Directory / Chapter 18
Chapter 18: Cocoa and cocoa preparations
Cocoa in every form from the bean to finished chocolate, including cocoa butter, cocoa powder and chocolate confectionery.
The 2 codes this site holds in chapter 18
| Code | What it covers | Markets priced | Duty range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 180620 | Chocolate preparations in bulk over 2 kg | 5 of 6 | 5% plus 4 charged per unit |
| 180632 | Chocolate in blocks or tablets | 6 of 6 | 5% to 8% plus 3 charged per unit |
Where this chapter ends
The test is whether the article contains cocoa, not whether it tastes of it. White chocolate is made from cocoa butter and is a cocoa preparation here, while sugar confectionery containing no cocoa at all belongs in chapter 17 however similar it looks on the shelf.
The guides in chapter 18 name 2 codes outside it that goods reach when they turn out not to belong here.
- 210111 (chapter 21): Coffee extracts and instant coffee
- 210690 (chapter 21): Food preparations not elsewhere specified
What the notes to section IV say
Chapter 18 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, which runs from chapter 16 to chapter 24. A section note governs every chapter in its section, so it stands one layer above the note to chapter 18 below and applies before it.
The nomenclature publishes one note to section IV, and it reaches chapter 18. It is quoted here in full, as published.
The note to section IV
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/4, 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 1 to chapter 18 sets out what this chapter does not cover, and these are its 2 items 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.
- (a) Food preparations containing more than 20 % by weight of sausage, meat, meat offal, blood, insects, fish or crustaceans, molluscs or other aquatic invertebrates, or any combination thereof (Chapter 16)
- (b) Preparations of heading 0403, 1901, 1902, 1904, 1905, 2105, 2202, 2208, 3003 or 3004
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/18, 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 18 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 one heading in this chapter. One of them is the subject of a numbered note.
| Heading | What the nomenclature calls it | Codes here | What the notes say about it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1806 | Chocolate and other food preparations containing cocoa | 180620 , 180632 | Subject of note 2 |
How each of those notes opens, in the words the nomenclature uses. The note in full is on every code page under the heading it governs, which is where a reader deciding a classification is standing.
Note 2 to chapter 18, which takes heading 1806 as its subject
Opening, as published
Heading 1806 includes sugar confectionery containing cocoa and, subject to Note 1 to this chapter, other food preparatio...
Note 2 in full on 180620 , and on every other code this site holds under that heading.
Read from the same chapter notes quoted above, at https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/chapters/18, 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 18 costs to import
The dearest line this site holds in chapter 18 is 180632, chocolate in blocks or tablets, at 8% into United Kingdom. The widest gap between destinations is on 180632, chocolate in blocks or tablets, which runs from 5% to 8% depending on where it lands. 7 rates in this chapter are charged per unit rather than on value, so they are left out of every range above.
A destination that prices part of a chapter answers for part of it, so this is how much of chapter 18 each one covers, out of 2 codes.
| Destination | Codes priced | Duty range in this chapter |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | 2 of 2 | 5% |
| Canada | 2 of 2 | 6% plus 1 charged per unit |
| Germany | 2 of 2 | Charged per unit, not on value |
| Portugal | 2 of 2 | Charged per unit, not on value |
| United States | 2 of 2 | Charged per unit, not on value |
| United Kingdom | 1 of 2 | 8% |
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.