Tomato puree Hs Code

Tomato puree harmonized system code

Product Overview Tomato puree, classified under HS Code 200290, is a concentrated tomato product obtained by cooking and straining ripe tomatoes to achieve a thick, smooth consistency. It typically contains between 7% to 24% total soluble solids (TSS), with a characteristic deep red color and a pH range of 4.0 to 4.5, ensuring both flavor intensity and preservation quality. The product is free from skins, seeds, and other solids, distinguishing it from tomato paste and juice. Within HS Code 200290, subcategories include tomato puree without added preservatives, puree with added salt or sugar, and puree blended with other vegetable extracts. Commercially, tomato puree serves as a foundational ingredient in food service operations, retail packaged goods, and industrial food processing, particularly in sauces, soups, and ready-to-eat meals. Its value proposition lies in its consistent quality, ease of use, and extended shelf life, making it a preferred intermediate product for manufacturers seeking uniform flavor profiles and regulatory compliance in global markets. HS Code Classification & Trade Specifications The HS Code 200290 falls within Chapter 20 (Preparations of vegetables, fruit, nuts or other parts of plants) and Heading 2002 (Tomatoes prepared or preserved otherwise than by vinegar or acetic acid). The subheading 200290 specifically designates tomato puree and concentrates excluding pastes. This classification is based on the product’s processing method—cooked and strained to a puree consistency without fermentation or pickling agents. Standard trade packaging includes aseptic cartons, bulk drums, or retort pouches, typically ranging from 5 to 25 kilograms to facilitate handling and preserve product integrity. Preservation methods focus on thermal processing and aseptic packaging to achieve a shelf life of 12 to 24 months under ambient conditions. Quality standards conform to Codex Alimentarius guidelines and international norms for soluble solids content, microbial limits, and absence of contaminants, ensuring compliance with WTO trade facilitation agreements and customs documentation requirements. These specifications aid customs brokers and compliance officers in accurate tariff classification and risk assessment during import/export procedures.

Tomato puree 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.