Condensed milk Hs Code

Condensed milk harmonized system code

Product Overview Condensed milk classified under HS Code 040299 is defined as cow’s milk from which water has been partially removed by evaporation, typically containing added sugar, resulting in a thick, viscous liquid or semi-solid product. This product exhibits a high solids content, generally comprising 60-70% total solids and 40-50% sugar concentration, with moisture levels carefully controlled to ensure extended shelf life and stability. The processing involves pasteurization, homogenization, and concentration under controlled thermal conditions to preserve organoleptic qualities and microbiological safety. HS Code 040299 encompasses subcategories including sweetened condensed milk, unsweetened concentrated milk, and evaporated milk variants not elsewhere specified. Commercially, condensed milk is widely utilized in food service sectors for confectionery, bakery applications, and beverage preparation, as well as in retail packaged goods and industrial food processing, serving as a cost-effective dairy ingredient with enhanced shelf stability. Its market positioning is defined by its long shelf life without refrigeration, standardized quality parameters, and versatility, offering importers and manufacturers a reliable dairy concentrate compatible with diverse culinary formulations and processing requirements. HS Code Classification & Trade Specifications The HS Code 040299 is structured as follows: Chapter 04 (Dairy produce; birds’ eggs; natural honey; edible products of animal origin), Heading 0402 (Milk and cream, concentrated or containing added sugar or other sweetening matter), Subheading 040299 (Other concentrated milk and cream, including sweetened condensed milk). This classification is based on the product’s composition—specifically, concentrated milk with or without added sugar not specifically classified under other subheadings like evaporated milk (040221) or infant formula. Trade considerations for condensed milk include packaging in hermetically sealed metal cans, aseptic cartons, or multi-layered retort pouches, designed to maintain product integrity during long-distance shipment and storage at ambient temperatures. Preservation relies on reduced water activity and thermal processing to inhibit microbial growth, ensuring compliance with Codex Alimentarius standards and WTO sanitary and phytosanitary measures. Typical quality specifications require a minimum milk fat content of 8%, a total solids minimum of 60%, and absence of contaminants or unauthorized additives. Documentation for international trade must reflect these attributes alongside proper tariff classification to facilitate customs clearance and adherence to import regulations worldwide.

Condensed milk 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).