HS Code for Ceramic Tableware: Classification Guide for Importers

A supplier catalogue calls a plate porcelain, a buyer calls it ceramic, and customs calls it neither until the body is tested. The heading turns on the fired body, not the marketing name. This guide works from the body outward: porcelain test, other-ceramic tests, tableware test, then national extension. Every heading here is indicative: confirm the full national code before filing. For the general method, read HS codes: how to classify your product.

Quick answer: indicative HS heading (with verify note)

Ceramic tableware points indicatively to heading 6911 if it is of porcelain or china, and to heading 6912 if it is of any other ceramic. Heading 6911 covers tableware, kitchenware, other household articles and toilet articles, of porcelain or china,¹ and heading 6912 covers the same range other than of porcelain or china, with tableware lines at 6911.10 and 6912.00.^{2 1}

Treat this table as a starting point, not a finished entry. The body test decides the heading, the use test decides tableware status, and the destination tariff supplies the later digits.

How HS codes are structured (2-4-6 digits)

The Harmonized System is a multipurpose international product nomenclature developed by the World Customs Organization (WCO), comprising more than 5,000 commodity groups, each identified by a six-digit code, and used by more than 200 countries and economies as a basis for their customs tariffs.³ The European Commission describes the same hierarchy: chapters at two digits, headings at four digits and subheadings at six digits.⁴

For ceramic tableware the build-up is: Chapter 69 for ceramic products; heading 6911 or 6912 for tableware, kitchenware, other household articles and toilet articles, split by porcelain or china against all other ceramics; then a six-digit subheading such as 6911.10. Everything after the sixth digit is national detail and does not travel to another territory. The current edition is HS 2022, although some countries stay with a previous version for a time.⁴

Factors that decide the code for ceramic tableware

The fired-body test comes first. Chapter 69 applies only to ceramic products fired after shaping; articles heated below 800 °C merely to cure resins or remove water are not considered fired and are excluded.² Unfired ware does not start at 6911 or 6912 at all. Ask the supplier to state the firing process and body composition in writing.

Porcelain or china: white, dense and translucent. For headings 6909 through 6914, porcelain, china and chinaware embrace ceramic ware other than stoneware, whether glazed or decorated, having a fired white body, unless artificially coloured, absorbing not more than 0.5% of its weight of water and translucent in thicknesses of several millimetres.² All three limbs matter: a white-looking plate absorbing more than 0.5% fails the test even if the catalogue calls it porcelain. Absorption is measured by ASTM C373.²

Bone china is porcelain, not a third heading. Bone chinaware embraces chinaware or porcelain whose body contains 25% or more of calcined bone or tricalcium phosphate.² A fine bone china plate therefore stays at 6911, as the published United Kingdom ruling at 6911 10 00 confirms.⁵ Do not file bone china at 6912.

Stoneware and earthenware: the 3% line. Stoneware contains clay as an essential ingredient, is not commonly white, absorbs not more than 3% of its weight of water, and is naturally opaque, except in very thin pieces.² Earthenware also contains clay but absorbs more than 3%.² A glazed earthenware plate is still earthenware. In the European and United Kingdom lines, stoneware tableware sits at 6912 00 23 and earthenware or fine pottery at 6912 00 25, with tableware lines at 6912 0023 10 and 6912 0025 10.⁶

Tableware or ornamental: use decides. Heading 6913 covers statuettes and other ornamental ceramic articles. In the fine bone china plate ruling, 6913 was excluded because the plate was designed essentially to serve useful purposes, its decoration was secondary, and it worked no less efficiently than a plain plate.⁵ A decorative plate sold with a hanger and no food-contact use belongs on the 6913 side.

Set or single piece: the United States specified-set test. The term available in specified sets embraces plates, cups, saucers and other articles principally used for preparing, serving or storing food or beverages, sold in the same pattern, and their classification is governed by the aggregate value of a listed set of pattern articles.² A dinner set in one pattern is therefore not automatically one code. An article may also consist of more than one piece, so a dish and its cover imported together constitute one article.²

Household or hotel ware, and the separate small lines. Inside 6911.10, the United States schedule breaks out hotel or restaurant ware and other ware not household ware on its own line.² A hotel plate and a household plate of the same body can therefore take different national lines. In the European and United Kingdom lines, condiment or spice mills, coffee mills, knife sharpeners and cordierite ceramic pizza stones are broken out separately.^{1 7} Chapter 69 also excludes imitation jewellery, furniture, toys and works of art, so a ceramic lamp base or toy tea set leaves 6911 and 6912.²

National codes: US HTS, EU CN/TARIC, UK commodity code

United States: HTS, ten digits. The schedule runs to ten digits. Under 6911.10, hotel or restaurant ware is separated from household ware, and household lines split by piece type and specified-set status.² Under 6912.00, the lines separate a coarse-grained earthenware and stoneware line, hotel or restaurant ware, and the specified-set lines.² Read the full ten-digit line for each piece and pattern.

European Union: CN at eight digits, TARIC for measures. The Combined Nomenclature uses eight-digit codes, built on the six-digit subheading with further EU subdivisions.⁴ The split runs by body: 6912 00 21 for common pottery, 6912 00 23 for stoneware, 6912 00 25 for earthenware or fine pottery, and 6912 00 29 for other ceramics.⁷ For porcelain or china, the tableware line is 6911 10 00, with a separate line for the mills, sharpeners and pizza stones noted above.^{1 7} Read the confirmed line in TARIC for the entry date and origin Bangladesh.

United Kingdom: commodity code, ten digits. The code builds on the same first six digits, with its own extension after them.⁴ Porcelain or china tableware and kitchenware sit at 6911 10, with the mills and sharpeners line at 6911 1000 10, other tableware at 6911 1000 90, and other articles at 6911 9000 00.¹ For other ceramics, stoneware tableware is 6912 0023 10 and earthenware tableware 6912 0025 10.⁶ Do not carry a European eight-digit code onto a United Kingdom entry.

How to confirm the code officially

1. Write a precise description for each piece: body type, water absorption result and test method, translucency, piece type, intended use, household or hotel use, and pattern name.

2. Start from the official tariff for the destination, and read the heading text and chapter notes.

3. Check published rulings for similar ware. For the United States, use the Customs Rulings Online Search Service (CROSS).⁸

4. For a borderline piece, apply for a binding decision before you ship. In the European Union, a Binding Tariff Information application needs a separate application for each type of product and a detailed description.⁹ In the United Kingdom, a legally binding decision is generally valid for 3 years, through an Advance Tariff Ruling.¹⁰ In the United States, if the merchandise is not described in any ruling on CROSS, you may request a binding ruling from Customs and Border Protection.⁸

5. Give your broker the description, body test evidence and confirmed code for each piece and pattern, and use the same codes throughout the entry.

Common classification mistakes

Filing on the catalogue name instead of the body test. Porcelain on a listing is a claim, not a test. A white opaque body absorbing more than 0.5% fails the porcelain definition and sits at 6912.²

Filing bone china at 6912. Bone chinaware, with 25% or more calcined bone in the body, stays at 6911.^{2 5}

Filing a glazed earthenware plate as stoneware. The glaze does not change the body. Earthenware absorbs more than 3%, stoneware 3% or less, and the test result decides between 6912 00 23 and 6912 00 25.^{2 6}

Filing an ornamental plate as tableware, or the reverse. Decoration alone does not make a plate ornamental: if it works no less efficiently than a plain plate, it stays tableware, while a piece whose usefulness is clearly subordinate to ornament leaves 6911 and 6912.⁵

Filing a dinner set as one code without the set test. In the United States, ware available in specified sets is governed by the aggregate value of a listed set of pattern articles.²

Filing hotel ware as household ware. Hotel or restaurant ware takes its own line inside 6911.10 and 6912.00.²

Copying a full national code across destinations. Only the first six digits are shared; the European Union extends to eight digits, and the United States and United Kingdom to ten.^{4 2 1}

Treating a safety test as a classification. Water absorption decides the body test, but a migration test decides market entry, not the heading.

Related duties and documents

This guide states no duty rates: the code decides which duty line customs applies, and a rate on a porcelain household line does not carry to a stoneware hotel line. Read the rate beside your confirmed code for your origin and entry date. Keep the body description, test result, confirmed codes, any binding decision and origin evidence together in the shipment file, with each piece type and pattern as a separate invoice line.

FAQs

What is the HS code for ceramic tableware?

Ceramic tableware points indicatively to heading 6911 if it is of porcelain or china, and to heading 6912 if it is of any other ceramic, with tableware at 6911.10 and 6912.00.^{2 1} Confirm the full national code before filing.^{4 2 1}

Is the HS code the same in every country?

Only the first six digits are shared. The European Union Combined Nomenclature uses eight-digit codes, and the United States and the United Kingdom extend to ten digits.^{4 2 1}

How do I confirm the correct code?

Describe each piece precisely, including body test evidence, read the heading text and chapter notes in the destination tariff, and check published rulings such as CROSS for the United States.⁸ For a borderline piece, apply for a binding decision before shipping: Binding Tariff Information in the European Union,⁹ an Advance Tariff Ruling in the United Kingdom,¹⁰ or a Customs and Border Protection ruling in the United States.⁸

What happens if I use the wrong code?

A wrong code brings the wrong duty line, the wrong import controls and a delayed clearance while customs reclassifies the goods. A binding decision in advance gives a legally binding classification, generally valid for 3 years in the United Kingdom.¹⁰ If you find an error after filing, tell your broker promptly.

Next steps on Exportain

Browse Bangladeshi suppliers on Exportain, where supplier profiles carry document and photo review badges, and compare ceramic tableware ranges with confirmed codes stated per piece and pattern. The harmonized system explainer covers the 2-4-6 structure, and the classification method guide walks through reading heading texts and notes. Exportain is not a party to the goods contract and does not inspect goods, book freight or clear customs.