TARIC code
Also known as: TARIC, ten-digit code, integrated tariff
The TARIC code is the ten-digit goods code you use on import into the EU: the eight-digit CN code plus two digits for European measures. On those last two hang anti-dumping duties, suspensions, quotas and prohibitions.
What is in TARIC?
TARIC contains per code and per country of origin the third-country tariff, the preferential tariffs, anti-dumping and countervailing duties, tariff quotas, suspensions and the prohibitions and restrictions. In addition the document codes stand with it: which certificate, which permit or which exemption you must mention on the declaration. The combination is code plus origin, not code alone. The same ten digits give for China an anti-dumping duty and for South Korea a preferential tariff, or the other way around. A master datum with a code without origin is unusable for import. DECO uses six digits and misses this layer on purpose, until the shipment stays under the 150-euro threshold. TARIC is the European database. The DTV, the Douane Tarief Voorziening, is the Dutch derivative with national additions such as VAT rates and excise. A declaration system in the Netherlands links to the DTV, not directly to the Brussels website.
How does TARIC relate to the DTV?
TARIC is the European database; the DTV, the Douane Tarief Voorziening, is the Dutch derivative of it with the national additions such as VAT rates and excise. A declaration system linked directly to the DTV checks a code, an origin and a document code before the declaration goes out. That catches the bulk of the refusals. DMS refuses a code that does not stand in the DTV, or a document code that is mandatory at that combination and is missing. What DMS does not refuse is an existing code that describes the wrong product. That error is for the declarant, and for the later audit. TARIC changes daily. A tariff, a measure or a document code from last week can be different today. A table kept by hand lags by definition. The DTV link is the reason a team files declarations instead of handling error messages.
What are additional codes?
Besides the ten digits TARIC knows additional codes of four characters for specific situations, for example an anti-dumping duty that depends on the producer or an agricultural component. If such an additional code is missing, the shipment often falls back on the highest tariff. On anti-dumping that can be the difference between zero and more than sixty percent. The additional code is not an extra goods code, it is a key to the measure within the same ten digits. Two shipments with the same TARIC code and the same origin can have a different duty, because the producer is different. Without the code of that producer the residual tariff applies. DMS asks for the additional code if TARIC makes it mandatory at that combination. A refusal on that field is no riddle: look in TARIC or the DTV which four characters belong with this producer, this quota or this agricultural component, and put them on the article line.
How do you use TARIC when drawing up a declaration?
Start from the code and the country of origin. That combination produces the tariff and the list of measures, and only then is it clear which documents the declaration needs. If a prohibition or restriction stands with it, a document code belongs with it: a permit number, a certificate or a code that shows the measure does not apply. If that code is missing, the declaration is refused. Finally check whether a tariff quota applies. A quota with a lower tariff is in order of arrival, and whether it is still open differs per day. A declaration that counts on the quota while it is full falls back on the full tariff. Do this check in the DTV or TARIC on the day of the declaration, not on the day the article was created. A code from March with a measure from June is an IMA with the wrong duty. On anti-dumping and quotas that is not a rounding, it is the whole difference.
Why is a direct link with the DTV worth so much?
TARIC changes daily. A tariff, a measure or a document code from last week can be different today, and a table kept by hand lags by definition. A declaration system linked directly to the DTV checks the combination of code, origin and document code before the declaration is sent. That catches the bulk of the refusals at the moment when correcting is still cheap. The difference sits in the moment. An error Customs finds costs a refusal, a correction and sometimes a control. The same error the own system finds costs a minute. At hundreds of declarations per day that is the difference between a team that files declarations and a team that handles error messages. The link does not replace the classification responsibility. An existing, current, wrong code still gets through. The DTV says whether the code exists and which measures belong with it, not whether the product belongs in that code. That remains rules 1 to 6, or a BTI.
What are document codes in TARIC?
Document codes are the four-character codes with which you show on the declaration which proof, which permit or which exemption belongs with the measure. TARIC prescribes per code and origin which document codes are mandatory, conditional or possible. DMS refuses the IMA if a mandatory code is missing. A proof of origin, an import permit, an inspection document, a statement that an anti-dumping duty does not apply: they are all document codes. Some ask for a number (the certificate, the permit), others are a statement by the code itself. Filling in the wrong type is a refusal or, worse, an incorrect declaration that got through. Keep the document codes with the article, per origin. An article from China and the same article from Vietnam have the same ten digits and a different set of codes. Anyone putting the Chinese set on the Vietnamese shipment claims a proof that is not there, or misses a proof that should have been there.
How do you deal with quotas and anti-dumping?
A tariff quota gives a lower duty up to a certain volume, in order of arrival. Whether the quota is open you see in TARIC or the DTV on the day of the declaration. An IMA that claims the quota while it is full falls back on the full tariff. There is no queue and no later claim, except if the arrangement expressly allows that. Anti-dumping hangs on code, origin and often the producer, via an additional code. Without that code the residual tariff applies, which is the highest. With the code of an exempted producer the tariff can be zero. The invoice must name the producer, and the declarant must put the matching additional code. An invoice without a producer is at these measures a residual tariff. Both measures change more often than the CN. Watch them per article and per origin, not once a year. A warning in the declaration system at a new duty or a full quota is cheaper than an assessment over a month of volume.