Ken Montgomery, Director, International Trade Regulation, AeA and Carlos Halasz, HP Global Trade, and the East Coast Chair of the AeA Customs Committee represented AeA at the WCO in Brussels, March 20-24. Also in attendance was Mr. Richard Uschyk, ICC Representative to the WCO.

The Harmonized System (HS) nomenclature is used as a basis for the collection of Customs duties and international trade statistics by almost all countries (98% of world trade). The Harmonized System Committee (HSC) meets quarterly to support the on-going development of the HS by classifying new and converged products and making clarifications to the existing nomenclature.

The main highlight at this meeting was the finalization of the explanatory notes (EN) for HS 2007. This was the culmination of many formal and informal meetings by AeA members, trade advocacy groups and Customs administrations to get industry input recorded in the EN's. AeA’s efforts focused on Chapters 84, 85 and 90 of the HS.

In addition, AeA member company product classification issues addressed at the meeting included certain power modules used in electrical converters, set-top boxes, and peripherals for video game consoles (Play Station 2).

The AeA WCO Subcommittee’s primary focus is to follow the developments of the HS and insure member company high tech products are classified and described in a manner that provides for most favorable duty treatment as well as consistency by national Customs organizations. To join the AeA Customs Committee or participate in the activities of the WCO subcommittee, contact Ken Montgomery at ken_montgomery@aeanet.org.

This page was last updated on 04/20/06.  
Copyright © 2006 American Electronics Association.  All rights reserved.