Directory / Chapter 09
Chapter 09: Coffee, tea, maté and spices
Coffee, tea and maté, together with the spices, whether raw, roasted, ground or otherwise prepared for use as they are.
The 4 codes this site holds in chapter 09
| Code | What it covers | Markets priced | Duty range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 090111 | Coffee, not roasted, not decaffeinated | 6 of 6 | 0% |
| 090112 | Coffee, not roasted, decaffeinated | 6 of 6 | 0% to 8.3% |
| 090121 | Coffee, roasted, not decaffeinated | 6 of 6 | 0% to 7.5% |
| 090240 | Black tea in bulk packings over 3 kg | 6 of 6 | 0% |
Where this chapter ends
Roasting and grinding do not move coffee out of this chapter, but adding anything else usually does. Once coffee or tea is the base of a preparation rather than the article itself, it belongs with the miscellaneous edible preparations in chapter 21, and that is where extracts, essences and instant mixes are classified.
The guides in chapter 09 name 3 codes outside it that goods reach when they turn out not to belong here.
- 210111 (chapter 21): Extracts, essences and concentrates of coffee (instant)
- 210690 (chapter 21): Tea-based dietary and herbal supplement preparations
- 220600 (chapter 22): Ready-to-drink fermented tea beverages such as kombucha
What the notes to section II say
Chapter 09 sits in section II, vegetable products, which runs from chapter 06 to chapter 14. A section note governs every chapter in its section, so it stands one layer above the note to chapter 09 below and applies before it.
The nomenclature publishes one note to section II, and it reaches chapter 09. It is quoted here in full, as published.
Note 1 to section II
In this section the term 'pellets' means products which have been agglomerated either directly by compression or by the addition of a binder in a proportion not exceeding 3% by weight.
Read from the section notes published in the UK Trade Tariff by HM Revenue and Customs, at https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/sections/2, on 2026-09-08, and read a second time from the chapter endpoint quoted below, which carries the same section note and has to agree with it. Like the chapter and heading notes, a section note is part of the international text of the Harmonized System, so it decides classification and never a rate.
What the nomenclature excludes
The sentence above is this site's summary. This one is not. Note 2 to chapter 09 sets out what this chapter does not cover, and these are its terms as published, with the heading each one sends the goods to. Where a note names a chapter this site also covers, the chapter number is a link.
- cubeb pepper (Piper cubeba) or other products of heading 1211
Read from the chapter notes published in the UK Trade Tariff by HM Revenue and Customs, at https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/chapters/09, on 2026-09-07. The first six digits of that nomenclature are the Harmonized System itself and the notes to a chapter are part of its international text, so this is the same note whichever of this site's destinations a shipment is going to. It decides classification and never a rate.
What the notes say about each heading
The note above governs chapter 09 as a whole. Underneath it the same published notes speak about individual four digit headings, and that is the layer a classification usually turns on. This site holds codes under 2 headings in this chapter. None of them is the subject of a numbered note. The notes say nothing about 2 of them, which is the published position rather than a gap here.
| Heading | What the nomenclature calls it | Codes here | What the notes say about it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0901 | Coffee, whether or not roasted or decaffeinated; coffee husks and skins; coffee substitutes containing coffee in any proportion | 090111 , 090112 , 090121 | Not named in the chapter notes |
| 0902 | Tea, whether or not flavoured | 090240 | Not named in the chapter notes |
Read from the same chapter notes quoted above, at https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/chapters/09, on 2026-09-07, with each heading title read from its own endpoint. The Harmonized System publishes no separate heading notes: its legal text is section notes, chapter notes and subheading notes, and what governs a heading is a chapter note whose subject clause names it. The section notes are quoted at the top of this page, which is the layer above.
What chapter 09 costs to import
The dearest line this site holds in chapter 09 is 090112, coffee, not roasted, decaffeinated, at 8.3% into Germany. 18 of the 24 rates charged on value in this chapter are zero. The widest gap between destinations is on 090112, coffee, not roasted, decaffeinated, which runs from 0% to 8.3% depending on where it lands.
A destination that prices part of a chapter answers for part of it, so this is how much of chapter 09 each one covers, out of 4 codes.
| Destination | Codes priced | Duty range in this chapter |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | 4 of 4 | 0% |
| Canada | 4 of 4 | 0% |
| Germany | 4 of 4 | 0% to 8.3% |
| Portugal | 4 of 4 | 0% to 8.3% |
| United Kingdom | 4 of 4 | 0% to 8% |
| United States | 4 of 4 | 0% |
Third country rates, which is what applies with no trade agreement claimed. Destination tax is charged on top. Each code page carries the reading behind its own figures and the day they were read.