Onion · guide
Fresh onions have a clear home in the tariff, but a surprising number of onion shipments are declared under the wrong line. This guide explains what 070310 covers, what sits next to it and how to avoid the common classification errors.
| Market | Imports | Year |
|---|---|---|
| United States | $16.5B | 2024 |
| Germany | $8.8B | 2024 |
| United Kingdom | $5.2B | 2024 |
| India | $5.1B | 2024 |
| France | $4.8B | 2024 |
| Canada | $4.1B | 2024 |
| Market | Exports | Year |
|---|---|---|
| China | $12.3B | 2024 |
| Mexico | $10.7B | 2024 |
| Netherlands | $9.7B | 2024 |
| Spain | $9.4B | 2024 |
| Canada | $6.7B | 2024 |
| United States | $5.9B | 2024 |
Figures are for the whole of HS chapter 07 (edible vegetables and certain roots and tubers). Source: UN Comtrade.
Onions and shallots, fresh or chilled, are classified under subheading 070310, inside heading 0703. The full heading title is onions, shallots, garlic, leeks and other alliaceous vegetables, fresh or chilled. Six digits are the international level shared by customs administrations that use the Harmonized System, so 070310 means the same thing whether you ship to Europe, North America or Asia.
Every code in this guide belongs to chapter 07, edible vegetables and certain roots and tubers. Trade statistics on this site are published at that chapter level, so a chapter total is the sum of many vegetables. Use the six-digit code, not the chapter total, when you want to isolate onion trade in customs records.
Heading 0703 has three subheadings, and the difference between them decides which line your goods belong on. Onions and shallots share a line, garlic has its own, and everything else in the allium family that is not named goes to the residual line.
The residual line is the one to watch. Leeks and similar vegetables land there, and it is sometimes used carelessly as a catch-all for any bulb vegetable, which it is not. Spring onions, chives and other alliaceous types can raise a genuine question; check the nomenclature text and its explanatory notes rather than guessing.
The code you declare drives three things. First, the customs duty: tariff schedules assign a rate to each line, and the rate can differ even between neighbouring subheadings, so a wrongly classified lot can bring a duty demand or a penalty. This guide does not state any rate; check the current tariff of the destination. Second, the plant-health and food-safety controls, which are often keyed to the code. Third, the statistics: import and export records are searched by code, so a wrong code makes your shipment invisible to the buyers and analysts who search for onions.
Because these consequences reach the buyer as well as you, importers often specify the code in the purchase order. If theirs differs from yours, resolve it before shipping rather than at the port.
The 0703 heading is limited to fresh or chilled vegetables. Once an onion is processed in a way that changes its character, it moves to another chapter or heading altogether. Dried, dehydrated or powdered onion, onions preserved in brine or vinegar, frozen onions and onion in prepared foods are not fresh or chilled, so they do not belong under 070310. The tariff has separate headings for those forms, and you should look them up in the current nomenclature rather than assume.
Fresh onions that have been peeled, trimmed or cut for convenience packs are usually still considered fresh, but the treatment can raise questions, so check the explanatory notes to the nomenclature or ask customs for a classification opinion when the product is unusual. Onion seed and onion sets for planting are not vegetables for consumption and are classified elsewhere.
The Harmonized System stops at six digits. Countries extend it, commonly to eight or ten digits, to create their own tariff and statistical lines. An exporter therefore has two levels to get right: the international six-digit code, which you can rely on in any market, and the destination’s national extension, which is what the importer’s customs broker will enter on the declaration and which carries the actual duty line.
Your own export declaration also uses a national extension, and it may not match the destination’s. Ask the importer for the national code they expect, and record both codes on your file so that the paperwork can be reconciled.
Most errors fall into a few patterns. A mixed consignment of onions and garlic is declared as one line under a single code. Shallots are treated as a separate product when the tariff groups them with onions. A supplier’s product description says vegetables and the broker picks the nearest chapter 07 line without reading the subheading text. Or a dried or processed onion product is declared under the fresh code because that is the code the exporter used last year.
The remedy is boring but effective: write the full description of the goods, including form and state, on the invoice; compare it word for word to the subheading text; and keep a one-line note of why you chose the code.
Once you are sure of the code, use it to search customs shipment records. The records show consignee, quantity, declared value and origin, filtered by 070310, so you can see who actually buys fresh onions, in what lot size and from which countries. The importers at the top of chapter 07 are the United States at $16.5B, Germany at $8.8B, the United Kingdom at $5.2B, India at $5.1B, France at $4.8B and Canada at $4.1B, but those totals cover all vegetables in the chapter, so the code-level search is where you separate onion buyers from the rest. The free marketplace on this site lets you post an onion offer that importers can find by product.
Fresh or chilled onions and shallots are classified under 070310, within heading 0703. The same six digits are used by customs administrations that follow the Harmonized System, though each country adds its own extra digits.
No. Garlic, fresh or chilled, is 070320, while onions and shallots are 070310. Both sit in heading 0703, but a mixed shipment should carry a separate invoice line for each.
No. Subheading 070310 covers fresh or chilled onions and shallots. Dried, dehydrated, frozen or preserved onion is classified under other headings, so check the current nomenclature for the specific form before you declare.
The first six digits are international, but countries extend them for their own tariff and statistics. Ask the importer for the national code they will use, and record both on your shipping file.
The code determines which line of the tariff applies, but this guide does not state any rate. Confirm the current duty for the national extension with the destination's customs authority or the importer's broker.
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