H7 data set
Also known as: H7
The H7 data set is the super-reduced data set from the Union Customs Code for the import of consignments up to one hundred and fifty euro. In the Netherlands you file that set through DECO, with a six-digit goods code.
Which data sit in the H7 set, and which do not?
H7 is a column in Annex B of the Union Customs Code, not a Dutch invention. The set asks among other things for the consignor, the consignee, the intrinsic value, a goods description and a six-digit HS code. The means of transport, the country of dispatch and, if the seller uses IOSS, the IOSS number also belong in it. What is not in it matters at least as much. No customs value is built with freight and insurance to the external border. There is no ten-digit TARIC code, so no check on the measures that hang on those extra digits. There is no room for a full origin chain or a preferential proof. That emptiness is not sloppiness. It is the condition under which tens of thousands of small consignments a day can be declared. Every field you add is a field on which a declaration can fail, and at this volume a few per cent of fallout immediately adds up to hundreds of files that someone has to pick up by hand.
When may you use H7, and when must you go to H1?
H7 is intended for consignments with an intrinsic value of up to one hundred and fifty euro that are relieved of import duty. Intrinsic value is the price of the goods themselves, excluding freight and insurance, provided those are shown separately on the invoice. The threshold applies per consignment, not per box and not per line. Outside H7 sit excise goods, consignments with prohibitions and restrictions that require a full data set, and everything above one hundred and fifty euro. Those consignments go as an ordinary import declaration, H1 in EU terms, in the Netherlands through DMS, with a ten-digit TARIC code and a built customs value. Splitting to stay under the threshold is exactly what Customs looks at. An order sent in three packages because that packs more conveniently remains one consignment. Record in your setup which parcels belong together, otherwise someone files an H7 per package on a consignment that should have been treated as H1.
Why is a six-digit code enough under H7?
The rate does not play under H7, because the consignment is relieved of import duty. The six digits of the Harmonized System are then enough for the statistics and for a rough check on whether the consignment belongs in this flow at all. A ten-digit code cannot be derived reliably from a three-word webshop description, a six-digit one often can. DECO, the Dutch system that processes H7 declarations, is built on that. The full TARIC check, with measures, anti-dumping and document requirements, sits in DMS and not in DECO. Anyone who tries to import a permit-liable or inspection-liable product via H7 bypasses that check. That is not a shortcut. That is a consignment that is still stopped at a control, with a penalty on top. So do not take the six-digit code for a simplified TARIC. It is a different level, for a different flow, with a different risk assessment. Products you know carry a measure do not belong in this set, regardless of value.
How does H7 relate to DECO and to an ordinary import declaration?
H7 is the data set. DECO is the Dutch declaration system that processes that set. DMS is the system for the full set. Three layers that get mixed up in conversation, with the result that someone asks for a DECO declaration when they mean H1, or for an H7 when the consignment sits above the threshold. In practice an e-commerce platform or a carrier supplies a data set per consignment with consignor, consignee, value and a short description. Those data come from a webshop system, not from a customs administration. The declarant converts them into an H7 message and files it with DECO. At high volumes that happens in batches, with manual intervention only on rejections. Above the threshold, or for a product that falls outside H7, the same source data is no longer enough. Then you need a ten-digit code, a substantiated value and often extra documents, and those are filed in DMS. Anyone who runs both flows keeps the cut at intake, not only at the rejection.
Where does H7 data quality break most often?
The declaration rarely fails on the technique of the message. It fails on what the seller filled in, thousands of kilometres away, in a field their marketplace prescribed. A description that reads gift, sample or goods. A value of one euro on a parcel of two kilos. A consignee without a house number or with a postcode that does not exist. Those are not keying errors a declarant here can repair. Anyone who does not know what is in the box may not invent it, and the declaration is a statement someone signs. Guessing is not an option. The only answer that works is feeding back to the source, per seller, so that the field is usable next time. What you do control is the moment a consignment drops out. A parcel that at intake already shows a description that says nothing should leave the batch before filing, with a reason your client can pass on. Dropping out after filing costs a rejection, a correction and time you do not have at this volume.
What does abolishing the import duty relief mean for H7?
The EU is working towards dropping the relief up to one hundred and fifty euro. If that happens, import duty is due on every imported consignment. To fix a rate you need a full goods code, and with that the H7 set is no longer sufficient. That is not a rate change but a rebuild of the data model. Per parcel a ten-digit code instead of a six-digit one, and a value that can be substantiated instead of an amount the seller typed in. Platform, carrier and declarant then all three have to supply more than they collect today. Classification will have to happen automatically, because nobody classifies tens of thousands of parcels a day by hand. No date has been fixed that you can build a plan on. What you can do now is include the fields for a full goods code in your message traffic, set classification up as a separate step and measure per seller how many descriptions are good enough to classify on.