The "HS", or "Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System of tariff nomenclature", is an internationally standardized system of names and numbers that is used to classify traded products. It was developed by the World Customs Organization, also known as the WCO for short, which is still responsible for maintaining the code. The organization has been integral to global trade management for many years, and was formerly called the "Customs Co-operation Council". It is an independent intergovernmental organization based in Brussels, Belgium with more than 170 countries as members.

HS Codes are the numerical codes that describe "what" is being shipped to and from countries worldwide, and they form the basis upon which all modern customs management systems operate. The first 6 digits of the HS are used universally. Each country may then add to the original 6 to suit its own tariff and statistical needs, creating 8, 10, and sometimes 12 digit national codes.

Example: In case of "Prepared Mustard", HS Code is 2103.30.20.00 i.e. 10-digit code

21	Represents the international chapter under HS.
03	Represents the heading under the HS.
30	Represents the subheading under the HS.
2103.30.20	Represents the tariff items for the purpose of setting duty rates.
00	The ninth and tenth codes are used for classification purposes and statistical studies.

 

The HS is a classification system designed for use by exporters and importers. It is organized into twenty-one sections. Each section covers a broad range of product that tends to have similar characteristics. It determines a product's rate of duty, its import and export admissibility, and whether or not it should be physically examined.

HS Codes are important because it helps in:

• Determining customs tariffs, transport tariffs and statistics
• Collection of internal taxes
• Collection of international trade statistics
• Trade negotiations such as the World Trade Organization schedules of tariff concessions
• Rules of origin,
• Monitoring of controlled goods including wastes, narcotics, chemical weapons, ozone layer depleting substances and endangered species.
• Areas of Customs controls and procedures such as risk assessment, information technology and compliance.

FOR SITE VISITORS:
You can search your product's HS Code by using the following URL:
http://www.cybex.in/HS-Codes/Default.aspx

FOR MEMBERS:
Visit "My Search Page" once you are logged in your account and click on "Select" option opposite to the HS Code column.

International trade or export import is a growing preferred form of business among the entrepreneurs today. An international business needs business plan or a model that is similar to any domestic business plan. When starting an export import business it is most important to first collect statistics and import export data which will help you to understand the market fairly well. The first step is an in depth research in all areas of business and import/export data will be of great help. Research and planning with the available data confirms a successful business venture internationally or domestically.

Export and Import Data gives you an insight into the present state of business in the country in a particular industry and also the future prospect in the country.

The following are the major benefits:

• Helps in tracking the right trading partner.
• Analyzing your competition.
• Determine your market share.
• Exploring new potential markets.
• Analyze the price/volume trends
• Save custom duties
• Provides other strategic Information

You can choose from a no. of Subscription Plans starting from $10 or INR 400 that best suits your organizational needs.

TRIAL PLAN : This is a 7-day trial plan especially designed for Individuals with very few shipment requirements wherein you will only be able to access 400 shipments in INR 400.

BASIC PLAN: This is a 3 months basic plan designed for individual traders wherein you will get access to 2000 shipments in INR 2000.

STATNDARD PLAN: This is a 1 year validity plan especially designed for SMEs. It is a cheaper plan where you can get access to 4000 shipments in just INR 3500.

PREMIUM PLAN: This is also a 1 year plan designed for SMEs. It is also a cheaper plan where you get access to 10000 shipments in just INR 7500. This plan is highly recommended as it carries a discount of INR 2500. This is a good plan for analysis purpose.

CORPORATE PLAN: This is a 1 year validity plan especially designed for Corporate and traders with more usage and is designed for the purpose of analysis. You can view 20000 shipments over a year in just INR 12000. It carries a huge discount of INR 8000 and is highly recommended for corporate.

FREEDOM PLAN: This is a flexible plan valid for 1 year wherein you have the freedom to fill the amount as per your requirement and you will get equal number of records as well. The minimum amount for this plan is INR 4000.

You can pay through either Credit Card or Debit Card. However when you pay by Credit or Debit Card, the charges are applicable in US $.

OR

You can send a Demand Draft or Cheque favoring "Cybex Exim Solutions (P) Ltd." payable at par at Noida/Delhi and mail it to following address:

To,
Online Sales
Cybex Exim Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
4th Floor, Om Complex, Sector 15,
Noida, India – 201301
Tel: 91-120-4517800

OR

You can directly deposit the amount in our bank account. For details regarding the bank account, Contact customer support at support@cybex.in or Call 0120-4517800.

Kindly intimate us after making the payment in any of the above ways to support@cybex.in.

You are required to go to "My Search Page" once you are logged into your account with the User Id and Password given to you when you subscribed for any plan. By clicking on "My Search page", you need to fill in the following necessary details to view the required information.

• DATA TYPE: Choose either Import or Export as per your need.
• PRODUCT/HS CODE: Here you can insert the product or the HS code. The search would be more refined and will give more results that are accurate if the information on both the product and the HS code is inserted. If you are unsure of HS Code of your product, you can visit HS CODE LOCATOR and search for the exact codes.
• SELECT A MONTH: Choose the month for which you want to search the data.
• INDIAN PORT: Choose from a no. of Indian Ports to make your search more accurate.
  For more accurate results, check "Tips on Search"
• FOREIGN COUNTRY: Insert the foreign country if you want to see the imports from and export to a particular country.

Example:
If you want information on the following:

STEPS INVOLVED	DESCRIPTION
STEP 1	Go to "My Search Page"
STEP 2	Click on Exports in the option "Data Type"
STEP 3	Type "PVC Resins" in the product column.
STEP 4	If you know the HS Code, enter it in the HS Code Column, else click on the "SELECT" option opposite the HS Code column which will connect you to HS CODE LOCATOR.
STEP 5	Select "July" month under the "Year 2010".
STEP 6	Finally Click on "Search Data"

When you search the data on "My Search Page", the result would be the visibility of 3 data fields i.e. Date, HS Code & Product Description. You have to download the shipments in order to view the rest of the details by clicking on the checkbox adjacent to the shipments. After selecting the shipments, click on the download option to view the details in an excel sheet.

If you want to access all the shipments of the query run by you, click on the top most checkbox that will select all the check box i.e. the shipments automatically, and then click on the download option to view the details of all the shipments. For Example: If the result of the search shows 92 shipments and you want to see the details of all, click on the top most checkbox which will select all the 92 shipments and then click on the download option to view the details of all the shipments in an excel sheet.

While accessing the online database, only 3 things are visible – Date, HS Code & Product Description. Rest all the others things are hidden (Quantity, Unit, FOB value/Access Value, Foreign Country, Foreign port & Indian Port). You will only be able to view rest of the things once these shipments are downloaded. And for each shipment downloaded, one record will be deducted.

For E.g. If you get 125 shipments of the query run by you & you downloaded all the shipments, 125 records will be deducted, even if all the shipments are of the same date.

It is especially designed for the paid users.
If you are unsure of your product's HS Code, you can search it by clicking on the "SELECT" option opposite to HS CODE option on "My Search Page". It will directly connect you to HS Code Locator.

On HS Code Locator page, there are two options which need to be filled:

• Search
• Enter HS Code/ Enter Product

If you want to know the HS Code, Select Product in the "Search" option and insert the name of the product in the below option to know the HS Code of your product.

Similarly, if you want to know the product and are already aware of the HS Code, Select HS Code in the "Search" option and enter the HS Code in the below option to know the product.

For Example: You can have a snapshot of how to search the HS Code of the product "PVC Resins".

This is the result page where it is mentioned that it comes under Chapter 39 and the exact HS Code is 39042210.

Instead of writing it down and again typing it in the HS Code column of "My Search Page", you can directly click on the "select" check box, and this HS Code will automatically appear in the HS Code column of "My Search page"

The similar is the case with "Foreign Country" and "Foreign Port".

Data is released on monthly basis by customs. But it is released by different ports on different dates in a month. Some ports start releasing data by 4th of every month and this exercise continues untill 22nd of every month. You can view the status of current uploads with the user Id and password given to you at the time of your subscription to keep yourself updated with the data being added on the website.

SEARCHING ON PRODUCT DESCRIPTION:

• Comma for multiple products: If you use comma for multiple products, the result will include all shipments where product description contains any of the word.
  Example: If you insert the product as - Paper, Plastics, Rubber, results will include all shipments where any of the word – Paper, Plastic or Rubber is mentioned in the product description of the shipments.
• All words: If you do not put a comma between two or more words, the result will include all those shipments where product description contains all the words.
  Example: If you describe the word as Brass Hardware; results will include those shipments where product description contains both words like "Brass Builder Hardware".
• "Using Wild Card" Option: If you click on the "Wild Card Option" and search the data, the result will include all those shipments which contain that word either in continuation of some other word, in the beginning, in the middle or at the end of any other word.
  Example: Ethyl* results will include "Ethylene", "Ethyl Alcohol", "Diethyl Phthalate", "Polyethylene", "Polytetra Fluoroethyl" etc.
• "Not Using Wild Card" Option: If you click on "Don't Use Wild Card Option" and search the data, the result will include only those shipments which contain that word and will not include any shipments in continuation of that word.
  Example: Ethyl results will include "Ethyl Vinyl Acetate", "Ethyl Alcohol", "Ethyl Violet Crystals", "Pyrazosulfuron Ethyl", "Triethyl Aluminium" etc. but results will not include "Ethylene", "Diethyl Phthalate", etc.
• Be very particular about the spellings of the product being entered, as wrong spelling will not give you desired results.

SEARCHING ON HS CODE:

Use 8 digits HS Code for more accurate and refined results.
EXAMPLE:

CHAPTER/HS CODE	PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
40	RUBBER
4013	INNER TUBES OF RUBBER
40131010	TYRE FLAPS FOR MOTOR CARS
40139020	TYRE FLAPS FOR MOTOR CYCLES
40139041	REAR TYRES FOR TRACTORS

• To make the results more accurate, it is advisable to search data either by entering 8 digit HS code or by entering 4 digits HS Code as well as the name of the product.
• It will give more accurate results as there are no chances of a spelling mistake as in the case with product description.
• SEARCH ON MULTIPLE CHAPTERS :You can search multiple chapters together, for example 40, 3921, 39119010 but this will make the results more complicated and will not give you refined results.
  EXAMPLE:
  

  BASIS	CHAPTERHEAD/HS CODE (Example)	RESULTS
  Searching on Chapter Head	29	Will show all the records of ch-29.
  Searching on Sub Heading	2933	Will show all the records starting from 2933.
  Searching on 8 digit HS Code	29331980	Will show particular shipments of this HS Code only.

TIPS ON SELECTING MONTHS:

• You can select maximum 3 months at a time to perform search but it is advisable to select one month at a time for quick results.
• All months selected must be in the same year.
  TIPS ON SELECTING PORTS:
• By default search will be done on all ports.
• Select the check box only if you want to search for a particular port.
• Multiple check boxes can be selected for multiple ports.
  AVOID SEARCHING ON:
• Importer/Exporter Name: It will be a futile exercise to search on Importer/Exporter name because it has been stopped since 2004 as per custom Notification No. 128/2004 (Contact us for more details at info@cybex.in or call 0120-4517800).
• Foreign Port Name/ Foreign Country Name: As it is a computerized generated program, there are chances of spelling mistakes or the use of port code or country code which will make the search inaccurate. Example: Hong Kong can be written as HKG or Singapore as SGP. Though we are trying to make it more uniform but still it is not recommended.

Searching different HS Codes together like 40, 3921, 39119010

Selecting three or more months together like July, August, December

Search a product individually. E.g. Instead of entering Hand Made Paper, Paper Bag, Paper Star, Enter it one by one