HS Code Detail
300490 Chapter 30 · Pharmaceuticals Medicaments for retail sale, other
Six-digit subheading in Pharmaceuticals, chapter 30 of the Harmonized System, priced here for 6 destination markets.
Anatomy of 300490
You will declare against a longer local code that begins 300490: 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 a rate can differ on, though on this subheading all 6 destinations below charge the same, 0%.
What this code covers
Import duty by country
MFN duty rate · 6 countries| Country | Duty | VAT |
|---|---|---|
| 🇦🇺Australia | 0% | 10% |
| 🇨🇦Canada | 0% | 5% |
| 🇩🇪Germany | 0% | 19% |
| 🇵🇹Portugal | 0% | 6% |
| 🇬🇧United Kingdom | 0% | 20% |
| 🇺🇸United States | 0% | 0% |
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: 300490 into Canada
An illustrative consignment of 300490 invoiced at CAD 2,000.00, priced in CAD because a threshold is set in the destination's currency and nothing here is converted.
| Goods value on the invoice | CAD 2,000.00 |
| International freight | CAD 120.00 |
| Cargo insurance | CAD 30.00 |
| Value the duty is charged on, FOB basis | CAD 2,000.00 |
| Duty at 0% | CAD 0.00 |
| Canada tax at 5%, charged on the value plus the duty | CAD 100.00 |
| Total, before commercial charges | CAD 2,250.00 |
And if the consignment were small
Canada relieves customs duties and taxes on consignments at or under CAD 20. The 300490 shipment above is over that, so its duty is charged in full. The same code invoiced at exactly CAD 20 with no freight would be charged CAD 0.00 of duty and CAD 0.00 of tax, a total of CAD 20.00. The rate on the 300490 row has not changed; only the charge is relieved.
Selling rather than buying? CAD 2,250.00 is what your buyer in Canada pays to take delivery of this consignment, yours to pay if you quote DDP and theirs if you quote DAP: Exporting to Canada 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 300490 on your own numbers in the duty calculator.
How these rates were verified
Rates last verified 31 August 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.
- 🇦🇺AU
- MFN for 300490 AU, read on 2026-09-01 from https://www.abf.gov.au/importing-exporting-and-manufacturing/tariff-classification/current-tariff/schedule-3/section-vi/chapter-30 and again on 2026-09-01 from https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2004A04997/latest/text. Both returned 0%. The two publications are independent of each other and they agree. Retrieved text: 3004.90.00 Free
- 🇨🇦CA
- MFN for 300490 CA, read on 2026-08-31 from https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/trade-commerce/tariff-tarif/2026/html/00/ch30-eng.html and again on 2026-09-01 from https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/trade-commerce/tariff-tarif/2026/menu-eng.html. Both returned 0%. 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: 3004.90.00 Free
- 🇩🇪DE 🇵🇹PT
- One reading covers DE and PT, which are priced from the same schedule: Third country duty (EU, via NI Online Tariff) for 300490 DE, read on 2026-08-31 from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/xi/commodities/3004900000 and again on 2026-09-01 from https://trade.ec.europa.eu/access-to-markets/en/results?product=300490&origin=CN&destination=DE. Both returned 0%. The two publications are independent of each other and they agree. Retrieved text: 3004900000 0.00 %
- 🇬🇧GB
- Third country duty for 300490 GB, read on 2026-08-31 from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/commodities/3004900000 and again on 2026-09-01 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: 3004900000 0.00 %
- 🇺🇸US
- HTS General for 300490 US, read on 2026-08-31 from https://hts.usitc.gov/search?query=3004.90 and again on 2026-09-01 from https://hts.usitc.gov/reststop/exportList?from=30&to=31&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: 3004.90.10.00 Free; 3004.90.92 Free
Re-check first: Zero in every market here under the pharmaceutical agreement, so the duty is rarely the question. What holds these shipments is marketing authorisation and controlled-substance licensing, neither of which is a customs rate.
What falls under 300490
- Medicaments (other, not elsewhere specified) consisting of mixed or unmixed products for therapeutic/prophylactic use, put up in measured doses or retail packing
What's specifically excluded
These look similar but belong under a different code:
Commonly confused with
210690: Dietary supplement
The supplement vs medicament line is one of the most disputed in the whole tariff. A product making a therapeutic claim and dosed as medicine is 3004; a general nutritional supplement is often 210690, and the regulatory and duty consequences are very different.
Classification & cost note
Most finished medicaments enter major markets at 0% MFN under the WTO Pharmaceutical (zero-for-zero) agreement, but classification still matters enormously because import licensing, marketing authorisation and controlled-substance rules attach to 3004 and not to a misfiled supplement code. The duty is the easy part; the regulatory gate is where shipments are actually held.
Typical products: Packaged prescription and OTC medicines in dosed form · Retail blister-pack pharmaceuticals
What the notes to section VI say
Chapter 30 sits in section VI, products of the chemical or allied industries, where a section note governs every chapter in the section and applies before the heading notes below; the 4 reaching chapter 30 are quoted whole on the chapter 30 page, read from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/sections/6 on 2026-09-08, and this is the one that names heading 3004 by number.
Note 2 to section VI
Subject to Note 1 above, goods classifiable in heading 3004, 3005, 3006, 3212, 3303, 3304, 3305, 3306, 3307, 3506, 3707 or 3808 by reason of being put up in measured doses or for retail sale are to be classified in those headings and in no other heading of the nomenclature.
What the nomenclature says about heading 3004
300490 is a subheading of 3004, medicaments (excluding goods of heading 3002, 3005 or 3006) consisting of mixed or unmixed products for therapeutic or prophylactic uses, put up in measured doses (including those in the form of transdermal administration systems) or in forms or packings for retail sale , and it is the only code this site holds under that heading.
One numbered note to chapter 30 takes heading 3004 as its own subject, and it is quoted below in full, as published.
Note 3 to chapter 30
For the purposes of heading 3003 and 3004 and of note 4(d) to this chapter, the following are to be treated:
(a) as unmixed products:
(1) unmixed products dissolved in water;
(2) all goods of Chapter 28 or 29; and
(3) simple vegetable extracts of heading 1302, merely standardised or dissolved in any solvent;
(b) as products which have been mixed:
(1) colloidal solutions and suspensions (other than colloidal sulphur);
(2) vegetable extracts obtained by the treatment of mixtures of vegetable materials; and
(3) salts and concentrates obtained by evaporating natural mineral waters.
Read from the notes to chapter 30 published in the UK Trade Tariff by HM Revenue and Customs, at https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/chapters/30, with the heading title from https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/headings/3004, on 2026-09-07, with the whole layer and the reason a heading note is a chapter note set out on the chapter 30 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 300490
Is there duty on imported medicines?
Finished pharmaceuticals classified under 3004 are largely duty-free in major markets under the WTO pharmaceutical agreement, but import licensing and marketing-authorisation requirements still apply and are the main barrier.
Supplement or medicament: which code?
If the product is dosed and presented for therapeutic/prophylactic use it's 3004; a general nutritional supplement without medicinal claims is usually 210690. The distinction drives both duty and regulatory treatment.
Codes in nearby chapters
Chapter 30 holds 2 subheadings on this site, so these are the closest chapters by number rather than codes for similar goods.
Related codes in Chapter 30
Calculate duty for HS 300490
Pre-fills the calculator with this code. Add your destination and shipment value for an instant landed-cost estimate.
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