Directory / Chapter 34
Chapter 34: Soap, lubricants, waxes
Soap and organic surface-active preparations, together with lubricating preparations, artificial waxes, polishes and candles.
The 2 codes this site holds in chapter 34
| Code | What it covers | Markets priced | Duty range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 340130 | Skin-washing preparations, liquid or cream, retail | 5 of 6 | 4% to 6.5% |
| 340600 | Candles, tapers and the like | 6 of 6 | 0% to 5.5% |
Where this chapter ends
Soap proper and synthetic detergents are distinguished from one another within the chapter, and both are separated from the cosmetic preparations of chapter 33. A cleansing bar that is not soap in the chemical sense is still classified here rather than as a cosmetic, so the label is a poor guide.
The guides in chapter 34 name 4 codes outside it that goods reach when they turn out not to belong here.
- 330499 (chapter 33): Beauty and skin care preparations that are not washing preparations
- 330510 (chapter 33): Shampoos, which wash hair rather than skin
- 950510 (chapter 95): Christmas tree candles sold as festive articles
- 960340 (chapter 96): Candle wicks sold on their own as a textile article
What the notes to section VI say
Chapter 34 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 34 below and applies before it.
The nomenclature publishes 4 notes to section VI, and 3 of them reach chapter 34 while one does not, because its own words keep it to other chapters. 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 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.
The one left out limits itself to chapters this one is not among, so it does not govern anything here: note 2 to section VI (chapters 30, 32, 33, 35, 37, 38) . It is named rather than dropped, because a rule that does not apply and a rule nobody looked for read the same on a page that shows neither.
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 34 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) edible mixtures or preparations of animal, vegetable or microbial fats or oils of a kind used as mould-release preparations (heading 1517)
- (b) separate chemically defined compounds
- (c) shampoos, dentifrices, shaving creams and foams, or bath preparations, containing soap or other organic surface-active agents (heading 3305, 3306 or 3307)
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/34, 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 34 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. One of them is the subject of a numbered note. The notes say nothing about the other one, which is the published position rather than a gap here.
| Heading | What the nomenclature calls it | Codes here | What the notes say about it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3401 | Soap; organic surface-active products and preparations for use as soap, in the form of bars, cakes, moulded pieces or shapes, whether or not containing soap; organic surface-active products and preparations for washing the skin, in the form of liquid or cream and put up for retail sale, whether or not containing soap; paper, wadding, felt and nonwovens, impregnated, coated or covered with soap or detergent | 340130 | Subject of note 2 |
| 3406 | Candles, tapers and the like | 340600 | Not named in the chapter notes |
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 34, which takes heading 3401 as its subject
Opening, as published
For the purposes of heading 3401, the expression 'soap' applies only to soap soluble in water. Soap and the other produc...
Note 2 in full on 340130 , 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/34, 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 34 costs to import
The dearest line this site holds in chapter 34 is 340130, skin-washing preparations, liquid or cream, retail, at 6.5% into Canada. 4 of the 11 rates charged on value in this chapter are zero. The widest gap between destinations is on 340600, candles, tapers and the like, which runs from 0% to 5.5% 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 34 each one covers, out of 2 codes.
| Destination | Codes priced | Duty range in this chapter |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | 2 of 2 | 5% |
| Canada | 2 of 2 | 5.5% to 6.5% |
| Germany | 2 of 2 | 0% to 4% |
| Portugal | 2 of 2 | 0% to 4% |
| United Kingdom | 2 of 2 | 0% to 4% |
| United States | 1 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.