Dry fruits and nuts · guide
There is no single HS code for dry fruits. Nuts and dried fruit are spread across five headings of chapter 08, and the code depends on which nut or fruit you ship and whether it is in shell, shelled or mixed.
| Market | Imports | Year |
|---|---|---|
| United States | $26.0B | 2024 |
| China | $20.2B | 2024 |
| Germany | $13.3B | 2024 |
| Netherlands | $8.5B | 2024 |
| United Kingdom | $7.2B | 2024 |
| France | $7.0B | 2024 |
| Market | Exports | Year |
|---|---|---|
| United States | $16.4B | 2024 |
| Spain | $11.2B | 2024 |
| Mexico | $9.5B | 2024 |
| Chile | $9.3B | 2024 |
| Netherlands | $8.8B | 2024 |
| China | $7.2B | 2024 |
Figures are for the whole of HS chapter 08 (edible fruit and nuts). Source: UN Comtrade.
Dry fruits is a trade term, not a tariff term. The Harmonized System sorts the goods by botanical identity and form, so a bag of mixed nuts, a carton of dates and a sack of cashew kernels each land on a different line. The five headings in chapter 08 that matter here are 0801, 0802, 0804, 0806 and 0813. Chapter 08 as a whole is edible fruit and nuts and includes fresh fruit, so trade statistics at chapter level are broader than dry fruits alone.
The practical rule is to start from the product name on the purchase order, find its heading, and then choose the subheading that matches its form. If you cannot say which nut or fruit is in the bag, you cannot yet classify it.
Heading 0801 covers coconuts, Brazil nuts and cashew nuts, fresh or dried, whether or not shelled or peeled. Coconuts split into desiccated (080111), in the inner shell (080112) and other (080119). Brazil nuts are in shell under 080121 and shelled under 080122. Cashew nuts are in shell under 080131 and shelled under 080132.
For an exporter of cashew kernels the relevant line is 080132, and for raw cashews in shell it is 080131. The difference is not cosmetic, since the two forms have different processing status, different buyers and often different duty treatment.
Heading 0802 covers the other edible nuts, and the tariff gives most of them separate in-shell and shelled lines. Almonds are 080211 in shell and 080212 shelled. Hazelnuts are 080221 and 080222. Walnuts are 080231 and 080232. Chestnuts are 080241 and 080242. Pistachios are 080251 and 080252. Macadamia nuts are 080261 and 080262. Pine nuts are 080291 and 080292. Kola nuts are 080270, areca nuts are 080280 and the residual line for other nuts is 080299.
The in-shell and shelled distinction matters commercially as well as in the tariff. Shelled nuts weigh less per unit of value, are more exposed to rancidity and are handled as a processed good, while in-shell nuts protect the kernel but carry shell weight. Declare the form exactly as it ships.
Heading 0804 covers dates (080410), figs (080420), pineapples (080430), avocados (080440) and guavas, mangoes and mangosteens (080450), fresh or dried. Heading 0806 covers grapes, with fresh grapes under 080610 and dried grapes, meaning raisins, under 080620. Heading 0813 covers dried fruit not covered by the earlier headings: apricots (081310), prunes (081320), apples (081330), other dried fruit (081340) and mixtures of nuts or dried fruit (081350).
Notice that some dried fruit sits with its fresh counterpart, as dates and figs do, while others such as apricots and apples are only in 0813 when dried. When a product could fit two places, read the heading text and its explanatory notes before choosing.
The headings in chapter 08 cover nuts and fruit that are fresh or dried, and in some cases shelled or peeled. Once a product is roasted with added ingredients, coated, sweetened, canned, made into a paste or butter, or blended into a food preparation, it usually leaves chapter 08 and enters a different chapter for prepared foods. Roasting or salting alone is treated differently in different tariff notes, so check the notes to the chapter rather than assume that a roasted nut keeps its raw nut code.
Mixtures are a special case. A blend of nuts, or of nuts and dried fruit, is covered by 081350 in this chapter, but the mixture rules depend on the components and the notes. If a buyer orders a trail-mix style product with chocolate or yoghurt coating, do not use the nut codes.
Six digits are international. Each country adds its own extension for tariff and statistical purposes, and the extension carries the duty line. This guide states no duty rates. Check the importer’s national code and current duty with the destination’s customs authority or the importer’s broker, and record both your export code and the destination code on your file.
The code also affects document requirements. Plant-health and food-safety controls are often keyed to it, so the code you declare can determine whether a phytosanitary certificate or laboratory report is asked for. A wrong code can trigger the wrong controls.
With the right six-digit code, you can search customs shipment records for real consignees, quantities, declared values and origins. The importers at the top of chapter 08 are the United States at $26.0B, China at $20.2B, Germany at $13.3B, the Netherlands at $8.5B, the United Kingdom at $7.2B and France at $7.0B, but those totals include fresh fruit, so the code search is the only way to see who buys your specific nut or dried fruit. Search the exact code for your form, then broaden to neighbouring lines to catch importers who declare imprecisely. The free marketplace on this site lets you post an offer by product.
There is no single code. Nuts are in headings 0801 and 0802, dates and figs in 0804, dried grapes in 0806 and other dried fruit and mixtures in 0813. Choose the line for your specific product and form.
Cashew nuts in shell are 080131 and shelled cashew nuts are 080132, both in heading 0801. The two forms are separate lines, so declare the one that matches your shipment.
Dried grapes, meaning raisins, are 080620 in heading 0806. Fresh grapes are 080610. Confirm that your product is dried grapes without added ingredients before using this line.
Not necessarily. Once nuts are coated, sweetened or blended into a preparation they usually leave chapter 08 for a prepared-food chapter. Check the chapter notes and the destination's rules, or ask customs for a classification opinion.
Mixtures of nuts or dried fruits of this chapter are classified under 081350 in heading 0813. If the mix contains other ingredients such as chocolate, it may fall in a different chapter, so read the notes carefully.
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