UK Integrated Online Tariff Switch to the Northern Ireland Online Tariff

Heading 3913 - Natural polymers (for example, alginic acid) and modified natural polymers (for example, hardened proteins, chemical derivatives of natural rubber), not elsewhere specified or included, in primary forms

Heading
3913
Classification
Natural polymers (for example, alginic acid) and modified natural polymers (for example, hardened proteins, chemical derivatives of natural rubber), not elsewhere specified or included, in primary forms
Date of trade
19 April 2024
Change

There are 10 commodities in this category. Choose the commodity code that best matches your goods to see more information. If your item is not listed by name, it may be shown under what it's used for, what it's made from or 'Other'.

There are important notes for classifying your goods shown further down this page

Open all headings Close all headings
The number following each commodity's description is its commodity code. Description
VAT Third country duty Supplementary unit Commodity code
Open all headings Close all headings
Footnotes
Code Description
TN701 According to the Council Regulation (EU) No 692/2014 (OJ L183, p. 9) it shall be prohibited to import into European Union goods originating in Crimea or Sevastopol.
The prohibition shall not apply in respect of:
(a) the execution until 26 September 2014, of trade contracts concluded before 25 June 2014, or of ancillary contracts necessary for the execution of such contracts, provided that the natural or legal persons, entity or body seeking to perform the contract have notified, at least 10 working days in advance, the activity or transaction to the competent authority of the Member State in which they are established.
(b) goods originating in Crimea or Sevastopol which have been made available to the Ukrainian authorities for examination, for which compliance with the conditions conferring entitlement to preferential origin has been verified and for which a certificate of origin has been issued in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 and Regulation (EU) No 374/2014 or in accordance with the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.

Chapter notes

  1. Throughout the classification, the expression ‘plastics’ means those materials of heading 3901 to 3914 which are or have been capable, either at the moment of polymerisation or at some subsequent stage, of being formed under external influence (usually heat and pressure, if necessary, with a solvent or plasticiser) by moulding, casting, extruding, rolling or other process into shapes which are retained on the removal of the external influence.

    Throughout the classification, any reference to ‘plastics’ also includes vulcanised fibre. The expression, however, does not apply to materials regarded as textile materials of Section XI.

  2. This chapter does not cover:

    (a) lubricating preparations of heading 2710 or 3403;

    (b) waxes of heading 2712 or 3404;

    (c) separate chemically defined organic compounds (Chapter 29);

    (d) heparin or its salts (heading 3001);

    (e) solutions (other than collodions) consisting of any of the products specified in heading 3901 to 3913 in volatile organic solvents when the weight of the solvent exceeds 50 % of the weight of the solution (heading 3208); stamping foils of heading 3212;

    (f) organic surface-active agents or preparations of heading 3402;

    (g) run gums or ester gums (heading 3806);

    (h) prepared additives for mineral oils (including gasoline) or for other liquids used for the same purposes as mineral oils (heading 3811);

    (ij) prepared hydraulic fluids based on polyglycols, silicones or other polymers of Chapter 39 (heading 3819);

    (k) diagnostic or laboratory reagents on a backing of plastics (heading 3822);

    (l) synthetic rubber, as defined for the purposes of Chapter 40, or articles thereof;

    (m) saddlery or harness (heading 4201) or trunks, suitcases, handbags or other containers of heading 4202;

    (n) plaits, wickerwork or other articles of Chapter 46;

    (o) wallcoverings of heading 4814;

    (p) goods of Section XI (textiles and textile articles);

    (q) articles of Section XII (for example, footwear, headgear, umbrellas, sun umbrellas, walking sticks, whips, riding-crops or parts thereof);

    (r) imitation jewellery of heading 7117;

    (s) articles of Section XVI (machines and mechanical or electrical appliances);

    (t) parts of aircraft or vehicles of Section XVII;

    (u) articles of Chapter 90 (for example, optical elements, spectacle frames, drawing instruments);

    (v) articles of Chapter 91 (for example, clock or watch cases);

    (w) articles of Chapter 92 (for example, musical instruments or parts thereof);

    (x) articles of Chapter 94 (for example, furniture, luminaires and lighting fittings, illuminated signs, prefabricated buildings);

    (y) articles of Chapter 95 (for example, toys, games, sports requisites); or

    (z) articles of Chapter 96 (for example, brushes, buttons, slide fasteners, combs, mouthpieces or stems for smoking pipes, cigarette- holders or the like, parts of vacuum flasks or the like, pens, propelling pencils, and monopods, bipods, tripods and similar articles).

  3. Headings 3901 to 3911 apply only to goods of a kind produced by chemical synthesis, falling in the following categories:

    (a) liquid synthetic polyolefins of which less than 60 % by volume distils at 300 °C, after conversion to 1013 mbar when a reduced- pressure distillation method is used (heading 3901 and 3902);

    (b) resins, not highly polymerised, of the coumarone-indene type (heading 3911);

    (c) other synthetic polymers with an average of at least five monomer units;

    (d) silicones (heading 3910);

    (e) resols (heading 3909) and other prepolymers.

  4. The expression ‘copolymers’ covers all polymers in which no single monomer unit contributes 95 % or more by weight to the total polymer content.

    For the purposes of this chapter, except where the context otherwise requires, copolymers (including copolycondensates, co- polyaddition products, block copolymers and graft copolymers) and polymer blends are to be classified in the heading covering polymers of that comonomer unit which predominates by weight over every other single comonomer unit. For the purposes of this note, constituent comonomer units of polymers falling in the same heading shall be taken together.

    If no single comonomer unit predominates, copolymers or polymer blends, as the case may be, are to be classified in the heading which occurs last in numerical order among those which equally merit consideration.

  5. Chemically modified polymers, that is those in which only appendages to the main polymer chain have been changed by chemical reaction, are to be classified in the heading appropriate to the unmodified polymer.

    This provision does not apply to graft copolymers.

  6. In heading 3901 to 3914, the expression ‘primary forms’ applies only to the following forms:

    (a) liquids and pastes, including dispersions (emulsions and suspensions) and solutions;

    (b) blocks of irregular shape, lumps, powders (including moulding powders), granules, flakes and similar bulk forms.

  7. Heading 3915 does not apply to waste, parings and scrap of a single thermoplastic material, transformed into primary forms (heading 3901 to 3914).

  8. For the purposes of heading 3917, the expression ‘tubes, pipes and hoses’ means hollow products, whether semi-manufactured or finished products, of a kind generally used for conveying, conducting or distributing gases or liquids (for example, ribbed garden hose, perforated tubes).

    This expression also includes sausage casings and other lay-flat tubing. However, except for the last mentioned, those having an internal cross section other than round, oval, rectangular (in which the length does not exceed one-and-a-half times the width) or in the shape of a regular polygon are not to be regarded as tubes, pipes and hoses but as profile shapes.

  9. For the purposes of heading 3918, the expression ‘wall or ceiling coverings of plastics’ applies to products in rolls, of a width not less than 45 cm, suitable for wall or ceiling decoration, consisting of plastics fixed permanently on a backing of any material other than paper, the layer of plastics (on the face side) being grained, embossed, coloured, design-printed or otherwise decorated.

  10. In heading 3920 and 3921, the expression ‘plates, sheets, film, foil and strip’ applies only to plates, sheets, film, foil and strip (other than those of Chapter 54) and to blocks of regular geometric shape, whether or not printed or otherwise surface-worked, uncut or cut into rectangles (including squares) but not further worked (even if when so cut they become articles ready for use).

  11. Heading 3925 applies only to the following articles, not being products covered by any of the earlier headings of sub-chapter II: (a) reservoirs, tanks (including septic tanks), vats and similar containers, of a capacity exceeding 300 litres;

    (b) structural elements used, for example, in floors, walls or partitions, ceilings or roofs;

    (c) gutters and fittings therefor;

    (d) doors, windows and their frames and thresholds for doors;

    (e) balconies, balustrades, fencing, gates and similar barriers;

    (f) shutters, blinds (including venetian blinds) and similar articles and parts and fittings thereof;

    (g) large-scale shelving for assembly and permanent installation, for example, in shops, workshops, warehouses;

    (h) ornamental architectural features, for example, flutings, cupolas, dovecotes; and

    (ij) fittings and mountings intended for permanent installation in or on doors, windows, staircases, walls or other parts of buildings, for example, knobs, handles, hooks, brackets, towel rails, switch-plates and other protective plates.

Subheading notes

  1. Within any one heading of this chapter, polymers (including copolymers) and chemically modified polymers are to be classified according to the following provisions:

    (a) where there is a subheading named ‘Other’ in the same series:

    (1) the designation in a subheading of a polymer by the prefix ‘poly’ (for example, polyethylene and polyamide-6,6) means that the constituent monomer unit or monomer units of the named polymer taken together must contribute 95 % or more by weight of the total polymer content;

    (2) the copolymers named in subheadings 3901 30, 3901 40, 3903 20, 3903 30 and 3904 30 are to be classified in those subheadings, provided that the comonomer units of the named copolymers contribute 95 % or more by weight of the total polymer content;

    (3) chemically modified polymers are to be classified in the subheading named ‘Other’, provided that the chemically modified polymers are not more specifically covered by another subheading;

    (4) polymers not meeting (1), (2) or (3) above, are to be classified in the subheading, among the remaining subheadings in the series, covering polymers of that monomer unit which predominates by weight over every other single comonomer unit. For this purpose, constituent monomer units of polymers falling in the same subheading shall be taken together. Only the constituent comonomer units of the polymers in the series of subheadings under consideration are to be compared;

    (b) where there is no subheading named ‘Other’ in the same series:

    (1) polymers are to be classified in the subheading covering polymers of that monomer unit which predominates by weight over every other single comonomer unit. For this purpose, constituent monomer units of polymers falling in the same subheading shall be taken together. Only the constituent comonomer units of the polymers in the series under consideration are to be compared;

    (2) chemically modified polymers are to be classified in the subheading appropriate to the unmodified polymer.

    Polymer blends are to be classified in the same subheading as polymers of the same monomer units in the same proportions.

  2. For the purposes of subheading 3920 43, the term ‘plasticisers’ includes secondary plasticisers.

Additional chapter notes

  1. Where the woven, knitted or crocheted fabrics, felt or nonwovens are present merely for reinforcing purposes, gloves, mittens or mitts impregnated, coated or covered with cellular plastics belong to Chapter 39, even if they are:

    • made up from woven, knitted or crocheted fabrics (other than those of heading 5903), felt or nonwovens impregnated, coated or covered with cellular plastics, or

    • made up from unimpregnated, uncoated or uncovered woven, knitted or crocheted fabrics, felt or nonwovens and subsequently impregnated, coated or covered with cellular plastics.

    (Note 3(c) to Chapter 56 and note 2(a)(5) to Chapter 59).

  2. Chapter 39 includes articles comprising a bulking agent mixed with resin. The resin, by giving shape and rigidity, gives an article its essential character.

    For example, code 3922 20 00 includes lavatory seats consisting of approximately 85% wood flour, which is a powder obtained from grinding sawdust, shavings or other wood waste, and approximately 15% phenolic resin. The article is made by compressing the wood flour and resin powder, which includes a hardener, in a mould which is then heated, curing the article and making it rigid. In curing, the resin is melted and reacts with the hardener. The lavatory seat is classified as an article of plastics within code 3922 20 00 as the resin gives the article its shape and rigidity while the wood flour acts as a filler.

Section notes

  1. 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.

  2. Except for the goods of heading 3918 or 3919, plastics, rubber, and articles thereof, printed with motifs, characters or pictorial representations, which are not merely subsidiary to the primary use of the goods, fall in Chapter 49.

General Rules for the Interpretation of goods

Classification of goods in the Tariff shall be governed by the following principles:

Rule 1

The titles of sections, chapters and sub-chapters are provided for ease of reference only. For legal purposes, classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes and, provided such headings or notes do not otherwise require, according to the following provisions.

Rule 2

  1. Any reference in a heading to an article shall be taken to include a reference to that article incomplete or unfinished, provided that, as presented, the incomplete or unfinished article has the essential character of the complete or finished article. It shall also be taken to include a reference to that article complete or finished (or falling to be classified as complete or finished by virtue of this rule), presented unassembled or disassembled.
  2. Any reference in a heading to a material or substance shall be taken to include a reference to mixtures or combinations of that material or substance with other materials or substances. Any reference to goods of a given material or substance shall be taken to include a reference to goods consisting wholly or partly of such material or substance. The classification of goods consisting of more than one material or substance shall be according to the principles of rule 3.

Rule 3

When, by application of rule 2(b) or for any other reason, goods are prima facie classifiable under two or more headings, classification shall be effected as follows:

  1. the heading which provides the most specific description shall be preferred to headings providing a more general description. However, when two or more headings each refer to part only of the materials or substances contained in mixed or composite goods or to part only of the items in a set put up for retail sale, those headings are to be regarded as equally specific in relation to those goods, even if one of them gives a more complete or precise description of the goods;
  2. mixtures, composite goods consisting of different materials or made up of different components, and goods put up in sets for retail sale, which cannot be classified by reference to 3(a), shall be classified as if they consisted of the material or component which gives them their essential character, insofar as this criterion is applicable;
  3. when goods cannot be classified by reference to 3(a) or (b), they shall be classified under the heading which occurs last in numerical order among those which equally merit consideration.
Rule 4

Goods which cannot be classified in accordance with the above rules shall be classified under the heading appropriate to the goods to which they are most akin.

Rule 5

In addition to the foregoing provisions, the following rules shall apply in respect of the goods referred to therein:

  1. camera cases, musical instrument cases, gun cases, drawing-instrument cases, necklace cases and similar containers, specially shaped or fitted to contain a specific article or set of articles, suitable for long-term use and presented with the articles for which they are intended, shall be classified with such articles when of a kind normally sold therewith. This rule does not, however, apply to containers which give the whole its essential character;
  2. subject to the provisions of rule 5(a), packing materials and packing containers ( 1 ) presented with the goods therein shall be classified with the goods if they are of a kind normally used for packing such goods. However, this provision is not binding when such packing materials or packing containers are clearly suitable for repetitive use.

Rule 6

For legal purposes, the classification of goods in the subheadings of a heading shall be determined according to the terms of those subheadings and any related subheading notes and, mutatis mutandis, to the above rules, on the understanding that only subheadings at the same level are comparable. For the purposes of this rule, the relative section and chapter notes also apply, unless the context requires otherwise.

Last updated: 19 April 2024 View latest amendments