordances can be used to regroup data.

   A variety of concordances is available to assist users of commodity data. Analysts of commodity data may find concordances linking the classifications before and after HS implementation to be of interest. Others find it useful to group commodities by industry. In the latter context we would like to mention the following concordances:

   • SCG x SIC 1980 (annual versions 1988 to 1996)
   • SCG x NAICS (annual versions 1996 to present)
   • CT x SIC 1980 (cumulative 1988 to 1996)
   • CT x NAICS (cummulative 1988 to present)

   Contact Standards Division for additional information about concordances.

10. Information in electronic form

    Some users prefer to receive classification information in electronic form. Available on diskette are: the codes and descriptions of the classification itself, annual updates and concordances. Please contact Standards Division for information on these products.

11. Additional information

    A number of reference sources for use with the HS are available:

    1. HS Nomenclature
       published by the World Customs Organization in Brussels, available from:
       
       McMullin Publishers Ltd.
       417 St-Pierre St.
       Suite 224
       Montreal, Quebec
       H2Y 2M4
        
    2. HS Alphabetical Index
       (as in 1.)
        
    3. HS Explanatory Notes
       (as in 1.)
        
    4. Customs Tariff
       Minister of Supply and Services, Catalogue No. RV55-2/2002E
        
    5. Canadian Export Classification
       Statistics Canada, International Trade Division, Catalogue No. 12-578E, occasional
        
    6. Canadian Export-Import Alphabetical Index
       Statistics Canada, International Trade Division, Catalogue No. 12-579E, occasional
        
    7. Foreign classifications
       HS-based English language classifications are available from the United States, the European Economic Community and Australia

General Rules for the Interpretation of the Harmonized System

Classification of goods in the Nomenclature shall be governed by the following principles:

1. The titles of Sections, Chapters and sub-Chapters are provided for ease of reference only; for legal purposes, classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative Section or Chapter Notes and, provided such headings or Notes do not otherwise require, according to the following provisions:
2. 1. Any reference in a heading to an article shall be taken to include a reference to that article incomplete or unfinished, provided that, as presented, the incomplete or unfinished article has the essential character of the complete or finished article. It shall also be taken to include a reference to that article complete or finished (or falling to be classified as complete or finished by virtue of this Rule), presented unassembled or disassembled.
   2. Any reference in a heading to a material or substance shall be taken to include a reference to mixtures or combinations of that material or substance with other materials or substances. Any reference to goods of a given material or substance shall be taken to include a reference to goods consisting wholly or partly of such material or substance. The classification of goods consisting of more than one material or substance shall be according to the principles of Rule 3.
3. When by application of Rule 2(b) or for any other reason, goods are, "prima facie", classifiable under two or more headings, classification shall be effected as follows:
   1. The heading which provides the most specific description shall be preferred to headings providing a more general description. However, when two or more headings each refer to part only of the materials or substances contained in mixed or composite goods or to part only of the items in a set put up for retail sale, those headings are to be regarded as equally specific in relation to those goods, even if one of them gives a more complete or precise description of the goods.
   2. Mixtures, composite goods consisting of different materials or made up of different components, and goods put up in sets for retail sale, which cannot be classified by reference to 3(a), shall be classified as if they consisted of the material or component which gives them their essential character, insofar as this criterion is applicable.
   3. When goods cannot be classified by reference to 3(a) or 3(b), they shall be classified under the heading which occurs last in numerical order among those which equally merit consideration.
4. Goods which cannot be classified in accordance with the above Rules shall be classified under the heading appropriate to the goods to which they are most akin.
5. In addition to the foregoing provisions, the following Rules shall apply in respect of the goods referred to therein:
   1. Camera cases, musical instrument cases, gun cases, drawing instrument cases, necklace cases and similar containers, specially shaped or fitted to contain a specific article or set of articles, suitable for long-term use and presented with the articles for which they are intended, shall be classified with such articles when of a kind normally sold therewith. This Rule does not, however, apply to containers which give the whole its essential character;
   2. Subject to the provisions of Rule 5(a) above, packing materials and packing containers presented with the goods therein shall be classified with the goods if they are of a kind normally used for packing such goods. However, this provision does not apply when such packing materials or packing containers are clearly suitable for repetitive use.
6. For legal purposes, the classification of goods in the subheadings of a heading shall be determined according to the terms of those subheadings and any related Subheading Notes and, "mutatis mutandis", to the above Rules, on the understanding that only subheadings at the same level are comparable. For the purposes of this Rule the relative Sections and Chapter Notes also apply, unless the context otherwise requires.

Abbreviations and Symbols Employed in the Standard Classification of Goods

Section notes

Section XXI:  Works of art, collectors' pieces and antiques

Chapter 97:  Works of art, collectors' pieces and antiques

Notes.

1. This Chapter does not cover:
   1. Unused postage or revenue stamps, postal stationery (stamped paper) or the like, of current or new issue in the country to which they are destined (Chapter 49);
   2. Theatrical scenery, studio back-cloths or the like, of painted canvas (heading No. 59.07) except if they may be classified in heading No. 97.06; or
   3. Pearls, natural or cultured, or precious or semi-precious stones (headings Nos. 71.01 to 71.03).
2. For the purposes of heading No. 97.02, the expression "original engravings, prints and lithographs" means impressions produced directly, in black and white or in colour, of one or of several plates wholly executed by hand by the artist, irrespective of the process or of the material employed by him, but not including any mechanical or photomechanical process.
3. Heading No. 97.03 does not apply to mass-produced reproductions or works of conventional craftsmanship of a commercial character, even if these articles are designed or created by artists.
4. 1. Subject to Notes 1 to 3 above, articles of this Chapter are to be classified in this Chapter and not in any other Chapter of the Classification.
   2. Heading No. 97.06 does not apply to articles of the preceding headings of this Chapter.
5. Frames around paintings, drawings, pastels, collages or similar decorative plaques, engravings, prints or lithographs are to be classified with those articles, provided they are of a kind and of a value normal to those articles. Frames which are not of a kind or of a value normal to the articles referred to in this Note are to be classified separately.

Section XX:  Miscellaneous manufactured articles

Chapter 94:  Furniture; bedding, mattresses, mattress supports, cushions and similar stuffed furnishings; lamps and lighting fittings, not elsewhere specified or included; illuminated signs, illuminated name-plates and the like; prefabricated buildings

Notes.

1. This Chapter does not cover:

   a) Pneumatic or water mattresses, pillows or cushions, of Chapter 39, 40 or 63;

   b) Mirrors designed for placing on the floor or ground (for example, cheval-glasses (swing-mirrors)) of heading No. 70.09;

   c) Articles of Chapter 71;

   d) Parts of general use as defined in Note 2 to Section XV, of base metal (section XV), or similar goods of plastics (Chapter 39), or safes of heading No. 83.03;

   e) Furniture specially designed as parts of refrigerating or freezing equipment of heading No. 84.18; furniture specially designed for sewing machines (heading No. 84.52);

   f) Lamps or lighting fittings of Chapter 85;

   g) Furniture specially designed as parts of apparatus of heading No. 85.18 (heading No. 85.18), of headings Nos. 85.19 to 85.21 (heading No. 85.22) or of headings Nos. 85.25 to 85.28 (heading No. 85.29);

   h) Articles of heading No. 87.14;

   ij) Dentists' chairs incorporating dental appliances of heading No. 90.18 or dentists' spittoons (heading No. 90.18);

   k) Articles of Chapter 91 (for example, clocks and clock cases); or

   l) Toy furniture or toy lamps or lighting fittings (heading No. 95.03), billiard tables or other furniture specially constructed for games (heading No. 95.04), furniture for conjuring tricks or decorations (other than electric garlands) such as Chinese lanterns (heading No. 95.05).

2. The articles (other than parts) referred to in headings Nos. 94.01 to 94.03 are to be classified in those headings only if they are designed for placing on the floor or ground.
   
   The following are, however, to be classified in the above-mentioned headings even if they are designed to be hung, to be fixed to the wall or to stand one on the other:
   1. Cupboards, bookcases, other shelved furniture and unit furniture;
   2. Seats and beds.
3. 1. In headings Nos. 94.01 to 94.03 references to parts of goods do not include references to sheets or slabs (whether or not cut to shape but not combined with other parts) of glass (including mirrors), marble or other stone or of any other material referred to in Chapter 68 or 69.
   2. Goods described in heading No. 94.04, presented separately, are not to be classified in heading No. 94.01, 94.02 or 94.03 as parts of goods.
4. For the purposes of heading No. 94.06, the expression "prefabricated buildings" means buildings which are finished in the factory or put up as elements, presented together, to be assembled on site, such as housing or worksite accommodation, offices, schools, shops, sheds, garages or similar buildings.

Chapter 95:  Toys, games and sports requisites; parts and accessories thereof

Notes.

1. This Chapter does not cover:

   a) Christmas tree candles (heading No. 34.06);

   b) Fireworks or other pyrotechnic articles of heading No. 36.04;

   c) Yarns, monofilament, cords or gut and the like for fishing, cut to length but not made up into fishing lines, of Chapter 39, heading No. 42.06 or Section XI;

   d) Sports bags or other containers of heading No. 42.02, 43.03 or 43.04;

   e) Sports clothing or fancy dress, of textiles, of Chapter 61 or 62;

   f) Textile flags or bunting, or sails for boats, sailboards or land craft, of Chapter 63;

   g) Sports footwear (other than skating boots with ice or roller skates attached) of Chapter 64, or sports headgear of Chapter 65;

   h) Walking-sticks, whips, riding-crops or the like (heading No. 66.02), or parts thereof (heading No. 66.03);

   ij) Unmounted glass eyes for dolls or other toys, of heading No. 70.18;

   k) Parts of general use, as defined in Note 2 to Section XV, of base metal (Section XV), or similar goods of plastics (Chapter 39);

   l) Bells, gongs or the like of heading No. 83.06;

   m) Pumps for liquids (heading No. 84.13), filtering or purifying machinery and apparatus for liquids or gases (heading No. 84.21), electric motors (heading No. 85.01), electric transformers (heading No. 85.04) or radio remote control apparatus (heading No. 85.26);

   n) Sports vehicles (other than bobsleighs, toboggans and the like) of Section XVII;

   o) Children's bicycles (heading No. 87.12);

   p) Sports craft such as canoes and skiffs (Chapter 89), or their means of propulsion (Chapter 44 for such articles made of wood);

   q) Spectacles, goggles or the like, for sports or outdoor games (heading No. 90.04);

   r) Decoy calls or whistles (heading No. 92.08);

   s) Arms or other articles of Chapter 93;

   t) Electric garlands of all kinds (heading No. 94.05); or

   u) Racket strings, tents or other camping goods, or gloves (classified according to their constituent material).

2. This Chapter includes articles in which natural or cultured pearls, precious or semi-precious stones (natural, synthetic or reconstructed), precious metal or metal clad with precious metal constitute only minor constituents.
3. Subject to Note 1 above, parts and accessories which are suitable for use solely or principally with articles of this Chapter are to be classified with those articles.

Chapter 96:  Miscellaneous manufactured articles

Notes.

1. This Chapter does not cover:

   a) Pencils for cosmetic or toilet uses (Chapter 33);

   b) Articles of Chapter 66 (for example, parts of umbrellas or walking-sticks);

   c) Imitation jewellery (heading No. 71.17);

   d) Parts of general use, as defined in Note 2 to Section XV, of base metal (Section XV), or similar goods of plastics (Chapter 39);

   e) Cutlery or other articles of Chapter 82 with handles or other parts of carving or moulding materials; heading No. 96.01 or 96.02 applies, however, to separately presented handles or other parts of such articles;

   f) Articles of Chapter 90 (for example, spectacle frames (heading No. 90.03), mathematical drawing pens (heading No. 90.17), brushes of a kind specialised for use in dentistry or for medical, surgical or veterinary purposes (heading No. 90.18));

   g) Articles of Chapter 91 (for example, clock or watch cases);

   h) Musical instruments or parts or accessories thereof (Chapter 92);

   ij) Articles of Chapter 93 (arms and parts thereof);

   k) Articles of Chapter 94 (for example, furniture, lamps and lighting fittings);

   l) Articles of Chapter 95 (toys, games, sports requisites); or

   m) Works of art, collectors' pieces or antiques (Chapter 97).

2. In heading No. 96.02 the expression "vegetable or mineral carving material" means:
   1. Hard seeds, pips, hulls and nuts and similar vegetable materials of a kind used for carving (for example, corozo and dom);
   2. Amber, meerschaum, agglomerated amber and agglomerated meerschaum, jet and mineral substitutes for jet.
3. In heading No. 96.03 the expression "prepared knots and tufts for broom or brush making" applies only to unmounted knots and tufts of animal hair, vegetable fibre or other material, which are ready for incorporation without division in brooms or brushes, or which require only such further minor processes as trimming to shape at the top, to render them ready for such incorporation.
4. Articles of this Chapter, other than headings Nos. 96.01 to 96.06 or 96.15, remain classified in the Chapter whether or not composed wholly or partly of precious metal or metal clad with precious metal, of natural or cultured pearls, or precious or semi-precious stones (natural, synthetic or reconstructed). However, headings Nos. 96.01 to 96.06 and 96.15 include articles in which natural or cultured pearls, precious or semi-precious stones (natural, synthetic or reconstructed), precious metal or metal clad with precious metal constitute only minor constituents.

Section XIX:  Arms and ammunition; parts and accessories thereof

Chapter 93:  Arms and ammunition; parts and accessories thereof

Notes.

1. This Chapter does not cover:
   1. Goods of Chapter 36 (for example, percussion caps, detonators, signalling flares);
   2. Parts of general use, as defined in Note 2 to Section XV, of base metal (Section XV), or similar goods of plastics (Chapter 39);
   3. Armoured fighting vehicles (heading No. 87.10);
   4. Telescopic sights and other optical devices suitable for use with arms, unless mounted on a firearm or presented with the firearm on which they are designed to be mounted (Chapter 90);
   5. Bows, arrows, fencing foils or toys (Chapter 95); or
   6. Collectors' pieces or antiques (heading No. 97.05 or 97.06).
2. In heading No. 93.06, the reference to "parts thereof" does not include radio or radar apparatus of heading No. 85.26.

Section XVIII:  Optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, precision, medical or surgical instruments and apparatus; clocks and watches; musical instruments; parts and accessories thereof

Chapter 90:  Optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, precision, medical or surgical instruments and apparatus; parts and accessories thereof

Notes.

1. This Chapter does not cover:

   a) Articles of a kind used in machines, appliances or for other technical uses, of vulcanised rubber other than hard rubber (heading No. 40.16), of leather or of composition leather (heading No. 42.04) or of textile material (heading No. 59.11);

   b) Supporting belts or other support articles of textile material, whose intended effect on the organ to be supported or held derives solely from their elasticity (for example, maternity belts, thoracic support bandages, abdominal support bandages, supports for joints or muscles) (Section XI);

   c) Refractory goods of heading No. 69.03; ceramic wares for laboratory, chemical or other technical uses, of heading No. 69.09;

   d) Glass mirrors, not optically worked, of heading No. 70.09, or mirrors of base metal or of precious metal, not being optical elements (heading No. 83.06 or Chapter 71);

   e) Goods of heading No. 70.07, 70.08, 70.11, 70.14, 70.15 or 70.17;

   f) Parts of general use, as defined in Note 2 to Section XV, of base metal (Section XV) or similar goods of plastics (Chapter 39);

   g) Pumps incorporating measuring devices, of heading No. 84.13; weight-operated counting or checking machinery, or separately presented weights for balances (heading No. 84.23); lifting or handling machinery (headings Nos. 84.25 to 84.28); paper or paperboard cutting machines of all kinds (heading No. 84.41); fittings for adjusting work or tools on machine-tools, of heading No. 84.66, including fittings with optical devices for reading the scale (for example, "optical" dividing heads) but not those which are in themselves essentially optical instruments (for example, alignment telescopes); calculating machines (heading No. 84.70); valves or other appliances of heading No. 84.81;

   h) Searchlights or spotlights of a kind used for cycles or motor vehicles (heading No. 85.12); portable electric lamps of heading No. 85.13; cinematographic sound recording, reproducing or re-recording apparatus (heading No. 85.19 or 85.20); sound-heads (heading No. 85.22); still image video cameras and other video camera recorders (heading No. 85.25); radar apparatus, radio navigational aid apparatus or radio remote control apparatus (heading No. 85.26); sealed beam lamp units of heading 85.39; optical fibre cables of heading No. 85.44;

   ij) Searchlights or spotlights of heading No. 94.05;

   k) Articles of Chapter 95;

   l) Capacity measures, which are to be classified according to their constituent material; or

   m) Spools, reels or similar supports (which are to be classified according to their constituent material, for example, in heading No. 39.23 or Section XV).

2. Subject to Note 1 above, parts and accessories for machines, apparatus, instruments or articles of this Chapter are to be classified according to the following rules:
   1. Parts and accessories which are goods included in any of the headings of this Chapter or of Chapter 84, 85 or 91 (other than heading No. 84.85, 85.48 or 90.33) are in all cases to be classified in their respective headings;
   2. Other parts and accessories, if suitable for use solely or principally with a particular kind of machine, instrument or apparatus, or with a number of machines, instruments or apparatus of the same heading (including a machine, instrument or apparatus of heading No. 90.10, 90.13 or 90.31) are to be classified with the machines, instruments or apparatus of that kind;
   3. All other parts and accessories are to be classified in heading No. 90.33.
3. The provisions of Note 4 to Section XVI apply also to this Chapter.
4. Heading No. 90.05 does not apply to telescopic sights for fitting to arms, periscopic telescopes for fitting to submarines or tanks, or to telescopes for machines, appliances, instruments or apparatus of this Chapter or Section XVI; such telescopic sights and telescopes are to be classified in heading No. 90.13.
5. Measuring or checking optical instruments, appliances or machines which, but for this Note, could be classified both in heading No. 90.13 and in heading No. 90.31 are to be classified in heading No. 90.31.
6. Heading No. 90.32 applies only to:
   1. Instruments and apparatus for automatically controlling the flow, level, pressure or other variables of liquids or gases, or for automatically controlling temperature, whether or not their operation depends on an electrical phenomenon which varies according to the factor to be automatically controlled; and
   2. Automatic regulators of electrical quantities, and instruments or apparatus for automatically controlling non-electrical quantities the operation of which depends on an electrical phenomenon varying according to the factor to be controlled.

Chapter 91:  Clocks and watches and parts thereof

Notes.

1. This Chapter does not cover:
   1. Clock or watch glasses or weights (classified according to their constituent material);
   2. Watch chains (heading No. 71.13 or 71.17, as the case may be);
   3. Parts of general use defined in Note 2 to Section XV, of base metal (Section XV), or similar goods of plastics (Chapter 39) or of precious metal or metal clad with precious metal (generally heading No. 71.15); clock or watch springs are, however, to be classified as clock or watch parts (heading No. 91.14);
   4. Bearing balls (heading No. 73.26 or 84.82, as the case may be);
   5. Articles of heading No. 84.12 constructed to work without an escapement;
   6. Ball bearings (heading No. 84.82); or
   7. Articles of Chapter 85, not yet assembled together or with other components into watch or clock movements or into articles suitable for use solely or principally as parts of such movements (Chapter 85).
2. Heading No. 91.01 covers only watches with case wholly of precious metal or of metal clad with precious metal, or of the same materials combined with natural or cultured pearls, or precious or semi-precious stones (natural, synthetic or reconstructed) of headings Nos. 71.01 to 71.04. Watches with case of base metal inlaid with precious metal fall in heading No. 91.02.
3. For the purposes of this Chapter, the expression "watch movements" means devices regulated by a balance-wheel and hairspring, quartz crystal or any other system capable of determining intervals of time, with a display or a system to which a mechanical display can be incorporated. Such watch movements shall not exceed 12 mm in thickness and 50 mm in width, length or diameter.
4. Except as provided in Note 1, movements and other parts suitable for use both in clocks or watches and in other articles (for example, precision instruments) are to be classified in this Chapter.

Chapter 92:  Musical instruments; parts and accessories of such articles

Notes.

1. This Chapter does not cover:
   1. Parts of general use, as defined in Note 2 to Section XV, of base metal (Section XV), or similar goods of plastics (Chapter 39);
   2. Microphones, amplifiers, loud-speakers, head-phones, switches, stroboscopes or other accessory instruments, apparatus or equipment of Chapter 85 or 90, for use with but not incorporated in or housed in the same cabinet as instruments of this Chapter;
   3. Toy instruments or apparatus (heading No. 95.03);
   4. Brushes for cleaning musical instruments (heading No. 96.03); or
   5. Collectors' pieces or antiques (heading No. 97.05 or 97.06).
2. Bows and sticks and similar devices used in playing the musical instruments of heading No. 92.02 or 92.06 presented with such instruments in numbers normal thereto and clearly intended for use therewith, are to be classified in the same heading as the relative instruments.
   
   Cards, discs and rolls of heading No. 92.09 presented with an instrument are to be treated as separate articles and not as forming a part of such instrument.

Section XVII:  Vehicles, aircraft, vessels and associated transport equipment

Notes.

1. This Section does not cover articles of heading No. 95.01, 95.03 or 95.08, or bobsleighs, toboggans or the like of heading No. 95.06.
2. The expressions "parts" and "parts and accessories" do not apply to the following articles, whether or not they are identifiable as for the goods of this Section:

   a) Joints, washers or the like of any material (classified according to their constituent material or in heading No. 84.84) or other articles of vulcanised rubber other than hard rubber (heading No. 40.16);

   b) Parts of general use, as defined in Note 2 to Section XV, of base metal (Section XV), or similar goods of plastics (Chapter 39);

   c) Articles of Chapter 82 (tools);

   d) Articles of heading No. 83.06;

   e) Machines or apparatus of headings Nos. 84.01 to 84.79, or parts thereof; articles of heading No. 84.81 or 84.82 or, provided they constitute integral parts of engines or motors, articles of heading No. 84.83;

   f) Electrical machinery or equipment (Chapter 85);

   g) Articles of Chapter 90;

   h) Articles of Chapter 91;

   ij) Arms (Chapter 93);

   k) Lamps or lighting fittings of heading No. 94.05; or

   l) Brushes of a kind used as parts of vehicles (heading No. 96.03).

3. References in Chapters 86 to 88 to "parts" or "accessories" do not apply to parts or accessories which are not suitable for use solely or principally with the articles of those Chapters. A part or accessory which answers to a description in two or more of the headings of those Chapters is to be classified under that heading which corresponds to the principal use of that part or accessory.
4. For the purposes of this Section:
   1. Vehicles specially constructed to travel on both road and rail are classified under the appropriate heading of Chapter 87;
   2. Amphibious motor vehicles are classified under the appropriate heading of Chapter 87;
   3. Aircraft specially constructed so that they can also be used as road vehicles are classified under the appropriate heading of Chapter 88.
5. Air-cushion vehicles are to be classified within this Section with the vehicles to which they are most akin as follows:
   1. In Chapter 86 if designed to travel on a guide-track (hovertrains);
   2. In Chapter 87 if designed to travel over land or over both land and water;
   3. In Chapter 89 if designed to travel over water, whether or not able to land on beaches or landing-stages or also able to travel over ice.
   Parts and accessories of air-cushion vehicles are to be classified in the same way as those of vehicles of the heading in which the air-cushion vehicles are classified under the above provisions.
   
   Hovertrain track fixtures and fittings are to be classified as railway track fixtures and fittings, and signalling, safety or traffic control equipment for hovertrain transport systems as signalling, safety or traffic control equipment for railways.

Chapter 86:  Railway or tramway locomotives, rolling-stock and parts thereof; railway or tramway track fixtures and fittings and parts thereof; mechanical (including electro-mechanical) traffic signalling equipment of all kinds

Notes.

1. This Chapter does not cover:
   1. Railway or tramway sleepers of wood or of concrete, or concrete guide-track sections for hovertrains (heading No. 44.06 or 68.10);
   2. Railway or tramway track construction material of iron or steel of heading No. 73.02; or
   3. Electrical signalling, safety or traffic control equipment of heading No. 85.30.
2. Heading No. 86.07 applies, inter alia, to:
   1. Axles, wheels, wheel sets (running gear), metal tires, hoops and hubs and other parts of wheels;
   2. Frames, underframes, truck assemblies;
   3. Axle boxes; brake gear;
   4. Buffers for rolling-stock; hooks and other coupling gear and corridor connections;
   5. Coachwork.
3. Subject to the provisions of Note 1 above, heading No. 86.08 applies, inter alia, to:
   1. Assembled track, turntables, platform buffers, loading gauges;
   2. Semaphores, mechanical signal discs, level crossing control gear, signal and point controls, and other mechanical (including electro-mechanical) signalling, safety or traffic control equipment, whether or not fitted for electric lighting, for railways, tramways, roads, inland waterways, parking facilities, port installations or airfields.

Chapter 87:  Vehicles other than railway or tramway rolling-stock, and parts and accessories thereof

Notes.

1. This Chapter does not cover railway or tramway rolling-stock designed solely for running on rails.
2. For the purposes of this Chapter, "tractors" means vehicles constructed essentially for hauling or pushing another vehicle, appliance or load, whether or not they contain subsidiary provision for the transport, in connection with the main use of the tractor, of tools, seeds, fertilisers or other goods.
   
   Machines and working tools designed for fitting to tractors of heading No. 87.01 as interchangeable equipment remain classified in their respective headings even if presented with the tractor, and whether or not mounted on it.
3. Motor chassis fitted with cabs fall in headings Nos. 87.02 to 87.04, and not in heading No. 87.06.
4. Heading No. 87.12 includes all children's bicycles. Other children's cycles fall in heading No. 95.01.

Chapter 88:  Aircraft, spacecraft and parts thereof

Subheading Note.

1. For the purposes of subheadings Nos. 8802.11 to 8802.40, the expression "unladen weight" means the weight of the machine in normal flying order, excluding the weight of the crew and of fuel and equipment other than permanently fitted items of equipment.

Chapter 89:  Ships, boats and floating structures

Note.

1. A hull, an unfinished or incomplete vessel, assembled, unassembled or disassembled, or a complete vessel unassembled or disassembled, is to be classified in heading No. 89.06 if it does not have the essential character of a vessel of a particular kind.

Section XVI:  Machinery and mechanical appliances; electrical equipment; parts thereof; sound recorders and reproducers, television image and sound recorders and reproducers, and parts and accessories of such articles

Notes.

1. This Section does not cover:

   a) Transmission or conveyor belts or belting, of plastics of Chapter 39, or of vulcanised rubber (heading No. 40.10); or other articles of a kind used in machinery or mechanical or electrical appliances or for other technical uses, of vulcanised rubber other than hard rubber (heading No. 40.16);

   b) Articles of leather or of composition leather (heading No. 42.04) or of furskin (heading No. 43.03), of a kind used in machinery or mechanical appliances or for other technical uses;

   c) Bobbins, spools, cops, cones, cores, reels or similar supports, of any material (for example, Chapter 39, 40, 44 or 48 or Section XV);

   d) Perforated cards for Jacquard or similar machines (for example, Chapter 39 or 48 or Section XV);

   e) Transmission or conveyor belts of textile material (heading No. 59.10) or other articles of textile material for technical uses (heading No. 59.11);

   f) Precious or semi-precious stones (natural, synthetic or reconstructed) of headings Nos. 71.02 to 71.04, or articles wholly of such stones of heading No. 71.16, except unmounted worked sapphires and diamonds for styli (heading No. 85.22);

   g) Parts of general use, as defined in Note 2 to Section XV, of base metal (Section XV), or similar goods of plastics (Chapter 39);

   h) Drill pipe (heading No. 73.04);

   ij) Endless belts of metal wire or strip (Section XV);

   k) Articles of Chapter 82 or 83;

   l) Articles of Section XVII;

   m) Articles of Chapter 90;

   n) Clocks, watches or other articles of Chapter 91;

   o) Interchangeable tools of heading No. 82.07 or brushes of a kind used as parts of machines (heading No. 96.03);

   p) Articles of Chapter 95.

2. Subject to Note 1 to this Section, Note 1 to Chapter 84 and to Note 1 to Chapter 85, parts of machines (not being parts of the articles of heading No. 84.84, 85.44, 85.45, 85.46 or 85.47) are to be classified according to the following rules:
   1. Parts which are goods included in any of the headings of Chapters 84 or 85 (other than headings Nos. 84.09, 84.31, 84.48, 84.66, 84.73, 84.85, 85.03, 85.22, 85.29, 85.38 and 85.48) are in all cases to be classified in their respective headings;
   2. Other parts, if suitable for use solely or principally with a particular kind of machine, or with a number of machines of the same heading (including a machine of heading No. 84.79 or 85.43) are to be classified with the machines of that kind or in heading No. 84.09, 84.31, 84.48, 84.66, 84.73, 85.03, 85.22, 85.29 or 85.38 as appropriate. However, parts which are equally suitable for use principally with the goods of headings Nos. 85.17 and 85.25 to 85.28 are to be classified in heading No. 85.17;
   3. All other parts are to be classified in headings No. 84.09, 84.31, 84.48, 84.66, 84.73, 85.03, 85.22, 85.29 or 85.38 as appropriate or, failing that, in heading No. 84.85 or 85.48.
3. Unless the context otherwise requires, composite machines consisting of two or more machines fitted together to form a whole and other machines adapted for the purpose of performing two or more complementary or alternative functions are to be classified as if consisting only of that component or as being that machine which performs the principal function.
4. Where a machine (including a combination of machines) consists of individual components (whether separate or interconnected by piping, by transmission devices, by electric cables or by other devices) intended to contribute together to a clearly defined function covered by one of the headings in Chapter 84 or Chapter 85, then the whole falls to be classified in the heading appropriate to that function.
5. For the purposes of these Notes, the expression "machine" means any machine, machinery, plant, equipment, apparatus or appliance cited in the headings of Chapter 84 or 85.

Chapter 84:  Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof

Notes.

1. This Chapter does not cover:
   1. Millstones, grindstones or other articles of Chapter 68;
   2. Machinery or appliances (for example, pumps) of ceramic material and ceramic parts of machinery or appliances of any material (Chapter 69);
   3. Laboratory glassware (heading No. 70.17); machinery, appliances or other articles for technical uses or parts thereof, of glass (heading No. 70.19 or 70.20);
   4. Articles of heading No. 73.21 or 73.22 or similar articles of other base metals (Chapters 74 to 76 or 78 to 81);
   5. Electro-mechanical tools for working in the hand, of heading No. 85.08 or electro-mechanical domestic appliances of heading No. 85.09; or
   6. Hand-operated mechanical floor sweepers, not motorised (heading No. 96.03).
2. Subject to the operation of Note 3 to Section XVI, a machine or appliance which answers to a description in one or more of the headings Nos. 84.01 to 84.24 and at the same time to a description in one or other of the headings Nos. 84.25 to 84.80 is to be classified under the appropriate heading of the former group and not the latter.
   
   Heading No. 84.19 does not, however, cover:
   1. Germination plant, incubators or brooders (heading No. 84.36);
   2. Grain dampening machines (heading No. 84.37);
   3. Diffusing apparatus for sugar juice extraction (heading No. 84.38);
   4. Machinery for the heat-treatment of textile yarns, fabrics or made up textile articles (heading No. 84.51); or
   5. Machinery or plant, designed for mechanical operation, in which a change of temperature, even if necessary, is subsidiary.
   Heading No. 84.22 does not cover:
   1. Sewing machines for closing bags or similar containers (heading No. 84.52); or
   2. Office machinery of heading No. 84.72.
   Heading No. 84.24 does not cover:
   
   Ink jet printing machines (heading No. 84.43 or 84.71).
3. A machine-tool for working any material which answers to a description in heading No. 84.56 and at the same time to a description in heading No. 84.57, 84.58, 84.59, 84.60, 84.61, 84.64 or 84.65 is to be classified in heading No. 84.56.
4. Heading No. 84.57 applies only to machine-tools for working metal, other than lathes (including turning centres), which can carry out different types of machining operations either:
   1. by automatic tool change from a magazine or the like in conformity with a machining programme (machining centres),
   2. by the automatic use, simultaneously or sequentially, of different unit heads working on a fixed position workpiece (unit construction machines, single station), or
   3. by the automatic transfer of the workpiece to different unit heads (multi-station transfer machines).
5. 1. For the purposes of heading No. 84.71, the expression "automatic data processing machines" means:
      1. Digital machines, capable of (1) storing the processing program or programs and at least the data immediately necessary for the execution of the program; (2) being freely programmed in accordance with the requirements of the user; (3) performing arithmetical computations specified by the user; and, (4) executing, without human intervention, a processing program which requires them to modify their execution, by logical decision during the processing run;
      2. Analog machines capable of simulating mathematical models and comprising at least: analog elements, control elements and programming elements;
      3. Hybrid machines consisting of either a digital machine with analog elements or an analog machine with digital elements.
   2. Automatic data processing machines may be in the form of systems consisting of a variable number of separate units. Subject to paragraph E) below, a unit is to be regarded as being a part of the complete system if it meets all of the following conditions:
      1. It is of a kind solely or principally used in an automatic data processing system;
      2. It is connectable to the central processing unit either directly or through one or more other units; and
      3. It is able to accept or deliver data in a form (codes or signals) which can be used by the system.
   3. Separately presented units of an automatic data processing machine are to be classified in heading No. 84.71.
   4. Printers, keyboards, X-Y co-ordinate input devices and disk storage units which satisfy the conditions of paragraphs B) b) and B) c) above, are in all cases to be classified as units of heading No. 84.71.
   5. Machines perforning a specific function other than data processing and incorporating or working in conjunction with an automatic data processing machine are to be classified in the headings appropriate to their respective functions or, failing that, in residual headings.
6. Heading No. 84.82 applies, inter alia, to polished steel balls, the maximum and minimum diameters of which do not differ from the nominal diameter by more than 1% or by more than 0.05 mm, whichever is less. Other steel balls are to be classified in heading No. 73.26.
7. A machine which is used for more than one purpose is, for the purposes of classification, to be treated as if its principal purpose were its sole purpose.
   
   Subject to Note 2 to this Chapter and Note 3 to Section XVI, a machine the principal purpose of which is not described in any heading or for which no one purpose is the principal purpose is, unless the context otherwise requires, to be classified in heading No. 84.79. Heading No. 84.79 also covers machines for making rope or cable (for example, stranding, twisting or cabling machines) from metal wire, textile yarn or any other material or from a combination of such materials.
8. For the purposes of heading No. 84.70, the term "pocket-size" applies only to machines the dimensions of which do not exceed 170 mm x 100 mm x 45 mm.

Subheading Notes.

1. For the purposes of subheading No. 8471.49, the term "systems" means automatic data processing machines whose units satisfy the conditions laid down in Note 5 B) to Chapter 84 and which comprise at least a central processing unit, one input unit (for example, a keyboard or a scanner), and one output unit (for example, a visual display unit or a printer).
2. Subheading No. 8482.40 applies only to bearings with cylindrical rollers of a uniform diameter not exceeding 5 mm and having a length which is at least three times the diameter. The ends of the rollers may be rounded.

Chapter 85:  Electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof; sound recorders and reproducers, television image and sound recorders and reproducers, and parts and accessories of such articles

Notes.

1. This Chapter does not cover:
   1. Electrically warmed blankets, bed pads, foot-muffs or the like; electrically warmed clothing, footwear or ear pads or other electrically warmed articles worn on or about the person;
   2. Articles of glass of heading No. 70.11; or
   3. Electrically heated furniture of Chapter 94.
2. Headings Nos. 85.01 to 85.04 do not apply to goods described in heading No. 85.11, 85.12, 85.40, 85.41 or 85.42.
   
   However, metal tank mercury arc rectifiers remain classified in heading No. 85.04.
3. Heading No. 85.09 covers only the following electro-mechanical machines of the kind commonly used for domestic purposes:
   1. Vacuum cleaners, floor polishers, food grinders and mixers, and fruit or vegetable juice extractors, of any weight;
   2. Other machines provided the weight of such machines does not exceed 20 kg.
   The heading does not, however, apply to fans or ventilating or recycling hoods incorporating a fan, whether or not fitted with filters (heading No. 84.14), centrifugal clothes-dryers (heading No. 84.21), dish washing machines (heading No. 84.22), household washing machines (heading No. 84.50), roller or other ironing machines (heading No. 84.20 or 84.51), sewing machines (heading No. 84.52), electric scissors (heading No. 85.08) or to electro-thermic appliances (heading No. 85.16).
4. For the purposes of heading No. 85.34 "printed circuits" are circuits obtained by forming on an insulating base, by any printing process (for example, embossing, plating-up, etching) or by the "film circuit" technique, conductor elements, contacts or other printed components (for example, inductances, resistors, capacitors) alone or interconnected according to a pre-established pattern, other than elements which can produce, rectify, modulate or amplify an electrical signal (for example, semiconductor elements).
   
   The expression "printed circuits" does not cover circuits combined with elements other than those obtained during the printing process, nor does it cover individual, discrete resistors, capacitors or inductances. Printed circuits may, however, be fitted with non-printed connecting elements.
   
   Thin- or thick-film circuits comprising passive and active elements obtained during the same technological process are to be classified in heading No. 85.42.
5. For the purposes of headings Nos. 85.41 and 85.42:
   1. "Diodes, transistors and similar semiconductor devices" are semiconductor devices the operation of which depends on variations in resistivity on the application of an electric field;
   2. "Electronic integrated circuits and microassemblies" are:
      1. Monolithic integrated circuits in which the circuit elements (diodes, transistors, resistors, capacitors, interconnections, etc.) are created in the mass (essentially) and on the surface of a semiconductor material (doped silicon, for example) and are inseparably associated;
      2. Hybrid integrated circuits in which passive elements (resistors, capacitors, interconnections, etc.), obtained by thin- or thick-film technology, and active elements (diodes, transistors, monolithic integrated circuits, etc.) obtained by semiconductor technology, are combined to all intents and purposes indivisibly, on a single insulating substrate (glass, ceramic, etc.). These circuits may also include discrete components;
      3. Microassemblies of the moulded module, micromodule or similar types, consisting of discrete, active or both active and passive, components which are combined and interconnected.
      For the classification of the articles defined in this Note, headings Nos. 85.41 and 85.42 shall take precedence over any other heading in the Classification which might cover them by reference to, in particular, their function.
6. Records, tapes and other media of heading No. 85.23 or 85.24 remain classified in those headings, whether or not they are presented with the apparatus for which they are intended.
7. For the purposes of heading No. 85.48, "spent primary cells, spent primary batteries and spent electric accumulators" are those which are neither usable as such because of breakage, cutting-up, wear or other reasons, nor capable of being recharged.

Subheading Note.

1. Subheadings Nos. 8519.92 and 8527.12 cover only cassette-players with built-in amplifier, without built-in loudspeaker, capable of operating without an external source of electric power and the dimensions of which do not exceed 170 mm x 100 mm x 45 mm.