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When you sell products to customers in other countries, your shipments may need to pass through customs at the border. Customs authorities use information about each item - what it is, what it is made of, where it was made and its value - to decide what duties and taxes apply and whether the item can be imported at all.

This article gives a brief overview of two of the most important pieces of export information you can record for your products - the '''HS Code''' and the '''Country of Origin''' - and how to store them in Spiffy Stores. This article is intended as a general guide only. For the requirements that apply to your own circumstances, you should check with your customs authority or a licensed customs broker.

== HS Codes ==

The '''HS Code''' (short for ''Harmonized System Code'') is an internationally standardised numeric code used to classify goods for customs purposes. The Harmonized System is maintained by the World Customs Organization and is used by customs authorities around the world.

The internationally recognised HS Code is '''six digits''' long. The first two digits identify the broad chapter (for example, ''01'' for live animals), the next two digits identify the heading, and the last two digits identify the subheading. Many countries extend the six digit code with additional digits to create their own national tariff codes (8 or 10 digit codes).

You need an HS Code for a product because it:

* tells customs what the item is, so that the correct customs duty and tax rates can be applied;
* is required on export and import declarations and on commercial documents such as invoices and packing lists; and
* is often needed for import permits, restrictions and statistics.

HS Codes are free to search online - a simple web search for the description of your product together with the words "HS code" will generally find the right classification. It is your responsibility to make sure the code you use correctly describes your product.

== Country of Origin ==

The '''Country of Origin''' is the country where a product was originally manufactured, produced or grown. It may be different from the country you ship the product from - for example, you might sell goods that were manufactured in another country.

The Country of Origin is needed because it can affect:

* the customs duty rates and trade agreements that apply to the goods;
* the labeling requirements for the products you sell; and
* import restrictions or quotas that apply to goods from particular countries.

== Recording an HS Code and Country of Origin in Spiffy Stores ==

You can record an '''HS Code''' and a '''Country of Origin''' for every product variation (that is, each size, colour or other option) in your store. Both fields are optional and can be left blank if you do not need them.

To add them:

1. Open the product.
2. Select the variation you want to update.
3. In the '''Shipping''' section of the variation, enter the 6 digit '''HS Code''' using the search field, which looks up the official HS Code list, and choose the '''Country of Origin''' from the list of countries.

The HS Code must be exactly 6 digits, and ideally one of the official HS codes. The Country of Origin is stored as a country, for example ''Australia''.

== Updating in bulk using CSV files ==

HS Codes and Countries of Origin are included in the full product CSV export and in the Inventory CSV export, so you can update them for many variations at once. See [[Bulk Product Export and Import]] and [[Bulk Inventory Export and Import]] for the column details.

When editing the HS Code column in a spreadsheet program such as Excel, format the column as '''Text''' before saving. HS Codes are numerical and often begin with zero (for example, ''010121'') - spreadsheet programs will remove the leading zeros if the column is not formatted as text, which would make the code invalid.

== Using the data in your templates ==

The HS Code and Country of Origin for a variation are available to your themes through Liquid:

* [[Liquid Template Variables - variant|variant.hs_code]]
* [[Liquid Template Variables - variant|variant.country_of_origin]]
* [[Liquid Template Variables - variant|variant.country_of_origin_name]]

They are also available on order and cart line items, so you can use them in documents such as packing slips - see [[Liquid Template Variables - line item]].

== Further information ==

For the specific customs requirements that apply to your shipments, contact your customs authority or a licensed customs broker.