In the nomenclature the object of classification is all goods traded in international trade.
The classification of goods in accordance with the unified Commodity Nomenclature of Foreign Economic Activity of the Eurasian Economic Union (hereinafter - the CN FEA EEU) is one of the most urgent issues for participants of foreign economic activity (hereinafter FEA participants).
First of all, the rate of import/export customs duty, and, accordingly, the amount of customs duties, application of non-tariff measures, prohibitions and restrictions to goods and vehicles depends on which classification code of the CN FEA EEU the goods will be attributed to.
Secondly, determination of the classification code of goods according to the CN FEA EEU often requires special technical expertise and additional examinations related to definition of technical specifications of goods, manufacturing processes, etc.
Thirdly, the accuracy of the classification of goods is very important for improving the objectivity of customs statistics of foreign trade used in development of customs policy of the member States of the Eurasian Economic Union and taking concrete measures for its implementation in the process of customs clearance and control of goods and vehicles.
Classification of goods in accordance with the CN FEA EEU means the determination of their digital classification codes, i.e. classification of certain goods under the relevant commodity item, the subitem, the sub-subitem of the CN FEA with their corresponding numerical codes, and is performed based on the texts of commodity items and relevant notes to sections or groups, and provided such texts do not otherwise require, in accordance with the provisions of the General Rules of Interpretation of the Commodity Nomenclature of Foreign Economic Activity (hereinafter – GRI CN FEA).
GRI are designed for unambiguous assigning the particular good to a certain classification grouping, encoded at a certain level. This is a kind of algorithmization of actions taken during classification of goods. The first five GRI provide for the classification of certain goods under the relevant commodity item (GRI 1-5), then with the help of the sixth rule (OPI 6) classification under the relevant subitem, sub-subitem. The sixth rule enlarges the area of application of the first five rules, subject to certain conditions. Therefore, decisions on the classification of goods must be developed from the perspective of justification of position on the classification of goods, taking into account the criteria set out in the CN FEA EEU.
In order to ensure uniformity of interpretation of the unified CN FEA EEU in the classification of goods, the EEU Commission developed a Regulation on the procedure for applying the Unified CN FEA EEU in the classification of goods approved by the decision of the Commission of the Customs union dated January 28, 2011 No. 522
The ten-digit code of the CN FEA EEU is based on the decimal system and includes the code of the group, commodity item, subitem and sub-subitem and contains the following group of digits, where each character varies (ranges) from 0 to 9. The commodity group includes the first two digits, the commodity item - four digits, subitem - six digits and sub-subitem - ten digits.
Upon a request made by a natural person, the customs authorities may classify goods prior to their customs declaration by making preliminary decisions on the classification of goods in accordance with the CN FEA EEU and decisions on the classification of goods transported across the customs border of the Union in unassembled or disassembled form, including incomplete or incomplete form (paragraph 1 of Article 41 of the Customs Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan).