HTS chapter · section III
Chapter 15
Animal or vegetable fats and oils
Chapter 15 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule sits in section III (animal or vegetable fats and oils). It has 21 headings and 78 eight-digit tariff lines.
The spread of 19.1 percentage points between the cheapest and dearest lines makes misclassification expensive here.
17 of its 37 lines with a percentage rate are duty-free at the general rate (46%) and 20 are dutiable, from duty-free up to 19.1%. The median line pays 2.3%.
41 of the lines carry specific or compound rates (per kilogram, per dozen and so on) rather than a percentage, so their burden depends on the unit value of the goods.
The most finely divided heading is 1515 (other fixed vegetable or microbial fats and oils (including jojoba oil) and…), with 10 lines; fine division usually means the rates or the trade statistics differ enough to be worth separating.
3 of its 21 headings are entirely duty-free at the general rate: 1511 (palm oil and its fractions, whether or not…), 1513 (coconut (copra), palm kernel or babassu oil…) and 1520 (glycerol, crude; glycerol waters and…).
Headings
| Heading | Description | Lines | Free | Median rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1501 | Pig fat (including lard) and poultry fat, other than that of heading 0209 or 1503 | 3 | 0 | – |
| 1502 | Fats of bovine animals, sheep or goats, other than those of heading 1503 | 2 | 0 | – |
| 1503 | Lard stearin, lard oil, oleostearin, oleo-oil and tallow oil, not emulsified or mixed or otherwise prepared | 1 | 0 | – |
| 1504 | Fats and oils and their fractions, of fish or marine mammals, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified | 6 | 2 | duty-free |
| 1505 | Wool grease and fatty substances derived therefrom (including lanolin) | 2 | 0 | 2.4% |
| 1506 | Other animal fats and oils and their fractions, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified | 1 | 0 | 2.3% |
| 1507 | Soybean oil and its fractions, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified | 3 | 1 | 19.1% |
| 1508 | Peanut (ground-nut) oil and its fractions, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified | 2 | 0 | – |
| 1509 | Olive oil and its fractions, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified | 8 | 0 | – |
| 1510 | Other oils and their fractions, obtained solely from olives, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified, including blends of these oils and fractions… | 5 | 1 | duty-free |
| 1511 | Palm oil and its fractions, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified | 2 | 2 | duty-free |
| 1512 | Sunflower-seed, safflower or cottonseed oil, and fractions thereof, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified | 4 | 0 | – |
| 1513 | Coconut (copra), palm kernel or babassu oil, and fractions thereof, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified | 4 | 4 | duty-free |
| 1514 | Rapeseed, colza or mustard oil, and fractions thereof, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified | 7 | 2 | 6.4% |
| 1515 | Other fixed vegetable or microbial fats and oils (including jojoba oil) and their fractions, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified | 10 | 2 | 3.2% |
| 1516 | Animal, vegetable or microbial fats and oils and their fractions, partly or wholly hydrogenated, inter-esterified, re-esterified or elaidinized, whether or not… | 4 | 0 | 7.7% |
| 1517 | Margarine; edible mixtures or preparations of animal, vegetable or microbial fats or oils or of fractions of different fats or oils of this chapter, other than… | 7 | 0 | 13% |
| 1518 | Animal, vegetable or microbial fats and oils and their fractions, boiled, oxidized, dehydrated, sulfurized, blown, polymerized by heat in vacuum or in inert… | 2 | 0 | 8% |
| 1520 | Glycerol, crude; glycerol waters and glycerol lyes | 1 | 1 | duty-free |
| 1521 | Vegetable waxes (other than triglycerides), beeswax, other insect waxes and spermaceti, whether or not refined or colored | 3 | 2 | duty-free |
| 1522 | Degras; residues resulting from the treatment of fatty substances or animal or vegetable waxes | 1 | 0 | 3.8% |