Pulses · guide
Pulses live in a single four-digit heading, 0713, but that heading splits into a dozen subheadings by species. Choosing the right one is a botanical question as much as a customs one.
| 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.
Dried leguminous vegetables, shelled, whether or not skinned or split, are classified under heading 0713, which belongs to chapter 07, edible vegetables and certain roots and tubers. The words shelled and dried are important: fresh peas and beans in the pod are classified elsewhere in the same chapter, and canned or otherwise prepared beans fall in a later chapter for preserved vegetables.
Because the chapter also holds potatoes, onions, carrots and other fresh vegetables, chapter-level trade figures overstate the pulse trade. In 2024 customs data, chapter 07 imports were $16.5B for the United States and $8.8B for Germany, but those totals cover all edible vegetables. To size pulses you need to work at heading 0713 or lower.
The tariff names the main pulse species one by one. Dried peas are 071310, chickpeas are 071320, lentils are 071340, broad beans and horse beans are 071350 and pigeon peas are 071360. Beans get a group of their own: 071331 covers the mung and urad species, 071332 small red adzuki beans, 071333 kidney beans including white pea beans, 071334 bambara beans and 071335 cowpeas, with 071339 catching other beans not named in that group.
The last line, 071390, is for dried leguminous vegetables not covered elsewhere in the heading. Because this is a residual line, use it only after you have confirmed that the species is not named in a specific subheading.
Trade names are loose. The same pulse can be sold as dal, gram, lentil, split pea or bean under different local names, and different species can share a common name. Classification follows the botanical species, so identify the exact one from your supplier and, if in doubt, from the seed’s scientific name, then compare with the subheading text.
Mung and urad beans are a good example. They are grouped under one subheading in the tariff even though they are distinct crops with different markets, whereas kidney beans and adzuki beans each have their own line. Green, black and yellow varieties all matter to buyers but do not change the code unless the species changes.
The heading text says whether or not skinned or split, so removing the husk or splitting a lentil into dal does not move it to a different heading. The species still decides the subheading. What changes is the commercial description, the specification and often the buyer, so both should be stated on the invoice.
Processing goes past the limit of the heading when the product is milled into flour or meal, which belongs to a different chapter, or when it is cooked, canned or otherwise prepared. Pulses that have been soaked, precooked or flavoured also leave the heading. If your product has been through more than cleaning, skinning and splitting, check the neighbouring chapters.
The common mistakes are using the residual line because the local name is unfamiliar, treating seeds sold for sowing as if they were food pulses, and mixing pulses with cereals or oilseeds in one declaration. Sowing seed and oilseeds such as soya beans and groundnuts are classified in other chapters, so a bean that is also an oilseed needs a check of the chapter notes.
Mixed lots are another problem. A blend of several pulses does not fit one species subheading neatly, so ask your customs broker how the blend should be declared. Retail packs of mixed dals are a typical case.
The first six digits are shared by countries applying the Harmonized System, but each country adds digits of its own, usually to eight or ten, and attaches duty rates, licensing and inspection conditions to those longer lines. Two consignments with the same six-digit code can face different treatment on the national line.
Take the duty rate and any import requirement from the destination’s current tariff, not from a six-digit table. Confirm the national line with the destination customs authority or a licensed broker, including any preferential rate that a trade agreement allows you to claim.
Use the six-digit subheading to search customs shipment records for importers, exporters, volumes, origins and declared values. A search on 071340 returns lentil shipments, while a search at heading level returns every pulse, which is useful for an overview but not for targeting a buyer of a specific pulse.
Search a couple of neighbouring subheadings too, in case importers or exporters declare a pulse under the residual line, and compare the results with the chapter totals to see how much of a country’s vegetable imports is actually pulses.
Dried, shelled leguminous vegetables are classified under heading 0713 in chapter 07. The six-digit subheading depends on species: 071310 for peas, 071320 for chickpeas, 071340 for lentils, 071360 for pigeon peas and 071390 for other pulses.
Kidney beans, including white pea beans, are 071333. Mung and urad beans are 071331, adzuki beans 071332 and cowpeas 071335. Check the species with your supplier before choosing, since common names overlap.
No. Heading 0713 covers pulses whether or not skinned or split, so split lentils stay under 071340. Milling into flour or cooking and canning takes the product out of the heading, so check the neighbouring chapters for those.
Only when the species is not named in a specific subheading of heading 0713. Using it because a local name is unfamiliar is a common error. Identify the botanical species first and compare it with the subheading texts.
No. The six-digit code is only the international base. Duty and import conditions attach to the national tariff line. Confirm the current rate and any requirements with the destination customs authority or a licensed customs broker.
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