HS Code for Dried Fish: Classification Guide for Importers

If you import dried fish, the hs code for dried fish is the line your customs entry, duty calculation and origin claim depend on. 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.¹ For dried fish, the deciding facts are process, form and species group. This guide covers classification only; the ordering steps are in how to import dried fish from Bangladesh and the inspection points in the dried fish quality control checklist.

Quick answer: indicative HS heading (with verify note)

The HS organizes its approximately 5,000 six-digit product categories by sections, chapters (2 digits), headings (4 digits) and sub-headings (6 digits).² Dried fish sits in Chapter 3 under heading 0305, which covers fish, dried, salted or in brine, and smoked fish, whether or not cooked before or during the smoking process. Inside that heading, whole fish that is dried, whether or not salted but not smoked, takes its own block at subheadings 0305.51 to 0305.59, split by species group.³

Verify the process and the species group, not the trade name. The national lines inside the six-digit lines differ: the European Union splits dried cod by whether it was salted,⁴ while the United States keeps most whole dried fish on single ten-digit lines.⁵

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

Each pair of digits narrows the category: chapter 3 for fish and crustaceans, heading 0305 for dried, salted, brined and smoked fish, then a six-digit subheading by process and species group, for example 0305.59 for other dried fish, and a national extension of 8 to 10 digits.²

Countries subdivide the six-digit categories into national subheadings for their tariffs and statistics, and the current version is HS 2022.²

Factors that decide the code for dried fish

Process comes first: dried, salted, in brine or smoked are separate blocks. Heading 0305 is arranged by process before species: fillets, dried, salted or in brine but not smoked, at 0305.31 to 0305.39; smoked fish, including fillets, at 0305.41 to 0305.49; dried fish, whether or not salted but not smoked, at 0305.51 to 0305.59; and fish salted but not dried or smoked, or in brine, at 0305.61 to 0305.69.³ The same fish takes a different subheading for each process.

Salting decides the EU cod lines. The dried block covers fish whether or not salted, so salting alone does not move a dried fish off its 0305.51 to 0305.59 line.³ At EU level, however, dried cod divides into 0305 51 10 for cod dried unsalted (stockfish) and 0305 51 90 for cod dried and salted (clipfish).⁴ Record whether the consignment was salted before drying.

Whole fish and fillets split before species does. Fillets dried, salted or in brine, but not smoked, sit at 0305.31 for the tilapia group, 0305.32 for Gadidae family fish, and 0305.39 for other fillets.³ Smoked fillets stay with the smoked block at 0305.41 to 0305.49.³

Species group decides the line inside each block. Inside the dried block, cod takes 0305.51; the tilapia, catfish, carp, eel, Nile perch and snakehead group takes 0305.52; other Gadidae family fish take 0305.53; the herring, anchovy and sardine group takes 0305.54; and every other dried fish takes 0305.59.³ Most dried fish from Bangladesh outside a named group, including mixed small fish, reads 0305.59, while a dried catfish or snakehead consignment reads 0305.52. Give the scientific name on the invoice: the heading text works from Latin names, not trade names.

Offal and roes have their own lines. Livers, roes and milt, dried, smoked, salted or in brine, take 0305.20, and edible offal takes 0305.71 for shark fins, 0305.72 for heads, tails and maws, and 0305.79 for other offal.³ Dried fish heads are not filed as whole dried fish.

Edible dried fish stays in 0305; fish meal does not. Chapter 3 note 3 provides that headings 0305 to 0308 do not cover flours, meals and pellets fit for human consumption (heading 0309), and note 1(c) sends meal unfit for human consumption to heading 2301.³

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

United States: HTS, ten digits. The US schedule keeps the dried block on single ten-digit lines for most whole fish: 0305.51.00 for dried cod, 0305.52.00 for the tilapia, catfish and carp group, 0305.53.00 for other Gadidae family fish, 0305.54.00 for the herring and sardine group, and 0305.59.00 for other dried fish.⁵ Detail sits elsewhere: dried fillets of other fish split at 0305.39.20 for herrings and 0305.39.40 for mackerel in small containers, with other fillets at 0305.39.61.⁵ The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration monitoring list corroborates the dried lines it tracks, carrying dried cod at 0305.51.0000 and dried, salted or brined cod fillets at 0305.32.0010.⁶

European Union: CN at eight digits, TARIC for measures. The Combined Nomenclature integrates the HS and adds EU subdivisions, producing eight-digit codes.² In the dried block the EU splits further than the six-digit level: dried cod divides into stockfish at 0305 51 10 and clipfish at 0305 51 90; the Gadidae line divides into polar cod at 0305 53 10 and other fish of those families at 0305 53 90; dried herrings take 0305 54 30 and dried anchovies 0305 54 50; and the other line divides into Atlantic halibut at 0305 59 70 and remaining dried fish at 0305 59 85.⁴ Dried fillets split the same way, at 0305 31 00 for the tilapia group.⁴ Read the confirmed line in TARIC for the entry date and for origin Bangladesh, and check the origin rules behind any preference claim.

United Kingdom: commodity code. The UK builds its commodity code on the same first six digits, with its own extension after them.² The full ten-digit code must therefore be read in the UK Trade Tariff for your process, form, species group and entry date rather than copied from a US or EU entry.

How to confirm the code officially

1. Write a precise description: species with its scientific name, the process, whether a dried product was salted, and the whole, fillet or offal form.

2. Start from the official tariff for the destination: the USITC HTS, TARIC or the UK Trade Tariff, and read the heading text and the Chapter 3 notes.

3. Check published rulings for similar products. For the United States, the USITC advises traders to use the Customs Rulings Online Search Service (CROSS), because the correct classification of many items can be found there.⁷

4. For a borderline product, apply for a binding decision before you ship. In the EU, a Binding Tariff Information (BTI) application needs a separate application for each type of product and a detailed description.⁸ In the United Kingdom, a legally binding decision is generally valid for 3 years, through an Advance Tariff Ruling.⁹ In the United States, if the merchandise is not described in any ruling on CROSS, you may request a binding ruling from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.⁷

5. Give your broker the description and the confirmed code for each process and form in the shipment.

Common classification mistakes

Filing dried fish on a fresh, chilled or frozen line. Heading 0305 is the dried, salted, brined and smoked heading.³ Fresh or chilled fish takes heading 0302 and frozen fish heading 0303.

Filing a dried fillet as whole dried fish. Dried, salted or brined fillets that are not smoked take 0305.31 to 0305.39, not the whole-fish dried block at 0305.51 to 0305.59.³

Filing smoked fish on a dried line. Smoked fish, including fillets, takes 0305.41 to 0305.49, whether or not it was cooked before or during smoking.³ A fish that was both dried and smoked is read against the smoked block, not the dried block.

Filing salted-only fish as dried. Fish that is salted but not dried or smoked, and fish in brine, take 0305.61 to 0305.69.³ Salted is not the same state as dried, even when the species group is the same.

Filing every species on the other line. The dried block names cod, the tilapia group, other Gadidae family fish and the herring group at 0305.51 to 0305.54 before it reaches other at 0305.59.³ Work through the named lines first.

Filing fish meal as dried fish. Flours, meals and pellets fit for human consumption take heading 0309, and meal unfit for human consumption takes heading 2301, not heading 0305.³

Related duties and documents

This guide states no duty rates: the code decides which duty line customs applies, and a rate read beside the dried cod line does not carry to a fillet or smoked line. Read the rate beside your confirmed code for your origin and entry date.

Keep the process evidence beside the classification file: the drying and salting method, the species list with scientific names, the form of each lot, and the confirmed national code per lot. Where one shipment mixes processes, keep the lots as separate invoice lines so each carries its own code.

FAQs

What is the HS code for dried fish?

Dried fish sits in heading 0305. Whole fish that is dried, whether or not salted but not smoked, takes 0305.51 for cod, 0305.52 for the tilapia, catfish, carp, eel, Nile perch and snakehead group, 0305.53 for other Gadidae family fish, 0305.54 for the herring and sardine group, and 0305.59 for other species.³ Dried fillets take 0305.31 to 0305.39 and smoked fish 0305.41 to 0305.49.³

Is the HS code the same in every country?

Only the first six digits are harmonized. Beyond six digits, each country adds its own lines: eight digits in the EU Combined Nomenclature,² where dried cod splits into stockfish at 0305 51 10 and clipfish at 0305 51 90,⁴ and ten in the United States, where most whole dried fish stay on single lines such as 0305.59.00.⁵

How do I confirm the correct code?

Describe the product precisely, with the species, the process and the form, read the heading text and notes in the destination tariff, and check published rulings, such as CROSS for the United States.⁷ For a borderline product, apply for a binding decision before shipping: a BTI in the EU,⁸ an Advance Tariff Ruling in the United Kingdom,⁹ or a CBP binding ruling in the United States.⁷

What happens if I use the wrong code?

Duty, licensing and quota treatment are worked out from the code on the declaration, so a wrong code brings the wrong treatment. Taking a binding decision in advance helps you calculate the duties and restrictions that will apply.⁹

Next steps on Exportain

Browse Bangladeshi suppliers on Exportain, a B2B marketplace where supplier profiles carry document and photo review badges, and post a free RFQ at Exportain RFQs with the confirmed code stated per lot. The harmonized system explainer is the background read. Exportain is not a party to the goods contract and does not inspect goods, book freight or clear customs.