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U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule

CHAPTER 38

miscellaneous chemical products

38-1

Notes

1. This chapter does not cover:
- (a) Separate chemically defined elements or compounds with the exception of the following:
  - (1) Artificial graphite (heading 3801);
  - (2) Insecticides, rodenticides, fungicides, herbicides, antisprouting products and plant-growth regulators, disinfectants and similar products put up as described in heading 3808;
  - (3) Products put up as charges for fire-extinguishers or put up in fire-extinguishing grenades (heading 3813);
  - (4) Certified reference materials specified in note 2 below;
  - (5) Products specified in note 3(a) or 3(c) below.
- (b) Mixtures of chemicals with foodstuffs or other substances with nutritive value, of a kind used in the preparation of human foodstuffs (generally, heading 2106);
- (c) Products of heading 2404;
- (d) Slag, ash and residues (including sludges, other than sewage sludge), containing metals, arsenic or their mixtures and meeting the requirements of note 3(a) or 3(b) to chapter 26 (heading 2620);
- (e) Medicaments (heading 3003 or 3004); or
- (f) Spent catalysts of a kind used for the extraction of base metals or for the manufacture of chemical compounds of base metals (heading 2620), spent catalysts of a kind used principally for the recovery of precious metal (heading 7112) or catalysts consisting of metals or metal alloys in the form of, for example, finely divided powder or woven gauze (section XIV or XV).
2.
- (a) For the purposes of heading 3822, the expression "certified reference materials" means reference materials which are accompanied by a certificate which indicates the values of the certified properties, the methods used to determine these values and the degree of certainty associated with each value and which are suitable for analytical, calibrating or referencing purposes.
- (b) With the exception of the products of chapter 28 or 29, for the classification of certified reference materials, heading 3822 shall take precedence over any other heading in the tariff schedule.
3. Heading 3824 includes the following goods which are not to be classified in any other heading of the tariff schedule:
- (a) Cultured crystals (other than optical elements) weighing not less than 2.5 g each, of magnesium oxide or of the halides of the alkali or alkaline-earth metals;
- (b) Fusel oil; Dippel's oil;
- (c) Ink removers put up in packings for retail sale;
- (d) Stencil correctors, other correcting fluids and correction tapes (other than those of heading 9612), put up inpackings for retail sale; and
- (e) Ceramic firing testers, fusible (for example, Seger cones).
4. Throughout the tariff schedule, "municipal waste" means waste of a kind collected from households, hotels, restaurants, hospitals, shops, offices, etc., road and pavement sweepings, as well as construction and demolition waste. Municipal waste generally contains a large variety of materials such as plastics, rubber, wood, paper, textiles, glass, metals, food materials, broken furniture and other damaged or discarded articles. The term "municipal waste," does not cover:
- (a) Individual materials or articles segregated from the waste, for example wastes of plastics, rubber, wood, paper, textiles, glass or metals, electrical and electronic waste and scrap (including spent batteries) which fall in their appropriate headings of the tariff schedule;
- (b) Industrial waste:
- (c) Waste pharmaceuticals, as defined in note 4(k) to chapter 30; or
- (d) Clinical waste, as defined in note 6(a), below.
5. For the purposes of heading 3825, "sewage sludge" means sludge arising from urban effluent treatment plants and includes pre-treatment waste, scourings and unstabilized sludge. Stabilized sludge, when suitable for use as fertilizer, is excluded (chapter 31).
6. For the purposes of heading 3825, the expression "other wastes" applies to:
- (a) Clinical waste, that is, contaminated waste arising from medical research, diagnosis, treatment or other medical, surgical, dental or veterinary procedures, which often contain pathogens and pharmaceutical substances and require special disposal procedures (for example, soiled dressings, used gloves and used syringes);
- (b) Waste organic solvents;
- (c) Wastes of metal pickling liquors, hydraulic fluids, brake fluids and anti-freezing fluids; and
- (d) Other wastes from chemical or allied industries.
The expression "other wastes" does not, however, cover wastes which contain mainly petroleum oils or oils obtained from bituminous materials (heading 2710).
7. For the purposes of heading 3826, the term “biodiesel” means mono-alkyl esters of fatty acids of a kind used as a fuel, derived from animal, vegetable or microbial fats and oils, whether or not used.

Subheading Notes

1. Subheadings 3808.52 and 3808.59 cover only goods of heading 3808, containing one or more of the following substances: alachlor (ISO); aldicarb (ISO); aldrin (ISO); azinphos-methyl (ISO); binapacryl (ISO); camphechlor (ISO) (toxaphene); captafol (ISO); carbofuran (ISO); chlordane (ISO); chlordimeform (ISO); chlorobenzilate (ISO); DDT (ISO) (clofenotane (INN), 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethane); dieldrin (ISO, INN); 4,6-dinitro-o-cresol (DNOC (ISO)) or its salts; dinoseb (ISO), its salts or its esters; endosulfan (ISO); ethylene dibromide (ISO) (1,2- dibromoethane; ethylene dichloride (ISO) (1,2-dichloroethane); fluoroacetamide (ISO); heptachlor (ISO); hexachlorobenzene (ISO); 1,2,3,4,5,6-hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH (ISO)), including lindane (ISO, INN); mercury compounds; methamidophos (ISO); monocrotophos (ISO); oxirane (ethylene oxide); parathion (ISO); parathion-methyl (ISO) (methylparathion); pentachlorophenol (ISO), its salts or its esters; perfluorooctane sulphonic acid and its salts; perfluorooctane sulphonamides; perfluorooctane sulphonyl fluoride; phosphamidon (ISO); 2,4,5-T (ISO) (2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid), its salts or its esters; tributyltin compounds; trichlorfon (ISO).

Subheading 3808.59 also covers dustable powder formulations containing a mixture of benomyl (ISO), carbofuran (ISO) and thiram (ISO).

2. Subheadings 3808.61 to 3808.69 cover only goods of heading 3808, containing alpha-cypermethrin (ISO), bendiocarb (ISO), bifenthrin (ISO), chlorfenapyr (ISO), cyfluthrin (ISO), deltamethrin (INN, ISO), etofenprox (INN), fenitrothion (ISO), lambda-cyhalothrin (ISO), malathion (ISO), pirimiphos-methyl (ISO) or propoxur (ISO).
3. Subheadings 3824.81 to 3824.89 cover only mixtures and preparations containing one or more of the following substances: oxirane (ethylene oxide); polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs); polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs); polychlorinated terphenyls (PCTs); tris(2,3-dibromopropyl) phosphate; aldrin (ISO); camphechlor (ISO) (toxaphene); chlordane (ISO); chlordecone (ISO); DDT (ISO) (clofenotane (INN); 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethane); dieldrin (ISO, INN); endosulfan (ISO); endrin (ISO); heptachlor (ISO); mirex (ISO); 1,2,3,4,5,6-hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH (ISO)), including lindane (ISO, INN); pentachlorobenzene (ISO); hexachlorobenzene (ISO); perfluorooctane sulphonic acid, its salts; perfluorooctane sulphonamides; perfluorooctane sulphonyl fluoride; tetra-, penta-, hexa-, hepta- or octabromodiphenyl ethers; short-chain chlorinated paraffins.

Short-chain chlorinated paraffins are mixtures of compounds, with a chlorination degree of more than 48 percent by weight, with the following molecular formula: CxH(2x-y+2)Cly, where x=10 - 13 and y= 1 – 13.

4. For the purposes of subheadings 3825.41 and 3825.49, "waste organic solvents" are wastes containing mainly organic solvents, not fit for further use as presented as primary products, whether or not intended for recovery of the solvents.

Statistical Notes

1. For the purposes of statistical reporting number 3808.94.5080, hand sanitizer must meet the requirements of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the preparation of the disinfecting hand sanitizers.
2. For the purposes of heading 3824, the term "biodiesel" means fatty acid esters of a kind used as fuel, derived from animal or vegetable fats and oils, whether or not used.

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