Overview

Following the formulation of the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (“HS”) in 1988, the World Customs Organization (“WCO”) decided to implement five-yearly reviews of the prevailing HS codes in order to ensure that they adequately reflect technological changes and updates, and are also able to accommodate new product streams and emerging global issues. In this regard, on 1 January 2022, the WCO officially issued the HS 2022, which introduced several major changes to the HS through a total of 351 sets of amendments that cover a wide scope of cross-border trade in goods.^[1] Highlights of the HS 2022 include an effort to tackle global environmental and social issues, the promotion of a number of high-profile product streams, the classification of multi-purpose intermediate assemblies and protections against terrorism.[2]