TARIC code lookup: the 10 digits, the EU database and Binding Tariff Information

SUNDAY, 18 OCTOBER 2026

From the supplier's six-digit code to the ten-digit code that goes on the declaration: how to read it, how to search the Commission's database, what a wrong code risks and when to apply for Binding Tariff Information.

TARIC code lookup for a product starts from the description of the goods: you identify the international 6-digit Harmonized System code and complete it to 10 digits in the European Commission's TARIC database, entering the country of origin. If the classification is still uncertain, the only way to get an answer that binds customs is to apply for a Binding Tariff Information decision.

The code drives almost everything that happens at customs: the duty rate, any anti-dumping duties, quotas, prohibitions and the documents to present. A Chinese supplier usually puts one on the invoice, but that number is designed for export from China and often stops at the first six digits. This guide explains how the code is built, how to look it up, what happens if it is wrong and when it is worth locking it in with a BTI.

TARIC code: what it is and the levels it is made of

The TARIC code is the top of a three-level pyramid, and each level has a different owner. At the base is the Harmonized System, managed by the World Customs Organization: about 5,000 commodity groups, each with a six-digit code, used by more than 200 countries and economies and updated every five years.

Above it is the European Union's Combined Nomenclature, established by Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87: it adds two digits to reach eight, with a description and a duty rate for each subheading. It is managed by the European Commission and updated every year: the version in force from 1 January 2026 is Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1926, published in the Official Journal on 31 October 2025.

At the top is TARIC, the integrated tariff of the Union: a multilingual database, also managed by the Commission, that starts from the eight digits of the Combined Nomenclature and adds every EU measure that applies to those goods.

The 10 digits of the TARIC code, one by one

The digits are read from left to right, from the general to the specific:

• Digits 1-6: the Harmonized System code, identical worldwide; this is the one the Chinese supplier usually knows.
• Digits 7-8: the Combined Nomenclature subheading, valid across the Union and also used in Intrastat declarations.
• Digits 9-10: the TARIC subdivision, needed when specific measures such as suspensions, quotas or anti-dumping duties apply to the goods.
• Additional codes: in some cases a further code is added to the 10 digits, for example to identify the individual producer hit by an anti-dumping duty.

The Commission states that the TARIC code has at least 10 digits. In an importer's daily work, the number that goes on the declaration is the 10-digit one, completed where needed by the additional code the database marks as mandatory.

What you find in the TARIC database, and what you don't

The database covers third-country duties, tariff preferences under trade agreements, tariff suspensions and quotas, agricultural measures, anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguard duties, and prohibitions and restrictions, including import and export licences and controls. For each measure it also lists the documents required, with their codes.

The Commission publishes an updated version every day and transmits the data to national customs administrations. National taxes, however, are left out: the import VAT rate and excise duties are not in TARIC. For Italy they have to be checked separately, and the Italian Customs and Monopolies Agency offers its own tariff consultation.

TARIC code lookup: the search step by step

The search works better when you start from the goods rather than from a keyword. Before opening the database, it pays to gather three pieces of information: what the product is made of, what it is used for and in what condition it arrives (finished, semi-finished, as a kit to assemble).

Then proceed as follows:

• Identify the chapter from the material or the function, and read the section and chapter notes: they often exclude precisely the product that seemed obvious.
• Go down to the 4-digit heading and the 6-digit subheading, comparing the descriptions with the technical sheet, not with the trade name.
• In the TARIC database, enter the code found, the country of origin (for example China) and the expected import date, and reach the 10-digit code.
• Read every linked measure: duty, any anti-dumping, documents required, and note the additional codes.

The code proposed by the supplier is a good starting point for the first steps, but it always needs checking: the first six digits are shared by China and the Union, the following ones are not.

The general interpretative rules: when two headings both look right

When a product could fall under more than one heading, the General Rules for the interpretation of the Combined Nomenclature decide, six in all, applied in order. The first is always the starting point: what counts is the wording of the headings and the section and chapter notes, while the titles of sections are for reference only.

The second rule says that an incomplete or unassembled article is classified as the finished one if it already has its essential character: furniture shipped as a kit is still furniture. The third settles cases of doubt: the most specific heading prevails, then the one matching the essential character of the goods, and only as a last resort the heading that comes last in numerical order. The remaining rules cover goods with no suitable heading, containers and packing, and the comparison between subheadings.

What happens if the TARIC code is wrong

A wrong code is not necessarily caught at clearance. Article 103 of the Union Customs Code allows customs to notify a customs debt up to three years after it was incurred: a wrong classification can therefore come back as a claim for back duties even after the goods have been sold.

In Italy a classification error falls under the inaccurate declaration rules of the national provisions supplementing the customs code, Legislative Decree No 141 of 2024, with penalties added to the unpaid duties. There is also the opposite, less visible risk: a code with a higher rate than the correct one means paying duty that is not owed, or losing a suspension or a tariff preference. In both cases the problem starts in the same place, a classification done in a hurry.

BTI: the TARIC code that binds customs

Binding Tariff Information, BTI (in Italian ITV), is a decision in which the customs authority sets the classification of goods at the operator's request. It is valid for three years from the date it takes effect, throughout the customs territory of the Union, and binds both the customs authorities of all Member States and the holder, who must state it in the customs declaration.

The procedure has deadlines set by Article 22 of the customs code: customs have 30 days from receipt to accept the application and then 120 days from acceptance to decide. An EORI number is required, the application is filed in the Member State where the business is established or where it will use the decision, and each one covers a single type of goods. Issued BTIs go into the European EBTI database, which also has a public version: before applying, it is worth checking whether other customs authorities have already classified a similar product.

A BTI cannot be amended: if the Combined Nomenclature changes, it ceases to be valid. That is why it should be checked again every time the annual update comes out at the end of October.

Practical example: desk lamps from China

Take a hypothetical importer ordering 3,000 LED desk lamps with a metal base and a USB port, for a customs value of 30,000 euros. The supplier puts a 6-digit code on the invoice. The rates below are chosen for the example and do not refer to a real product:

• Supplier's 6-digit code: correct as a starting point, but not enough for the declaration.
• Two possible 8-digit subheadings: one with a hypothetical duty of 2.7%, the other 4.7%.
• Difference between them: 600 euros of duty on this order, plus VAT calculated on a different base.
• Over ten similar orders in three years, the difference reaches 6,000 euros of duty that customs could claim back if the declared subheading turned out to be the wrong one.

Faced with a doubt of this kind, the importer reads the chapter notes, checks the EBTI database for decisions on similar lamps and, if the doubt remains, applies for a BTI before signing an annual contract. At most five months of waiting cost less than three years of uncertainty.

With La Merce, the 10-digit TARIC code is checked before the order and not on the supplier's invoice: anti-dumping measures, required documents and, when the classification is uncertain, the BTI application are dealt with before the goods leave China.

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