HS Code for Hilsa Fish: Classification Guide for Importers

If you import hilsa fish, the hs code for hilsa fish is the line your customs entry, origin claim and inspection file 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 hilsa, state decides the heading first, fresh or chilled against frozen, and species then decides where inside that heading the fish lands, because hilsa has no named line of its own.

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 Whole fish sit in Chapter 3: heading 0302 covers fish, fresh or chilled, excluding fillets and other fish meat of heading 0304, and heading 0303 covers fish, frozen, on the same terms. Inside each heading the last fish block is headed other fish, running to other at 0302.89 and at 0303.89.³

Verify the species and the state, not the trade name. Hilsa is a shad: the United States Food and Drug Administration seafood list records Tenualosa ilisha with the common name Hilsa Shad and the market names Shad or Hilsa.⁴ A shad is not named in the species lines of headings 0302 and 0303, so whole hilsa falls in the other line of its state block. The six-digit line is shared worldwide, but the national lines inside it differ.

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

Each pair of digits narrows the category: chapter 3 for fish and crustaceans, heading 0302 for fresh or chilled fish or 0303 for frozen fish, then a six-digit subheading by fish group, for example 0302.89, and a national extension of 8 to 10 digits.²

Countries subdivide the six-digit categories nationally, and the current version is HS 2022.² Read how to classify your product for the method.

Factors that decide the code for hilsa fish

State comes first: fresh or chilled is one heading, frozen is another. Heading 0302 is fish, fresh or chilled, and heading 0303 is fish, frozen, and each repeats the same block structure, so the other fish line appears once in each, at 0302.89 and at 0303.89.³ A shipment frozen on arrival is never filed on the fresh or chilled line, however it was packed at origin.

Species decides the block, and the herring line is a trap. Both headings open a block with herrings, anchovies, sardines and similar fish, but the herring subheadings are narrow: 0302.41 and 0303.51 cover only herrings Clupea harengus and Clupea pallasii.³ Tenualosa ilisha is a shad,⁴ not a Clupea herring, and it is named in no other species line, so it does not take the herring line or that block's other line, 0302.49 or 0303.59. It falls in the separate other fish block, whose named lines are dogfish and other sharks, rays and skates, toothfish, seabass and seabream, closing at other, 0302.89 and 0303.89.³

Whole fish and fillets split at heading level. Headings 0302 and 0303 both exclude fish fillets and other fish meat of heading 0304.³ A whole or gutted hilsa stays on the whole-fish lines above. Hilsa fillets move to heading 0304, at 0304.49 fresh or chilled and 0304.89 frozen, and hilsa meat that is not a fillet takes 0304.59 fresh or chilled and 0304.99 frozen.³ A mixed shipment is filed line by line, not under one code.

Drying, salting and smoking leave headings 0302 and 0303. Heading 0305 covers fish, dried, salted or in brine, and smoked fish, whether or not cooked before or during the smoking process.³ Dried, salted and smoked hilsa are therefore heading 0305 products.

Offal is filed apart from the fish, and live fish apart again. Both headings exclude edible fish offal of the closing subheadings, which carry livers, roes and milt at 0302.91 and 0303.91 and other offal at 0302.99 and 0303.99.³ Hilsa roe alone is not filed at 0302.89 or 0303.89. Live fish take heading 0301, closing at 0301.99.³

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

United States: HTS, ten digits. The US schedule splits subheading 0302.89 into two tariff lines: 0302.89.11 for fish scaled, whether or not heads, viscera or fins have been removed but not otherwise processed, in immediate containers weighing with their contents 6.8 kg or less, and 0302.89.50 for other.⁵ The statistical breakouts under the 0302.89.50 line name shad and sturgeon, which is where a whole fresh or chilled hilsa outside the scaled small-container line is reported.⁵ Frozen fish take a single tariff line, 0303.89.00, other, whose statistical breakouts also name shad and sturgeon.⁵

European Union: CN at eight digits, TARIC for measures. The Combined Nomenclature integrates the HS and adds EU subdivisions, producing eight-digit codes.² The EU code list opened for this guide reproduces the frozen other fish block in detail: inside 0303 89 it carries frozen freshwater fish, not elsewhere specified, at 0303 89 10, a run of named fish, and frozen fish, not elsewhere specified, at 0303 89 90.⁶ No line there names hilsa or shads, so a frozen hilsa entry is read inside the 0303 89 block in TARIC for the entry date and origin Bangladesh, and the same method applies at 0302 89.

United Kingdom: commodity code. The UK builds its 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 form and entry date rather than copying a US or EU entry.

Origin side: Bangladesh. Bangladesh builds its own eight-digit line inside the same subheading: its customs gateway carries hilsha fish, excluding wrapped or canned fish up to 2.5 kg, at 03028919.⁷ That line confirms the six-digit placement from the export side, but it belongs on the export declaration, not on a US, EU or UK import entry.

How to confirm the code officially

1. Write a precise description: species, Tenualosa ilisha, state, whole fish, fillets or other meat, and any drying, salting, smoking or other 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 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.⁸

4. For a borderline product, such as salted hilsa at the 0303 and 0305 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.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 CROSS ruling, you may request a binding ruling from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.⁸

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

Common classification mistakes

Filing hilsa on the herring line. Subheadings 0302.41 and 0303.51 cover only herrings Clupea harengus and Clupea pallasii.³ Hilsa is Tenualosa ilisha, a shad,⁴ and takes the other fish lines, 0302.89 fresh or chilled and 0303.89 frozen.

Filing hilsa on the other line of the herring block. That block closes at 0302.49 fresh or chilled and at 0303.59 frozen.³ Those lines hold the unnamed fish of that named group, such as Indian mackerels and seerfishes. Hilsa is not in that group list.

Filing a frozen shipment on the fresh or chilled line. State is the first split: 0302.89 against 0303.89.³ In the US schedule the two also split differently, 0302.89 into two lines and 0303.89.00 as a single line.⁵

Filing fillets on the whole-fish line. Headings 0302 and 0303 exclude fillets and other fish meat of heading 0304.³ Hilsa fillets take 0304.49 fresh or chilled or 0304.89 frozen, and other hilsa meat takes 0304.59 or 0304.99.³

Copying the Bangladesh line into a destination entry. Bangladesh carries hilsha fish at 03028919.⁷ Only the first six digits, 0302.89, carry across.

Filing roe, dried or smoked hilsa on the whole-fish line. Livers, roes and milt take 0302.91 or 0303.91,³ and dried, salted, in brine or smoked fish takes 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 fresh or chilled line does not carry to the frozen line, to fillets or to a dried product. Read the rate beside your confirmed code for your origin and entry date.

Keep the regulatory file beside the classification file. The Bangladesh customs gateway lists hilsha fish at 03028919 as a conditional export item, with product-specific documents that include an export licence, a no objection certificate for export and a salubrity certificate, each from the Fish Inspection and Quality Control office of the Department of Fisheries.⁷ Keep the confirmed code per form and state, any binding decision and the origin evidence with the shipment documents. The shipping steps are in how to import hilsa fish from Bangladesh, and the inspection points in the hilsa fish quality control checklist.

FAQs

What is the HS code for hilsa fish?

Fresh or chilled whole hilsa sits in heading 0302 at subheading 0302.89, other fish, and frozen whole hilsa sits in heading 0303 at subheading 0303.89.³ Hilsa has no named line: it is a shad, Tenualosa ilisha,⁴ and the herring lines 0302.41 and 0303.51 cover only Clupea harengus and Clupea pallasii.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 ten in the United States, where fresh or chilled fish split at 0302.89.11 and 0302.89.50,⁵ and eight in Bangladesh, where hilsha fish is carried at 03028919.⁷

How do I confirm the correct code?

Describe the product precisely, with the species and scientific name, the state, the whole, fillet or other meat form and any drying, salting or smoking, read the heading text and notes in the destination tariff, and check published rulings, such as CROSS for the United States.⁸ For a borderline product, apply for a binding decision before shipping: a BTI in the EU,⁹ an Advance Tariff Ruling in the United Kingdom,¹⁰ or a CBP binding ruling in the United States.⁸

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.¹⁰

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 form and state. The harmonized system explainer is the background read, and the HS code for live crabs shows the same chapter for a neighbouring product. Exportain is not a party to the goods contract and does not inspect goods, book freight or clear customs.