Greeting card|HS Code

Greeting card harmonized system code

Product Overview A Greeting Card, classified under HS Code 4909, is a printed card featuring artwork and accompanying text that is used to convey a message of sentiment or celebration. The primary characteristics of these cards include their physical dimensions (commonly 5"x7" but can vary), the type of paper used (typically high-quality card stock), and the presence of graphic elements such as illustrations, photographs, or typographic designs. This category also encompasses cards with additional features, such as sound chips or pop-up elements, further divided into subcategories based on their specific design and function. Greeting cards have widespread commercial applications, including usage in retail, corporate communications, and event planning sectors. Their market positioning is based on the idea of personal touch, emotional connection, and the preservation of tradition, which gives them a competitive advantage over digital communication methods. HS Code Classification & Trade Specifications The complete HS Code structure for Greeting Cards is 4909.00, where the chapter 49 pertains to 'Printed Books, Newspapers, Pictures and other Products of the Printing Industry,' and the heading 09 specifies 'Printed or Illustrated Postcards; Printed Cards Bearing Personal Greetings, Messages or Announcements.' The rationale behind this classification is the card's primary function as a printed product designed to convey personal messages. Trade considerations for Greeting Cards typically involve packaging in protective envelopes or boxes to ensure they maintain their quality during transit. Shipping requirements generally depend on the quantity being transported, with larger quantities often requiring palletization. As per the international quality standards, the cards should be free from printing errors, smudges, or any physical deformities and should adhere to the specified dimensions and design specifications. These guidelines are in line with WTO and customs documentation standards, ensuring smooth international trade transactions.

Greeting card Chapter Note

1.- This Chapter does not cover : (a) Photographic negatives or positives on transparent bases (Chapter 37); (b) Maps, plans or globes, in relief, whether or not printed (heading 90.23); (c) Playing cards or other goods of Chapter 95; or (d) Original engravings, prints or lithographs (heading 97.02), postage or revenue stamps, stamppostmarks, first-day covers, postal stationery or the like of heading 97.04, antiques of an age exceeding one hundred years or other articles of Chapter 97. 2.- For the purposes of Chapter 49, the term “printed” also means reproduced by means of a duplicating machine, produced under the control of an automatic data processing machine, embossed, photographed, photocopied, thermocopied or typewritten. 3.- Newspapers, journals and periodicals which are bound otherwise than in paper, and sets of newspapers, journals or periodicals comprising more than one number under a single cover are to be classified in heading 49.01, whether or not containing advertising material. 4.- Heading 49.01 also covers : (a) A collection of printed reproductions of, for example, works of art or drawings, with a relative text, put up with numbered pages in a form suitable for binding into one or more volumes; (b) A pictorial supplement accompanying, and subsidiary to, a bound volume; and (c) Printed parts of books or booklets, in the form of assembled or separate sheets or signatures, constituting the whole or a part of a complete work and designed for binding. However, printed pictures or illustrations not bearing a text, whether in the form of signatures or separate sheets, fall in heading 49.11. 5.- Subject to Note 3 to this Chapter , heading 49.01 does not cover publications which are essentially devoted to advertising (for example, brochures, pamphlets, leaflets, trade catalogues, year books published by trade associations, tourist propaganda). Such publications are to be classified in heading 49.11. 6.- For the purposes of heading 49.03, the expression “children's picture books” means books for children in which the pictures form the principal interest and the text is subsidiary.