15. Part 4: The classification of parts and accessories

15.8. Provision 1: classification by virtue of the terms of the heading

Where a heading specifies ‘…and parts thereof’, parts of any goods in that heading are automatically included.

For example, heading 73.21 text provides for:

‘Stoves, ranges, grates, cookers (including those with subsidiary boilers for central heating), barbecues, braziers, gas-rings, plate warmers and similar non-electric domestic appliances, and parts thereof, of iron or steel’

The phrase ‘and parts thereof’ means parts of any of those appliances are automatically included. A steel gas burner for a gas stove is therefore classified within heading 73.21.

Key Point

✓ The heading terms only operate at heading level. If the heading is divided into subheadings, the ‘…and parts thereof’ phrase does not automatically flow through to every subheading.

✓ Specific provision for parts must be made at each subheading level. If the subheading does not say ‘and parts thereof’, parts cannot be classified there.

✓ If the heading includes parts but no subheading specifically provides for them, the parts fall to a separate ‘parts’ subheading. If there is no parts subheading, they fall to the residual ‘other’ subheading.

 

Worked Example: heading 73.21 

Continuing with the steel gas burner example, having established that stoves fall within heading 73.21, the next step is to find the correct subheading.

7321.1                                - Cooking appliances and plate warmers :

7321.11                             -   - For gas fuel or for both gas and other fuels

7321.12                             -   - For liquid fuel

7321.19                             -   - Other, including appliances for solid fuel

7321.8                                - Other appliances :

7321.81                             -   - For gas fuel or for both gas and other fuels

7321.82                             -   - For liquid fuel

7321.89                             -   - Other, including appliances for solid fuel

7321.90                             - Parts

At the 5-figure subheading level, although stoves are classified within subheading 7321.1 as they are cooking appliances, parts are not mentioned. Thus, although the gas stove is ultimately classified within 6-figure subheading 7321.11, there is no provision within the structure of subheading 7321.1 to admit parts.

The next 5-figure subheading is 7321.8. It covers ‘other appliances’, but there is no mention of parts.

Parts are in fact covered by 5-figure subheading 7321.90. Subheading 7321.90 may well have read ‘other’ or ‘other, including parts’. In either instance, parts would still have been classified there.

In activities of this kind, it is very important to take heed of the dash system. Only 5-figure subheadings 7321.1, 7321.8, and 7321.90 need to be compared, the 6-figure subheadings within 7321.1 (e.g. 7321.11 ‘for gas fuel’) are not relevant to classifying parts because parts are not mentioned within that 5-figure hierarchy.