CN heading 2208

The Combined Nomenclature is the EU goods nomenclature and settles two things at once: which customs duty applies on import and which excise act governs the goods. Alcohol within the meaning of the German Alcohol Duty Act means goods of headings 2207 and 2208 with an alcoholic strength above 1.2 percent by volume, plus goods of headings 2204, 2205 and 2206 above 22 percent by volume (Section 1(2) AlkStG). Beer of heading 2203 and unfortified wine fall under separate acts.

Within 2208 the subheadings distinguish by type of product. What matters for declarations is not the four-digit heading but the eight-digit code, because only that identifies the product. The same code is used in the e-AD, in import and export declarations and in the stock ledger, which is why it belongs in the product master data once and correctly.

The duty itself does not depend on the heading but on pure alcohol. The heading does decide whether a tax warehouse authorisation covers the goods at all and whether a consignment may enter the procedure.

The most common error is a classification taken from the supplier without checking it against the product. Flavoured variants of a brand, cream liqueurs and mixtures are particularly exposed, because two subheadings sit close together. A wrong code then runs through the e-AD, the export declaration and the stock ledger, and every correction touches several documents.

The second error is a description of the goods that is common in the trade but says nothing to customs. Where it names only a category instead of brand and type, that surfaces at a check at the latest.