HS Code for Live Crabs: Classification Guide for Importers

If you import live crabs for a seafood wholesaler, restaurant group or live-seafood distributor, the hs code for live crabs 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 crabs, the deciding facts are state and form: whether the animal is live, fresh or chilled, frozen, or dried and smoked, and whether the shipment is whole crabs or crabmeat.

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 Crabs are crustaceans, so they sit in Chapter 3 under heading 0306, which covers crustaceans whether in shell or not, live, fresh, chilled, frozen, dried, salted or in brine, and smoked crustaceans. Inside that heading, the live, fresh or chilled block carries crabs at 0306.33.³

Verify the state and the form, not the product name. The six-digit line 0306.33 is shared worldwide, but the national lines inside it differ: the United States splits 0306.33 into a crabmeat line and an other line,⁴ while the European Union splits it by species, with Cancer pagurus on its own line.⁵ A whole live mud crab from Bangladesh is not crabmeat, and it is not Cancer pagurus, so read the national split before you file.

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

Each pair of digits narrows the category: chapter 3 for fish and crustaceans, heading 0306 for crustaceans, then a six-digit subheading by state and product group, for example 0306.33 for crabs in that block, 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 live crabs

State comes first: live, fresh or chilled is one block of heading 0306. The HS nomenclature arranges heading 0306 in three blocks: frozen, at 0306.11 to 0306.19; live, fresh or chilled, at 0306.31 to 0306.39; and other, at 0306.91 to 0306.99, which holds the dried, salted, in brine and smoked lines. Crabs appear once in each block, at 0306.14 frozen, 0306.33 live, fresh or chilled, and 0306.93 in the other block.³ The same crab therefore takes three different subheadings depending on the state it arrives in.

In shell or not does not move the line. Heading 0306 covers crustaceans whether in shell or not,³ and the EU live crab lines repeat the same wording.⁵ Shipping crab sections therefore does not by itself take the product off 0306.33.

Whole crab and crabmeat split at national level, not at six digits. The six-digit line names crabs only. The United States then divides 0306.33 into two ten-digit lines: 0306.33.20 for crabmeat and 0306.33.40 for other, which is where a whole live crab is filed.⁴ The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration monitoring list carries the same two lines, as live, fresh or chilled crabmeat at 0306.33.2000 and crabs other than crabmeat at 0306.33.4000.⁶

Species decides the EU line, and the EU split is narrow. The EU Combined Nomenclature divides 0306.33 at eight digits into 0306 33 10 for crabs Cancer pagurus, whether in shell or not, live, fresh or chilled, and 0306 33 90 for all other crabs in that state.⁵ There is no separate EU live line for swimming crabs or for mud crabs: a live mud crab (Scylla) shipment for the EU reads 0306 33 90. The wider species detail in the EU list sits in the frozen block, where 0306 14 10 names Paralithodes camchaticus, Chionoecetes spp. and Callinectes sapidus, 0306 14 30 names Cancer pagurus, and 0306 14 90 holds the remaining frozen crabs.⁵

Smoking and in-shell cooking stay inside heading 0306; preparation beyond that leaves it. The heading text covers smoked crustaceans, whether or not cooked before or during the smoking process, and crustaceans in shell cooked by steaming or by boiling in water.³ A smoked or in-shell boiled crab is therefore still a heading 0306 product, on the line that matches its state. Crab that is prepared or preserved beyond those states takes heading 1605: the EU lists prepared or preserved crab at 1605 10 00, excluding smoked,⁵ and the United States monitoring list carries prepared crab and crabmeat under 1605.10, split by airtight packing and by prepared meals.⁶ A crab cake or a canned crabmeat product is never filed on a 0306 line.

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, so a live crab entry starts at subheading 0306.33 and then takes 0306.33.20 for crabmeat or 0306.33.40 for other crabs.⁴ Unlike the frozen block, where the statistical suffixes under 0306.14.40 separate king crab, snow crab and Dungeness crab,⁴ the live crab line carries no species suffixes.

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 live crabs the split is by one named species: 0306 33 10 for Cancer pagurus and 0306 33 90 for every other crab, live, fresh or chilled.⁵ That is the opposite emphasis from the United States, which splits the same subheading by form, crabmeat against other, and not by species. 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 form, species 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, live, fresh or chilled state, whole crab or crabmeat, in shell or not, and any smoking, in-shell cooking 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), because the correct classification of many items can be found there.⁷

4. For a borderline product, such as a cooked crab preparation at the 0306 and 1605 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 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 form.

Common classification mistakes

Filing a live shipment on the frozen crab line. Frozen crabs take 0306.14, with crabmeat at 0306.14.20 and other crabs at 0306.14.40 in the US schedule.⁴ Live, fresh or chilled crabs take 0306.33.³

Filing whole live crabs on the US crabmeat line. Inside 0306.33, the United States separates crabmeat at 0306.33.20 from other crabs at 0306.33.40.⁴ A whole crab is filed as other.

Copying the EU species split into a US entry, or the US form split into an EU entry. The EU divides 0306.33 into Cancer pagurus at 0306 33 10 and other crabs at 0306 33 90,⁵ with no crabmeat line in this block. The United States divides it into crabmeat and other,⁴ with no species line in this block.

Filing prepared crab under 0306. Preparation moves the product to heading 1605, where the EU lists prepared or preserved crab at 1605 10 00⁵ and the US monitoring list carries prepared crab under 1605.10.⁶ Smoking alone, and cooking in shell by steaming or boiling, do not move the product.³

Filing dried, salted or smoked-only crabs on the live line. The other block of heading 0306 carries crabs at 0306.93, which the US schedule splits in the same way as the live block, into crabmeat at 0306.93.20 and other at 0306.93.40.⁴

Related duties and documents

This guide states no duty rates: the code decides which duty line customs applies, and a rate read beside the frozen crab line does not carry to the live line, to crabmeat or to a prepared product. 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, crab sits in the NOAA Seafood Import Monitoring Program, whose code list runs from the 0306 crab lines through the 1605.10 prepared lines.⁶ Keep the confirmed national code per form, any binding decision and the origin evidence with the shipment documents. The shipping and certification steps are in how to import live crabs from Bangladesh, and the inspection points in the live crabs quality control checklist.

FAQs

What is the HS code for live crabs?

Live crabs sit in heading 0306 at subheading 0306.33, the crab line of the live, fresh or chilled block.³ The United States splits that line into crabmeat at 0306.33.20 and other at 0306.33.40,⁴ and the EU into Cancer pagurus at 0306 33 10 and other at 0306 33 90.⁵

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 the live crab lines split by form, crabmeat against other, rather than by species.⁴

How do I confirm the correct code?

Describe the product precisely, with the species and scientific name, the live, fresh or chilled state, the whole or crabmeat form and any cooking 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 form. The harmonized system explainer is the background read, and the HS code for frozen shrimp shows the same heading worked for a neighbouring product. Exportain is not a party to the goods contract and does not inspect goods, book freight or clear customs.