PUBLISHER: The Load Star (www.theloadstar.com)
Shipments of smartphones, flat panel displays and health and safety equipment could be stuck in customs come 1 January if shippers have not made the requisite changes in Harmonised System (HS) codes.
The turn of the year brings the latest round of changes in the HS, which is administrated by the World Customs Organization (WTO) and updated every five years. It serves as the foundation for the import and export classification systems used in the US and by many trading partners.
HS2022 is the seventh edition and covers more than 5,000 product categories.
Failure to get up to speed on the changes could have painful repercussions for e-commerce providers, warned Martin Palmer, chief content and compliance officer of cross-border data specialist Hurricane Commerce.