UK Harmonised System · Section X — Pulp of wood or of other fibrous cellulosic material; recovered (waste and scrap) paper or paperboard; paper and paperboard and articles thereof

Chapter 49 — Printed books, newspapers, pictures and other products of the printing industry; manuscripts, typescripts and plans

11 headings sit inside this chapter. HMRC's official chapter notes below govern how goods are assigned to it under the WCO General Rules of Interpretation. To classify a specific product in this chapter, use the TariffFlow classify workspace. Every plan includes Guided questions, current HMRC measures, sharing, the library, and a Case Pack. Free includes five classifications per billing period.

See how classification works

Official chapter notes

Verbatim text published by HMRC. These are the legal basis for classification decisions in this chapter; the "General Rules of Interpretation" point at them directly.

1. This chapter does not cover: a. photographic negatives or positives on transparent bases (Chapter [37](/chapters/37)); b. maps, plans or globes, in relief, whether or not printed (heading [9023](/headings/9023)); c. playing cards or other goods of Chapter [95](/chapters/95); or d. original engravings. prints or lithographs (heading [9702](/headings/9702)), postage or revenue stamps, stamp-postmarks, first-day covers, postal stationery or the like of heading [9704](/headings/9704), antiques of an age exceeding one hundred years or other articles of Chapter [97](/chapters/97). 2. For the purposes of Chapter [49](/chapters/49), the term 'printed' also means reproduced by means of a duplicating machine, produced under the control of an automatic data processing machine, embossed, photographed, photocopied, thermocopied or typewritten. 3. Newspapers, journals and periodicals which are bound otherwise than in paper, and sets of newspapers, journals or periodicals comprising more than one number under a single cover are to be classified in heading [4901](/headings/4901), whether or not containing advertising material. 4. Heading [4901](/headings/4901) also covers: a. a collection of printed reproductions of, for example, works of art or drawings, with a relative text, put up with numbered pages in a form suitable for binding into one or more volumes; b. a pictorial supplement accompanying, and subsidiary to, a bound volume; and c. printed parts of books or booklets, in the form of assembled or separate sheets or signatures, constituting the whole or a part of a complete work and designed for binding. However, printed pictures or illustrations not bearing a text, whether in the form of signatures or separate sheets, fall in heading [4911](/headings/4911). 5. Subject to Note 3 to this Chapter, heading [4901](/headings/4901) does not cover publications which are essentially devoted to advertising (for example, brochures, pamphlets, leaflets, trade catalogues, yearbooks published by trade associations, tourist propaganda). Such publications are to be classified in heading [4911](/headings/4911). 6. For the purposes of heading [4903](/headings/4903), the expression 'children's picture books' means books for children in which the pictures form the principal interest and the text is subsidiary.

Headings in Chapter 49

Each 4-digit heading below groups a family of related products. The full 10-digit commodity code is chosen further down the tree based on the product's material, form, and intended use.

Need the 10-digit code for your product?

Paste a product description, upload a datasheet or photo, and TariffFlow will recommend a specific UK commodity code with structured reasoning, relevant published ruling examples, current HMRC measures, and a Case Pack you can keep on file.