Cheddar cheese Hs Code

Cheddar cheese harmonized system code

Product Overview Cheddar cheese classified under HS Code 040690 refers to a firm, cow’s milk cheese characterized by its dense texture and distinct sharp flavor profile, produced through a controlled aging process. Typically, this cheese exhibits moisture content ranging from 36% to 39%, fat content of approximately 48% on a dry matter basis, and pH levels between 5.1 and 5.5, ensuring consistent quality and preservation. The production involves pasteurization, curd cutting, cheddaring, pressing, and aging from 3 to 24 months, yielding various maturity levels from mild to extra sharp. Within HS Code 040690, subcategories include processed cheddar, flavored variants, and reduced-fat options, facilitating precise trade classification. Commercially, cheddar cheese is widely utilized across foodservice sectors, retail outlets, and industrial processing, serving as an ingredient in ready-to-eat meals, bakery products, and dairy blends. Its robust flavor profile, shelf stability, and versatility position it as a competitive product in global markets, supporting diverse culinary applications and meeting stringent international quality benchmarks. HS Code Classification & Trade Specifications The HS Code 040690 falls under Chapter 04 (Dairy produce; birds’ eggs; natural honey; edible products of animal origin), Heading 0406 (Cheese and curd), with the subheading 040690 specifically denoting "Other cheese" including cheddar cheese varieties not elsewhere classified. This classification is justified by the cheese’s composition, processing methods, and moisture-fat ratios, aligning with World Customs Organization (WCO) nomenclature guidelines. Typical commercial packaging includes vacuum-sealed blocks or wax-coated wheels, ranging from 200 grams to 25 kilograms, optimized for moisture retention and microbial inhibition during transport. Preservation methods emphasize refrigeration at 2°C to 8°C with controlled humidity to maintain organoleptic properties and shelf life of up to 12 months. Compliance with international quality standards such as Codex Alimentarius and ISO 22000 is essential, ensuring traceability, safety, and regulatory adherence. These specifications facilitate smooth customs clearance, tariff determination, and consistent classification across import/export jurisdictions, supporting efficient global trade operations.

Cheddar cheese Chapter Note

1.- The expression “milk” means full cream milk or partially or completely skimmed milk. 2.- For the purposes of heading 04.03, yogurt may be concentrated or flavoured and may contain added sugar or other sweetening matter, fruit, nuts, cocoa, chocolate, spices, coffee or coffee extracts, plants, parts of plants, cereals or bakers’ wares, provided that any added substance is not used for the purpose of replacing, in whole or in part, any milk constituent, and the product retains the essential character of yogurt. 3.- For the purposes of heading 04.05 : (a) The term “butter” means natural butter, whey butter or recombined butter (fresh, salted or rancid, including canned butter) derived exclusively from milk, with a milkfat content of 80 % or more but not more than 95 % by weight, a maximum milk solids-not-fat content of 2 % by weight and a maximum water content of 16 % by weight. Butter does not contain added emulsifiers, but may contain sodium chloride, food colours, neutralising salts and cultures of harmless lactic-acidproducing bacteria. (b) The expression “dairy spreads” means a spreadable emulsion of the water-in-oil type, containing milkfat as the only fat in the product, with a milkfat content of 39 % or more but less than 80 % by weight. 4.- Products obtained by the concentration of whey and with the addition of milk or milkfat are to be classified as cheese in heading 04.06 provided that they have the three following characteristics : (a) a milkfat content, by weight of the dry matter, of 5 % or more; (b) a dry matter content, by weight, of at least 70 % but not exceeding 85 %; and (c) they are moulded or capable of being moulded. 5.- This Chapter does not cover : (a) Non-living insects, unfit for human consumption (heading 05.11); (b) Products obtained from whey, containing by weight more than 95 % lactose, expressed as anhydrous lactose calculated on the dry matter (heading 17.02); (c) Products obtained from milk by replacing one or more of its natural constituents (for example, butyric fats) by another substance (for example, oleic fats) (heading 19.01 or 21.06); or (d) Albumins (including concentrates of two or more whey proteins, containing by weight more than 80 % whey proteins, calculated on the dry matter) (heading 35.02) or globulins (heading 35.04). 6.- For the purposes of heading 04.10, the term “insects” means edible non-living insects, whole or in parts, fresh, chilled, frozen, dried, smoked, salted or in brine, as well as flours and meals of insects, fit for human consumption. However, it does not cover edible non-living insects otherwise prepared or preserved (generally Section IV).