Product Classification and Admissibility Review

Issues and Challenges

Country-specific regulatory controls are largely determined by the product being exchanged and its classification according to the Harmonized Schedule (HS). Product classification forms the basis for nearly every tax, tariff, fee and export/import control imposed by Customs and other governmental authorities worldwide. Missing or incorrect product classifications often result in delays at customs, penalties for incorrect filing and loss of preferential duty rates.

Imported products are subject to a wide array of admissibility requirements that go beyond whether an item is permitted into the country. These include controls around labeling, content and documentation that are administered by a variety of government agencies in addition to Customs. Merchandise that fails to meet admissibility standards can be excluded from entry, seized, or even recalled after importation, resulting in increased costs and wasted time.

Challenges include:

• Navigating the depth and detail of the HS to assign the correct product code

• Managing products that may have different classification codes during different times of year

• Classifying items that are parts of sets or ensembles

• Accounting for special trade programs, such as free trade agreements, that offer preferential duty rates based on HS number

• Analyzing and understanding all the product admissibility requirements of multiple countries and government agencies, including the CBP’s mandate that PGAs transition to ACE

• Completing the forms with all information required to process import

• Documenting the decision process in case of potential audit

How Amber Road Can Help

Amber Road's global product classification engine helps you correctly identify your product based on the relevant country of import (COI) and country of export (COE) while also documenting your decision criteria in case of audit. A user-friendly search wizard assists you with the classification process, providing all the information necessary to choose the right product classification.

Our classification engine can also assist you with complex classifications, such as those required for sets, ensembles or tools and cutlery. The search wizard assists you in classifying each item in a set, including the assignment of essential character.

A centralized source of product information, the Global Product Master (GPM) stores an extensive array of product data that fuels subsequent transactions. It also allows you to manage compliance for each product, and for every variant of that product.

You can store multiple COI/COE combinations in the GPM, along with the effective date of the classification. This is particularly useful to accommodate changes in HS codes or seasonal code use requirements.

Finally, choosing the correct code will ensure you pay the correct import duties and can take advantage of reduced rates if they apply.

The product admissibility review process draws on our extensive body of trade content, Global Knowledge^®. You can select which items should be analyzed and choose from among extensive criteria to narrow the analysis. For example, you can retrieve compliance information based on HS, COI/COE combination, entry/shipment date, mode of transport (MOT), country of origin (COO), etc.

By conducting admissibility reviews based on entries in the GPM, Amber Road's solutions ensure that purchase orders created in the system are already compliant prior to being issued to the supplier.