Directory / Chapter 49
Chapter 49: Printed books, newspapers
Printed books, newspapers, pictures and other products of the printing industry, including manuscripts and printed matter of every kind.
The code this site holds in chapter 49
| Code | What it covers | Markets priced | Duty range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 490199 | Printed books, other | 6 of 6 | 0% |
Where this chapter ends
The chapter covers printed matter whose purpose is what is printed on it. Once the printing is incidental to some other function the article leaves, which is why printed labels, printed packaging and printed textiles are classified by what they are rather than by what they say.
What the notes to section X say
Chapter 49 sits in section X, pulp of wood or of other fibrous cellulosic material; recovered (waste and scrap) paper or paperboard; paper and paperboard and articles thereof, which runs from chapter 47 to chapter 49. A section note governs every chapter in its section, so it stands one layer above the note to chapter 49 below and applies before it.
The nomenclature publishes no note to section X at all. That is the published position rather than a gap on this page: the section groups its chapters and leaves the rules to them, so the note to chapter 49 below is the highest one that governs this chapter.
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/10, 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 49 sets out what this chapter does not cover, and these are its 4 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) photographic negatives or positives on transparent bases (Chapter 37)
- (b) maps, plans or globes, in relief, whether or not printed (heading 9023)
- (c) playing cards or other goods of Chapter 95 see chapter 95
- (d) original engravings. prints or lithographs (heading 9702), postage or revenue stamps, stamp-postmarks, first-day covers, postal stationery or the like of heading 9704, antiques of an age exceeding one hundred years or other articles of Chapter 97
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/49, 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 49 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4901 | Printed books, brochures, leaflets and similar printed matter, whether or not in single sheets | 490199 | Subject of note 4, 5 |
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 4 to chapter 49, which takes heading 4901 as its subject
Opening, as published
Heading 4901 also covers: a. a collection of printed reproductions of, for example, works of art or drawings, with a rel...
Note 4 in full on 490199 , and on every other code this site holds under that heading.
Note 5 to chapter 49, which takes heading 4901 as its subject
Opening, as published
Subject to Note 3 to this Chapter, heading 4901 does not cover publications which are essentially devoted to advertising...
Note 5 in full on 490199 , 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/49, 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 49 costs to import
Every one of the 6 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 49 each one covers, out of 1 code.
| Destination | Codes priced | Duty range in this chapter |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | 1 of 1 | 0% |
| Canada | 1 of 1 | 0% |
| Germany | 1 of 1 | 0% |
| Portugal | 1 of 1 | 0% |
| United Kingdom | 1 of 1 | 0% |
| United States | 1 of 1 | 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.