HS Code for Frozen Fish Fillets: Classification Guide for Importers

If you import frozen fish fillets for a seafood wholesaler, food processor or retail programme, the hs code for frozen fish fillets 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 fillets, the deciding facts are state, form and species group: whether the fish is frozen, whether the shipment is fillets or other fish meat, and which species group the fish belongs to.

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 Fish fillets sit in Chapter 3 under heading 0304, which covers fish fillets and other fish meat, whether or not minced, fresh, chilled or frozen.³ Inside that heading, the frozen fillets are arranged in three species blocks, and frozen fish meat that is not fillets has its own block.

Verify the species group and the form, not the product name. The six-digit lines are shared worldwide, but the national lines inside them differ: the United States splits frozen cod fillets inside 0304.71 by presentation, into a skinned block line and an other line,⁴ while the European Union splits the same subheading by species, into a Gadus macrocephalus line and a Gadus morhua and Gadus ogac line.⁵ A frozen pangasius fillet from Bangladesh is a catfish fillet, so it reads in the first block.

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

Each pair of digits narrows the category: chapter 3 for fish and crustaceans, heading 0304 for fish fillets and other fish meat, then a six-digit subheading by state, form and species group, for example 0304.71 for frozen cod fillets, 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 Read how to classify your product for the classification method.

Factors that decide the code for frozen fish fillets

Frozen is a separate block from fresh or chilled, inside the same heading. Heading 0304 covers fillets and other fish meat in all three states, fresh, chilled or frozen.³ The nomenclature then separates them: fresh or chilled fillets take 0304.31 to 0304.49, fresh or chilled other fish meat takes 0304.51 to 0304.59, and the frozen lines follow after them.³ A fillet that arrives frozen is never filed on a fresh or chilled line.

Fillets and other fish meat split inside the frozen state. The frozen fillets occupy three blocks, at 0304.61 to 0304.69, 0304.71 to 0304.79 and 0304.81 to 0304.89.³ Frozen fish meat that is not fillets, whether or not minced, takes the other, frozen block at 0304.91 to 0304.99.³ Minced fish and surimi read in the 0304.9x block, not on a fillet line, and the EU list states the same separation, describing its frozen meat lines as excluding fillets.⁵

Species group decides which frozen fillet block applies. The first block covers tilapias at 0304.61, catfish at 0304.62, Nile perch at 0304.63 and other at 0304.69, for the tilapia, catfish, carp, eel, Nile perch and snakehead group.³ The second block covers the Gadidae families group, split as cod at 0304.71, haddock at 0304.72, coalfish at 0304.73, hake at 0304.74, Alaska pollock at 0304.75 and other at 0304.79.³ The third block covers other fish, from the salmon group at 0304.81 and flat fish at 0304.83 to other at 0304.89.³ Most Bangladeshi frozen fillet shipments, such as pangasius and tilapia, read in the first block.

Whole frozen fish is a different heading. Heading 0303 covers fish, frozen, excluding fish fillets and other fish meat of heading 0304.³ A whole frozen fish takes a 0303 line by species, and only filleting moves the product into heading 0304. Dried, salted, in brine or smoked fillets are also outside the frozen fillet lines: heading 0305 covers them.³

Breaded and prepared fillets leave Chapter 3 for heading 1604. The EU Combined Nomenclature lists frozen raw fish fillets, coated with batter or breadcrumbs, whether or not pre-fried in oil, at 1604 19 91, inside its prepared or preserved fish lines.⁵ The United States monitoring list carries the same boundary, listing fish portions that are breaded, coated with batter or similarly prepared under 1604.19.⁶ A plain frozen fillet stays in heading 0304; the same fillet sold breaded is filed in heading 1604.

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

United States: HTS, ten digits. The US schedule builds its ten-digit lines on the same first six digits and repeats the heading text for 0304.⁴ Inside the frozen fillet blocks it adds presentation splits: frozen cod fillets divide at 0304.71.10, for skinned fillets frozen into blocks over 4.5 kg and imported to be minced, ground or cut, and at 0304.71.50 for other.⁴ The NOAA monitoring list carries the same lines at ten digits, as 0304.71.1000 skinned and 0304.71.5000 other than skinned.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 For frozen fillets the EU splits by species inside the six-digit lines: cod divides into 0304 71 10 for Gadus macrocephalus and 0304 71 90 for Gadus morhua and Gadus ogac, and hake divides into 0304 74 11, 0304 74 15, 0304 74 19 and 0304 74 90 by hake type.⁵ The salmon group stays on one line at 0304 81 00.⁵ Read the confirmed line in TARIC for the entry date and for origin Bangladesh.

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

How to confirm the code officially

1. Write a precise description: species with its scientific name, frozen state, fillet or other fish meat form, whether the meat is minced, and any breading or further preparation.

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 notes for Chapter 3 and, for prepared products, Chapter 16.

3. Check published rulings for similar products. For the United States, the USITC advises traders to use the Customs Rulings Online Search Service (CROSS).⁷

4. For a borderline product, such as a batter-coated fillet at the 0304 and 1604 boundary, 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

5. Give your broker the description and the confirmed code for each species and form.

Common classification mistakes

Filing a frozen fillet on a fresh or chilled line. Fresh or chilled fillets take 0304.31 to 0304.49 and the frozen fillets take the 0304.6x, 0304.7x and 0304.8x blocks.³ The state on the shipping documents decides which set applies.

Filing minced fish or surimi on a fillet line. Frozen fish meat that is not fillets, whether or not minced, takes 0304.91 to 0304.99.³ The EU separates surimi inside that block, at 0304 94 10 for Alaska pollock surimi against other meat at 0304 94 90.⁵

Filing a whole frozen fish under 0304. Heading 0303 covers frozen fish excluding fillets and other fish meat of heading 0304.³ Whole fish and fillets of the same species take different headings.

Filing a breaded fillet under 0304. A frozen fillet coated with batter or breadcrumbs is a prepared product: the EU lists it at 1604 19 91,⁵ and the US monitoring list carries breaded and batter-coated fish portions under 1604.19.⁶ Freezing alone does not move a plain fillet, but coating does.

Copying the EU species split into a US entry, or the US presentation split into an EU entry. The EU divides 0304.71 into Gadus macrocephalus at 0304 71 10 and Gadus morhua and Gadus ogac at 0304 71 90.⁵ The United States divides it into the skinned block line at 0304.71.10 and other at 0304.71.50,⁴ so the same digits mean different things on the two sides of the Atlantic.

Related duties and documents

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

Keep the regulatory file beside the classification file. In the United States, fish fillets sit in the NOAA Seafood Import Monitoring Program for the monitored species groups, whose code list runs from the fillet lines of heading 0304 through the prepared lines of heading 1604.⁶ Keep the confirmed national code per species and form, any binding decision and the origin evidence with the shipment documents. The shipping steps are in how to import frozen fish fillets from Bangladesh, and the inspection points in the frozen fish fillets quality control checklist.

FAQs

What is the HS code for frozen fish fillets?

Frozen fish fillets sit in heading 0304 in three species blocks: 0304.61 to 0304.69 for the tilapia, catfish, carp, eel, Nile perch and snakehead group, 0304.71 to 0304.79 for the Gadidae families, and 0304.81 to 0304.89 for other fish.³ Frozen fish meat that is not fillets takes 0304.91 to 0304.99.³

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 and ten in the United States, where frozen cod fillets split by presentation rather than by the species split the EU uses inside the same subheading.⁴

How do I confirm the correct code?

Describe the product precisely, with the species and scientific name, the frozen state, the fillet or other meat form and any coating or preparation, 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 species and form. The harmonized system explainer is the background read, and the HS code for frozen fish covers whole frozen fish. Exportain is not a party to the goods contract and does not inspect goods, book freight or clear customs.