Greeting card|HTS Code

Greeting card harmonized system code

Product Overview Greeting card classified under HTS 4909.00 is a printed paper or paperboard article intended primarily for conveying messages, sentiments or announcements for personal, ceremonial or commercial occasions. Typical physical specifications include substrates from 120–350 g/m2 (cover stock), caliper 200–700 µm, finished formats from A7 (approx. 88×127 mm) to A4 (210×297 mm), single- or multi-fold constructions, with or without matching envelopes. Processing levels range from digital or offset lithography through foil stamping, embossing, aqueous or UV varnish, lamination and die‑cutting; embellishments may include metallic foils, hot stamping, emboss/deboss, spot varnish and adhesive attachments. Quality attributes relevant to trade compliance are substrate grammage, ISO brightness, pH (acid‑free), coating weight (g/m2), print density and dimensional tolerances. Product classifications within 4909.00 include postcards, single‑sheet greeting cards, folded cards with envelopes, invitations/announcements, and premium luxury cards with added embellishments; personalized variable‑data print runs are treated within the same heading when printed on paper substrates. Commercial applications cover retail seasonal greeting sales, corporate communications, event invitations and third‑party print finishing services. HTS Code Classification & Trade Specifications HTS 6‑digit structure: Chapter 49 (Printed books, newspapers, pictures & other printed matter); Heading 4909 (Printed cards, including postcards, greeting cards, and similar articles); Subheading 490900 (Printed cards). Classification rationale: articles fabricated predominantly of paper or paperboard and bearing printed matter, whether folded or single‑sheet, fit 4909.00 because the principal component and function is printed text/imagery on paper; items incorporating non‑paper functional components (electronic modules, embedded batteries, or metal components exceeding decorative foils) may be classified elsewhere. Trade considerations for import/export operations include flat packing in moisture‑resistant poly sleeves, inner cartons of ECT‑rated corrugated board, palletization with stretch film and corner protection, typical carton gross weight limit 20–30 kg, and control of relative humidity (30–50%) to prevent curling or adhesive migration. Quality standards referenced by customs and buyers include substrate grammage (g/m2), caliper (µm), ISO brightness, ISO 12647 color control, ΔE tolerances, and archival standards (ISO 9706) where applicable. Required documentation: HTS number, country of origin, commercial invoice, packing list and B/L or AWB.

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.