The Harmonized System is used to uniformly classify products in international trade for customs purpose. It has been developed by the World Customs Organization (WCO), an autonomous inter governmental organization headquartered at Brussels in Belgium with more than 170 member countries. WCO is the successor to the former Customs Co-operation Council.
All import and export codes of the US are taken from the Harmonized Tariff System (HTS). Under the HTS, any general category of product is represented by 6-digit code. This 6-digit code is called Harmonized System Number. Most countries around the world recognize the first 6-digits for the same broad product category. However, specific commodities are defined at a more detailed level than the 6-digit code. The US uses 10-digit HTS codes for describing particular products in foreign trade. Needless to mention, that all such 10-digit definitions must conform to the basic parameters set by the 6-digit code.
While import codes are administered by the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC), U.S. Census Bureau manages export codes, also known as Schedule B numbers.
In order to get the applicable tariff rate, the US exporter must have the complete product number used by the importing country. In the absence of such information, the exporter can use the corresponding Schedule B number for an approximation, since Schedule B and HTS numbers for a particular product will be the same in both the countries for the first 6 digits. Beyond the first 6 digits, they will be very close if not exactly identical.
Exporters need the Schedule B and HS numbers in order to find out the applicable import duty rate and to determine whether the concerned product is eligible to preferential tariff under any Free Trade Agreement. The Schedule B number is also required to prepare the Certificate of Origin, Shipper’s Export Declaration and other shipping documents. Moreover, HS numbers may be needed on shipping documents like Certificate of Origin.
(More :http://www.export.gov/logistics/exp_logistics_schedule_b.asp
http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/index.htm)
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