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1.2 Finding your product's subheading

The national subheading is the ten-digit code that identifies your product to customs. Learn to describe it, find it in the Customs Tariff and confirm the code before you quote.

Module 1: Is your product exportable? · Reviewed on 20/10/2026 · Español

Goal: Break down the ten-digit national subheading and apply the five steps to classify your product before quoting.

Every good has a numeric code. With it, customs authorities charge tariffs, control permits and produce statistics. The system that organizes these codes is the Harmonized System (HS), created by the World Customs Organization (WCO) and used by more than 200 countries and economies. Each product is identified by six digits that are the same worldwide. As an exporter, you need this code to know what your product requires, what tariff it pays in the destination and how to declare it.

In Peru the code has ten digits and is called the national subheading. The first six are those of the HS. The next two are added by the Andean Community (the NANDINA, with eight digits) and the last two by Peru. The digits go from general to specific: chapter (2 digits), heading (4 digits) and subheading (6, 8 and 10 digits). The Customs Tariff is the book that gathers all the subheadings with their import duty. The one in force is the Customs Tariff 2022 (Supreme Decree 404-2021-EF), with the amendments published since then.

To find your subheading, follow five steps. First, describe your product: what it is made of, how it was made, what it is used for and how it is presented (fresh, dry, packaged). Second, find the chapter and read the section and chapter notes, which say what each one includes and excludes. Third, apply General Rule of Interpretation 1: classification is decided by the text of the headings and the notes, not by the trade name. Fourth, go down to the subheading of six, eight and ten digits. Fifth, confirm.

A small change can move the code. The same aguaymanto, fresh, dried or as jam, falls into different chapters. A mixture, a retail package or a different degree of processing also changes the answer. So do not copy a competitor's code or the code from an old invoice: it may be wrong or from an earlier edition of the Tariff. Difficult cases, such as mixtures and sets of products, are covered in depth in the course on Tariff Classification and Customs Valuation.

Confirm your code before you quote. Read the full text in the Customs Tariff published by SUNAT, ask your customs agent and, if doubt remains, consult SUNAT. Compare the first six digits with those your buyer uses. From the seventh digit on, each country adds its own, so your buyer must confirm their import code. Record the result in a product sheet, with the description that supports it.

Key ideas

The Peruvian national subheading has ten digits: six from the Harmonized System, two from the NANDINA and two from Peru.
Goods are classified by the product's characteristics and by the texts of the headings and notes, not by trade name.
A change of state (fresh, dried, jam) or of composition can change the chapter and the subheading.
Always use the Customs Tariff in force on the SUNAT portal: the code from an earlier version may have changed.
Before you quote, confirm the code with your customs agent and compare the first six digits with your buyer's.

Level	Digits	Who defines it	Example with aguaymanto jam
Chapter	2	Harmonized System (WCO)	20: preparations of vegetables, fruit or other parts of plants
Heading	4	Harmonized System (WCO)	20.07: jams, jellies and marmalades
HS subheading	6	Harmonized System (WCO)	2007.99: others (not citrus)
NANDINA subheading	8	Andean Community	Two more digits: read them in the Tariff in force
National subheading	10	Peru	Two final digits: read them in the Tariff in force

Worked example

Aguaymanto Andino classifies its jam and its dried fruit

Aguaymanto Andino S.A.C. has already quoted its jam to an importer in Madrid and now plans to sell dried aguaymanto as well. It needs the subheading of each product before sending the formal quotation.
Describe the jam: aguaymanto cooked with sugar and pectin, in a 250 g glass jar, ready for the consumer. Note the material, process and presentation; these are the data that will decide the code.
Find the chapter: it is a prepared food, so it is in the section on products of the food industries. Because the fruit was cooked with sugar, it does not go in chapter 8 (fresh or dried fruit) but in chapter 20 (preparations of fruit).
Apply rule 1 to the heading: 20.07 reads “jams, fruit jellies, marmalades, fruit or nut purée and fruit or nut pastes, obtained by cooking, whether or not containing added sugar”. The product fits that text. Rule out the other headings in chapter 20 because it is neither preserved fruit nor juice.
Go down to the subheading: it is neither citrus nor a homogenized preparation, so the “others” subheading applies, 2007.99. The next two pairs of digits are read in the Customs Tariff in force, without inventing them; the full national subheading has ten digits.
For dried aguaymanto, the answer depends on the process. If it is only dried, the fruit goes to chapter 8, under heading 08.13 (dried fruit). If it is infused with sugar before drying, the code may move to chapter 20. The company does not guess: it describes its process in writing and consults its customs agent.
Confirm: compare the first six digits of the jam with those the Madrid importer uses, look up those six digits in Trade Map to see Spain's trade, and keep the code, the description and the date of the consultation in the product sheet.

Result: The jam falls under heading 20.07, subheading 2007.99, and the company completes the ten digits with the Tariff in force. The dried fruit waits for confirmation of the process, because adding sugar can change its chapter.

Real cases

New Customs Tariff 2022 in Peru

31/12/2021

On 31/12/2021, Supreme Decree 404-2021-EF was published in El Peruano, putting the Customs Tariff 2022 into effect. SUNAT answered operators' questions about the new tariff and announced training on the changes. When the tariff is updated, some subheadings change code, and anyone using an earlier version declares their goods incorrectly.

Before you quote or declare, check that your code is the one in the Tariff in force and not one from an earlier version.

Source: SUNAT – Comunicado sobre consultas del Arancel de Aduanas 2022 (D.S. 404-2021-EF)

Ten digits to identify a good in Peru

2026

On its customs guidance portal, SUNAT explains that the Customs Tariff is based on the NANDINA, which derives from the Harmonized System in its Spanish version with the Seventh Recommendation of Amendment. The national subheading has ten digits, and no product can be identified without stating all ten. For Peruvian customs, an incomplete code does not identify the product.

Use all ten digits in your Peruvian documents and the six common ones when talking with buyers in other countries.

Source: SUNAT – Orientación aduanera: estructura del Arancel de Aduanas

The Harmonized System: a common code in more than 200 countries

2026

The World Customs Organization describes the Harmonized System as the basis of the tariffs and trade statistics of more than 200 countries and economies. More than 98% of the goods in international trade are classified with it. It has more than 5,000 groups of goods, each with a six-digit code, and it is updated every five or six years.

The first six digits are useful in any market, but each country adds its own: confirm the import code with your buyer.

Source: Organización Mundial de Aduanas (OMA) – ¿Qué es el Sistema Armonizado?

Common mistakes

Classifying by trade name instead of by the product's characteristics. Avoid it: describe the material, process and presentation first, and only then search the Tariff.
Copying a competitor's code or the code from an old invoice. Avoid it: verify it in the Customs Tariff in force, because it may be wrong or may have changed with a new edition.
Assuming the buyer uses the same ten digits as you. Avoid it: only the first six are common; ask for their import code.
Changing the recipe, the process or the packaging without reviewing the code. Avoid it: each time the product changes, check its subheading again.

Practise with the calculators, the COMEX Simulator and the review questions on the main page.

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