Four categories of "sugar food" classification cases
Case 2: Smoking cessation gum
Case 3: Chocolate candy
Case 4: Fruit flavored gummy
Analysis and Reminder
As you can see, the above four cases are all sugary foods, why are they not all classified as category 1704 sugary foods? Some people may ask if chewing gum is not a specific product listed in heading 1704, why is it classified as heading 2106 or 2404? With these questions in mind, let's take a look at the relevant regulations for product 1704:
17.04 Sugar foods without cocoa (including white chocolate):
10- Chewing gum, whether or not coated with sugar
90- Other
This heading does not include:
（1） Glycyrrhetinin (not made into candy) containing 10% or less by weight of sucrose (heading 13.02).
（2） Sugar containing cocoa (heading 18.06) (cocoa butter is not considered cocoa here).
（3） Sugar coated vegetables, fruits, peels, etc. (heading 20.06) and jam, jelly, etc. (heading 20.07).
（4） Candies, chewing gums and similar products containing synthetic sweeteners (such as sorbitol) that substitute sugars (mainly for patients with diabetes); A sugar paste containing a large amount of fat and sometimes milk and nuts, which is not suitable for direct sugar making (heading 21.06).
（5） Chapter 30 Medicines.
After understanding the relevant regulations of item 1704, we will analyze the case and why it is classified in this way:
Case 1
Chewing gum does not meet the requirements of heading 1704 because the sugars in its composition, namely sorbitol, sorbitol solution, and xylitol, are synthetic sweeteners that replace sugars and do not include point (4) according to heading regulations;
Case 2
Smoking cessation chewing gum, although containing synthetic sweetener sorbitol, is mainly composed of nicotine, which is a tobacco ingredient. This product belongs to tobacco substitute products and does not include products of heading 2404 according to Note 1 (6) of Chapter 21. Therefore, it should be classified under heading 2404.
Case Three
Chocolate candies are explicitly excluded from the provisions of heading 1704 and do not include products that contain cocoa, so their ingredients contain milk chocolate, which does not comply with the classification requirements of heading 1704. Cocoa candy products should be classified as 1806.
Case 4
Fruit flavored soft candy, whose main sugars are white sugar and maltose syrup, are not considered synthetic sweeteners. Although it contains D-sorbitol as a synthetic sweetener, its purpose is to act as a water retention and thickening agent, rather than a sweetener. So it meets the requirements of item 1704.
So based on the analysis of the above cases, the author believes that the classification of sugar food cannot only be based on the product name, which is not the basis for classification. The key is to be familiar with the ingredients of the product itself, know whether the sugar in the sugar food is a synthetic sweetener, whether it contains cocoa, etc., and then classify it accordingly.
The above only represents the author's views. If you have different opinions, please contact the author for exchange and discussion.
