Classification compendium
WCO publication compiling the HS Committee's classification opinions and decisions for international reference.
The Classification Compendium (Compendium of Classification Opinions) is an official WCO publication compiling all classification opinions adopted by the Harmonized System Committee since the HS's creation. Together with the Explanatory Notes, it is one of the two major HS interpretation tools.
The Compendium is organised according to the HS structure: for each heading and subheading that has been the subject of an opinion, it contains the classified product's description, composition or characteristics, and classification reasoning. Unlike the Explanatory Notes which give general guidance, the Compendium deals with specific products with their own characteristics.
The Compendium is regularly updated by adding new opinions and removing obsolete ones (for example, after an HS revision that makes classification obvious). The electronic version is updated after each HS Committee session.
For practitioners, the Compendium is a valuable argumentation tool in classification disputes: citing a classification opinion on an identical or very similar product significantly strengthens the operator's position. National and European customs courts give significant weight to these opinions in their reasoning.