HS Code Detail
220860 Chapter 22 · Beverages Vodka
Six-digit subheading in Beverages, chapter 22 of the Harmonized System, priced here for 5 destination markets.
Anatomy of 220860
You will declare against a longer local code that begins 220860: ten digits in the United States and the United Kingdom, eight in the European Union, and the first six the same everywhere. Which trailing digits apply is what the 5 rates below differ on.
What this code covers
Import duty by country
MFN duty rate · 5 countries| Country | Duty | VAT | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🇨🇦Canada | Not a % | 5% | |
| 🇩🇪Germany | 0% | 19% | |
| 🇵🇹Portugal | 0% | 23% | |
| 🇬🇧United Kingdom | 0% | 20% | |
| 🇺🇸United States | 0% | 0% | |
Canada charges this code by the hectolitre, the item or the kilogram rather than on its value, sometimes alongside a percentage, which is why the duty column reads Not a % there; a charge of that kind cannot be shown as a single percentage, so none is shown, the calculator does not estimate it, and the official wording is under each of those rows.
Rates shown are MFN (Most Favoured Nation), the default for WTO members. Preferential FTA rates may be lower with valid proof of origin. Section 301 / anti-dumping surcharges on Chinese-origin goods are not included.
What that costs: 220860 into Germany
An illustrative consignment of 220860 invoiced at EUR 2,000.00, priced in EUR because a threshold is set in the destination's currency and nothing here is converted.
| Goods value on the invoice | EUR 2,000.00 |
| International freight | EUR 120.00 |
| Cargo insurance | EUR 30.00 |
| Value the duty is charged on, CIF basis | EUR 2,150.00 |
| Duty at 0% | EUR 0.00 |
| Germany tax at 19%, charged on the value plus the duty | EUR 408.50 |
| Total, before commercial charges | EUR 2,558.50 |
And if the consignment were small
Germany relieves nothing: the relief was abolished, so the duty above is charged whatever the consignment is worth. A smaller shipment pays less because the value is lower, not because a threshold spared it.
Selling rather than buying? EUR 2,558.50 is what your buyer in Germany pays to take delivery of this consignment, yours to pay if you quote DDP and theirs if you quote DAP: Exporting to Germany sets out who collects it and what your invoice has to say.
An illustration, not a quotation: broker fees, handling and any trade remedy on the origin sit outside it. Price 220860 on your own numbers in the duty calculator.
How these rates were verified
Rates last verified 7 September 2026Every figure in the table above was read from the official tariff database of the market that charges it, on the date shown. Nothing here is copied from another aggregator.
- 🇺🇸US
- HTS General for 220860 US, read on 2026-09-07 from https://hts.usitc.gov/search?query=2208.60 and again on 2026-09-07 from https://hts.usitc.gov/reststop/exportList?from=22&to=23&format=CSV&styles=false. Both returned 0%. The United States International Trade Commission is the only body that publishes this schedule. The second reading was taken in a different format to check the reading, not to corroborate the schedule, because there is no second schedule to corroborate it against. Retrieved text: 2208.60.10.00 Free; 2208.60.20 Free; 2208.60.50.00 Free
- 🇬🇧GB
- Third country duty for 220860 GB, read on 2026-09-07 from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/commodities/2208601100 and again on 2026-09-07 from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reference-document-for-the-customs-tariff-establishment-eu-exit-regulations-2020. Both returned 0%. The two publications are independent of each other and they agree. Retrieved text: 2208601100 0.00 %; 2208601900 0.00 %; 2208609100 0.00 %; 2208609900 0.00 %
- 🇨🇦CA
- MFN for 220860 CA, read on 2026-09-07 from https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/trade-commerce/tariff-tarif/2026/html/00/ch22-eng.html and again on 2026-09-07 from https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/trade-commerce/tariff-tarif/2026/menu-eng.html. Both returned the official wording "12.28¢/litre of absolute ethyl alcohol". The Canada Border Services Agency is the only body that publishes this schedule. The Department of Justice publishes the Act and refers readers to the Agency for the schedule itself, so both readings are the Agency's, taken from two different products. Retrieved text: 2208.60.00 12.28¢/litre of absolute ethyl alcohol
- 🇩🇪DE 🇵🇹PT
- One reading covers DE and PT, which are priced from the same schedule: Third country duty (EU, via NI Online Tariff) for 220860 DE, read on 2026-09-07 from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/xi/commodities/2208601100 and again on 2026-09-07 from https://trade.ec.europa.eu/access-to-markets/en/results?product=220860&origin=CN&destination=DE. Both returned 0%. The two publications are independent of each other and they agree. Retrieved text: 2208601100 0.00 %; 2208601900 0.00 %; 2208609100 0.00 %; 2208609900 0.00 %
Markets with no figure recorded
Australia: Two official readings of 2208.60 returned different answers, so no Australia figure is recorded. Averaging them, or preferring one, would publish a number neither reading supports.
Re-check first: All three United States lines on vodka are free whatever the value or the container size, so customs duty is not the cost that decides these shipments. Federal and state excise on distilled spirits is, and it is not in this table.
What falls under 220860
- Vodka
- Neutral grain and potato vodkas, and flavoured vodkas retaining the character of vodka
What's specifically excluded
These look similar but belong under a different code:
Commonly confused with
220870: Flavoured and sweetened vodkas
A flavoured vodka stays vodka while it retains the character of vodka, and becomes a liqueur once sweetening passes the threshold applied in the destination market. Products marketed as flavoured vodka sit on both sides of that line depending on formulation.
220830: Whiskies
Both are distilled spirits with their own subheadings, and the difference is the raw material and the treatment: vodka is rectified to be neutral in character, while whisky derives its character from cereal and maturation. Neutrality rather than base material is the practical test.
Classification & cost note
Vodka has a subheading of its own and is characterised by neutrality: it is rectified so that the character of the raw material is largely removed, which is why grain, potato and grape vodkas share a code that says nothing about the base. That neutrality is also what makes the boundary with liqueurs the only classification question that regularly arises, since adding sugar and flavour eventually produces a different product in law. Definitions of vodka differ between markets in ways that matter for labelling rather than for tariff, with minimum strength and permitted additives set by national or regional rules. As with every spirit, excise is the dominant cost and is assessed on volume and strength on a basis entirely separate from the customs code, so a landed cost built from the duty rate alone will be badly wrong.
Typical products: Grain vodkas · Potato vodkas · Rye and wheat vodkas · Charcoal filtered vodkas · Flavoured vodkas retaining vodka character · Craft small batch vodkas
What the notes to section IV say
Chapter 22 sits in section IV, prepared foodstuffs; beverages, spirits and vinegar; tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes; Products, whether or not containing nicotine, intended for inhalation without combustion; Other nicotine containing products intended for the intake of nicotine into the human body, where a section note governs every chapter in the section and applies before the heading notes below; the one reaching chapter 22 names no heading this site holds a code under, and it is quoted whole on the chapter 22 page, read from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/sections/4 on 2026-09-08.
What the nomenclature says about heading 2208
220860 is a subheading of 2208, undenatured ethyl alcohol of an alcoholic strength by volume of less than 80 % vol; spirits, liqueurs and other spirituous beverages , and this site holds 3 other codes under the same heading, which every rule below governs equally.
No numbered note to chapter 22 takes heading 2208 as its subject, which is what the published notes say rather than a gap on this page: the heading is defined by its own wording above and by the note to the chapter, quoted in full on the chapter 22 page.
One further note to chapter 22 names heading 2208 from elsewhere in its own text, usually to send goods into it or away from it, and the sentence that names it is quoted below.
Note 3 to chapter 22, which is about something else
Alcoholic beverages are classified in heading 2203 to 2206 or heading 2208 as appropriate.
Read from the notes to chapter 22 published in the UK Trade Tariff by HM Revenue and Customs, at https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/chapters/22, with the heading title from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/headings/2208, on 2026-09-07, with the whole layer and the reason a heading note is a chapter note set out on the chapter 22 page. These notes are part of the international text of the Harmonized System, so the rule is the same whichever destination a shipment is going to, and it decides classification and never a rate.
Questions about 220860
Does the base ingredient change the code?
No. Vodka is defined by being rectified to a neutral character, so grain, potato and grape vodkas share this subheading. The base material is a marketing and labelling matter rather than a tariff one.
Is flavoured vodka still vodka?
While it retains the character of vodka, yes. Once sweetening passes the threshold that defines a liqueur in the destination market, the product moves to the liqueurs subheading.
Why is the duty rate not the main cost?
Because excise usually exceeds it. Excise on spirits is assessed on volume and alcoholic strength under rules entirely separate from the customs tariff, so a landed cost built from duty alone understates the charge substantially.
Does the filtration method change anything?
No. Charcoal filtering, multiple distillation and similar production claims are marketing distinctions with no tariff consequence, since the subheading depends on the spirit being rectified to a neutral character. They may support label claims regulated under food law instead.
Related codes in Chapter 22
Calculate duty for HS 220860
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