Directory / Chapter 30
Chapter 30: Pharmaceutical products
Pharmaceutical products, from bulk medicaments to dosed and retail-packed medicines, dressings and diagnostic reagents.
The 2 codes this site holds in chapter 30
| Code | What it covers | Markets priced | Duty range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 300241 | Vaccines for human medicine | 6 of 6 | 0% |
| 300490 | Medicaments for retail sale, other | 6 of 6 | 0% |
Where this chapter ends
Presentation for therapeutic or prophylactic use is the test, not the presence of an active ingredient. That is the boundary with chapter 33: a cream sold to care for the skin is a cosmetic, and the same cream presented for treating a diagnosed condition is a medicament here, which usually shows up as a therapeutic claim, a marketing authorisation or an active at pharmaceutical strength.
The guides in chapter 30 name 2 codes outside it that goods reach when they turn out not to belong here.
- 210690 (chapter 21): Food/dietary supplements not presented as medicaments
- 330499 (chapter 33): Cosmetic skin preparations (non-therapeutic)
What the notes to section VI say
Chapter 30 sits in section VI, products of the chemical or allied industries, which runs from chapter 28 to chapter 38. A section note governs every chapter in its section, so it stands one layer above the note to chapter 30 below and applies before it.
The nomenclature publishes 4 notes to section VI, and 4 of them reach chapter 30. They are quoted here in full, as published, in the order the nomenclature gives them.
Note 1 to section VI
(A) Goods (other than radioactive ores) answering to a description in heading 2844 or 2845 are to be classified in those headings and in no other heading of the classification.
(B) Subject to paragraph (A) above, goods answering to a description in heading 2843, 2846 or 2852 are to be classified in those headings and in no other heading of this section.
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.
Note 3 to section VI
Goods put up in sets consisting of two or more separate constituents, some or all of which fall in this section and are intended to be mixed together to obtain a product of Section VI or VII, are to be classified in the heading appropriate to that product, provided that the constituents are:
a. having regard to the manner in which they are put up, clearly identifiable as being intended to be used together without first being repacked;
b. presented together; and
c. identifiable, whether by their nature or by the relative proportions in which they are present, as being complementary one to another.
Note 4 to section VI
Where a product answers to a description in one or more of the headings in Section VI by virtue of being described by name or function and also to heading 3827, then it is classifiable in a heading that references the product by name or function and not under heading 3827.
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/6, 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 30 sets out what this chapter does not cover, and these are its 9 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) foods or beverages (such as dietetic, diabetic or fortified foods, food supplements, tonic beverages and mineral waters), other than nutritional preparations for intravenous administration (Section IV)
- (b) products, such as tablets, chewing gum or patches (transdermal systems), containing nicotine and intended to assist tobacco use cessation (heading 2404)
- (c) plasters specially calcined or finely ground for use in dentistry (heading 2520)
- (d) aqueous distillates or aqueous solutions of essential oils, suitable for medicinal uses (heading 3301)
- (e) preparations of heading 3303 to 3307, even if they have therapeutic or prophylactic properties
- (f) soap or other products of heading 3401 containing added medicaments
- (g) preparations with a basis of plaster for use in dentistry (heading 3407)
- (h) blood albumin not prepared for therapeutic or prophylactic uses (heading 3502)
- (i) diagnostic reagents of heading 3822
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/30, 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 30 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. 2 of them are the subject of a numbered note.
| Heading | What the nomenclature calls it | Codes here | What the notes say about it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3002 | Human blood; animal blood prepared for therapeutic, prophylactic or diagnostic uses; antisera, other blood fractions and immunological products, whether or not modified or obtained by means of biotechnological processes; vaccines, toxins, cultures of micro-organisms (excluding yeasts) and similar products; cell cultures, whether or not modified | 300241 | Subject of note 2 |
| 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 | 300490 | Subject of note 3 |
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 30, which takes heading 3002 as its subject
Opening, as published
For the purposes of heading 3002, the expression ‘immunological products’ applies to peptides and proteins (other than g...
Note 2 in full on 300241 , and on every other code this site holds under that heading.
Note 3 to chapter 30, which takes heading 3004 as its subject
Opening, as published
For the purposes of heading 3003 and 3004 and of note 4(d) to this chapter, the following are to be treated: (a) as unmi...
Note 3 in full on 300490 , 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/30, 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 30 costs to import
Every one of the 12 rates held in this chapter is zero, so this site holds no duty on it in any market it prices.
A destination that prices part of a chapter answers for part of it, so this is how much of chapter 30 each one covers, out of 2 codes.
| Destination | Codes priced | Duty range in this chapter |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | 2 of 2 | 0% |
| Canada | 2 of 2 | 0% |
| Germany | 2 of 2 | 0% |
| Portugal | 2 of 2 | 0% |
| United Kingdom | 2 of 2 | 0% |
| United States | 2 of 2 | 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.