French fries - frozen Hs Code

French fries - frozen harmonized system code

Product Overview French Fries - Frozen, classified under HS Code 200410, are pre-cut potatoes that have undergone blanching, partial frying or par-frying, and rapid freezing to preserve texture and flavor. These products typically exhibit uniform cut sizes, such as shoestring, crinkle-cut, or steak fries, with moisture content controlled between 70-80% and oil absorption carefully regulated during processing to ensure consistent quality. The frozen state facilitates extended shelf life while maintaining organoleptic properties and microbial safety. Within HS Code 200410, subcategories differentiate products based on cut type, degree of processing (e.g., raw frozen versus pre-fried), and packaging specifications. French Fries - Frozen are widely utilized across food service industries—including quick service restaurants, institutional catering, and retail outlets—as convenient, ready-to-cook items. Their standardized quality and ease of handling provide supply chain efficiencies and product consistency, offering importers and distributors a reliable commodity for diverse culinary applications. This product’s market positioning hinges on its balance of cost-effectiveness, ease of preparation, and alignment with global consumer demand for convenience foods. HS Code Classification & Trade Specifications The HS Code 200410 is structured as follows: Chapter 20 (Preparation of vegetables, fruit, nuts or other parts of plants), Heading 2004 (Frozen vegetables excluding potatoes prepared for immediate consumption), and Subheading 200410 (Potatoes, frozen). This classification is justified as French Fries - Frozen are processed potato products preserved by freezing, distinct from fresh or chilled potatoes and other vegetable preparations. Trade considerations for this product emphasize packaging in moisture-resistant, food-grade materials such as polyethylene bags or vacuum-sealed cartons, often in 2.5 to 10 kg units to facilitate handling and distribution. Preservation methods conform to rapid freezing techniques (IQF or blast freezing) to inhibit enzymatic activity and microbial growth, ensuring compliance with Codex Alimentarius quality standards and relevant WTO sanitary and phytosanitary measures. Shipping typically requires refrigerated containers maintaining -18°C or below to preserve product integrity. Import/export documentation must accurately reference HS Code 200410, incorporate precise product descriptions, and declare compliance with international food safety certifications and customs regulations to streamline clearance and trade facilitation.

French fries - frozen Chapter Note

1.- This Chapter does not cover : (a) Vegetables, fruit or nuts, prepared or preserved by the processes specified in Chapter 7, 8 or 11; (b) Vegetable fats and oils (Chapter 15); (c) Food preparations containing more than 20 % by weight of sausage, meat, meat offal, blood, insects, fish or crustaceans, molluscs or other aquatic invertebrates, or any combination thereof (Chapter 16); (d) Bakers’ wares and other products of heading 19.05; or (e) Homogenised composite food preparations of heading 21.04. 2.- Headings 20.07 and 20.08 do not apply to fruit jellies, fruit pastes, sugar-coated almonds or the like in the form of sugar confectionery (heading 17.04) or chocolate confectionery (heading 18.06). 3.- Headings 20.01, 20.04 and 20.05 cover, as the case may be, only those products of Chapter 7 or of heading 11.05 or 11.06 (other than flour, meal and powder of the products of Chapter 8) which have been prepared or preserved by processes other than those referred to in Note 1 (a). 4.- Tomato juice the dry weight content of which is 7 % or more is to be classified in heading 20.02. 5.- For the purposes of heading 20.07, the expression “obtained by cooking” means obtained by heat treatment at atmospheric pressure or under reduced pressure to increase the viscosity of a product through reduction of water content or other means. 6.- For the purposes of heading 20.09, the expression “juices, unfermented and not containing added spirit” means juices of an alcoholic strength by volume (see Note 2 to Chapter 22) not exceeding 0.5 % vol.