Are you ready for the next HS reform?

Are you ready for HS2028? Good news you have one more year to do it. Bad news, you need to start to prepare now. One more year will be needed.

Are you already planning for the implementation of the next version of the Harmonized System? Not yet? Well, it seems that we will now have one extra year to prepare for that big change. The WCO HS Committee has just agreed to extend the current HS Review Cycle by one extra year. The Review Cycle will exceptionally run over 6 years instead of the habitual 5-year term, to make up for the time lost due to Covid. The new Nomenclature (HS 2028) will thus enter into force on 1 January 2028 (instead of 2027 originally envisaged).

What does this mean for the international trade and customs community? One extra year to finalize proposals already tabled and to submit some fresh ones too. In the HS we will hopefully see more ambitious changes, more far-reaching modernization, making the HS even more relevant for international trade community. Let us wish the hard-working WCO colleagues the best of luck in their efforts of taking the HS to the next level.

Alexey Shcheglov is our Global Product Lead on HS Classification & Strategic Customs Optimization at Maersk Customs Services, Global Trade and Customs Consulting (GTCC). With his outstanding background working in leading positions of these areas in the World Customs Organization (WCO), Alexey & his team can you help prepare flr the next big reform of the Harmonized System (HS).