Directory / Chapter 33
Chapter 33: Essential oils and cosmetics
Essential oils and resinoids, perfumery, and cosmetic and toilet preparations including skincare, haircare and make-up.
The 8 codes this site holds in chapter 33
| Code | What it covers | Markets priced | Duty range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 330300 | Perfumes and toilet waters | 6 of 6 | 0% to 6.5% |
| 330410 | Lip make-up preparations | 6 of 6 | 0% to 6.5% |
| 330491 | Face powder / beauty powders | 6 of 6 | 0% to 6.5% |
| 330499 | Beauty and skin-care lotions | 6 of 6 | 0% to 6.5% |
| 330510 | Shampoos | 6 of 6 | 0% to 6.5% |
| 330590 | Hair products, other | 6 of 6 | 0% to 6.5% |
| 330741 | Incense and other odoriferous preparations | 6 of 6 | 0% to 6.5% |
| 330749 | Air fresheners and room deodorisers, other | 6 of 6 | 5% to 6.5% |
Where this chapter ends
This chapter sits between two others and is regularly confused with both. A preparation presented for treating a condition moves to chapter 30, and soap and organic surface-active preparations belong to chapter 34 even when they are sold for personal care.
The guides in chapter 33 name 3 codes outside it that goods reach when they turn out not to belong here.
- 300490 (chapter 30): Preparations presented as medicaments for treating a diagnosed condition
- 340130 (chapter 34): Body washes and skin-cleaning products not for hair
- 340600 (chapter 34): Candles, tapers and the like, which are wax articles
What the notes to section VI say
Chapter 33 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 33 below and applies before it.
The nomenclature publishes 4 notes to section VI, and 4 of them reach chapter 33. 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 33 sets out what this chapter does not cover, and these are its 3 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) natural oleoresins or vegetable extracts of heading 1301 or 1302
- (b) soap or other products of heading 3401
- (c) gum, wood or sulphate turpentine or other products of heading 3805
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/33, 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 33 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 4 headings in this chapter. 4 of them are the subject of a numbered note.
| Heading | What the nomenclature calls it | Codes here | What the notes say about it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3303 | Perfumes and toilet waters | 330300 | Subject of note 3 |
| 3304 | Beauty or make-up preparations and preparations for the care of the skin (other than medicaments), including sunscreen or suntan preparations; manicure or pedicure preparations | 330410 , 330491 , 330499 | Subject of note 3 |
| 3305 | Preparations for use on the hair | 330510 , 330590 | Subject of note 3 |
| 3307 | Pre-shave, shaving or aftershave preparations, personal deodorants, bath preparations, depilatories and other perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations, not elsewhere specified or included; prepared room deodorisers, whether or not perfumed or having disinfectant properties | 330741 , 330749 | Subject of note 3, 4 |
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 3 to chapter 33, which takes headings 3303, 3304, 3305, 3307 as its subject
Opening, as published
Headings 3303 to 3307 apply, inter alia, to products, whether or not mixed (other than aqueous distillates and aqueous s...
Note 3 in full on 330300 , 330410 , 330510 , 330741 , and on every other code this site holds under those headings.
Note 4 to chapter 33, which takes heading 3307 as its subject
Opening, as published
The expression 'perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations' in heading 3307 applies, inter alia, to the following produc...
Note 4 in full on 330741 , 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/33, 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 33 costs to import
The dearest line this site holds in chapter 33 is 330300, perfumes and toilet waters, at 6.5% into Canada. 25 of the 48 rates charged on value in this chapter are zero. The widest gap between destinations is on 330300, perfumes and toilet waters, which runs from 0% to 6.5% 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 33 each one covers, out of 8 codes.
| Destination | Codes priced | Duty range in this chapter |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | 8 of 8 | 0% to 5% |
| Canada | 8 of 8 | 6.5% |
| Germany | 8 of 8 | 0% to 6.5% |
| Portugal | 8 of 8 | 0% to 6.5% |
| United Kingdom | 8 of 8 | 0% to 6% |
| United States | 8 of 8 | 0% to 6% |
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.