Uniform Interpretation of the Commodity Nomenclature as the Basis for Regulation of International Trade

The international trade today is complex and multidimensional. The unambiguous identification of objects in international trade allows us to solve a large number of questions on the regulation and control of the movement of goods, to apply a wide range of measures in a globalizing world economy. The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System of the World Customs Organization (HS) is a recognized tool for classifying and coding goods in the international trade. The Commodity nomenclature of foreign economic activity of the Eurasian Economic Union (CN FEA EAEU), based on the HS, is applied in the territory of the EAEU member countries in accordance with the agreement on the EAEU. The CN FEA EAEU fully incorporates the Russian-language version of the HS, as an integral part within the six-digit code. In connection with the linguistic features of the CN FEA EAEU does not fully coincide with the original source in terms of translation. The article presents the results of a study on the comparability of the interpretation of the texts of HS implemented in the CN FEA EAEU. An analysis of the uniformity of the interpretation and the usage of these texts is necessary to provide the regulation of the international trade. The work revealed discrepancies in the interpretation of texts of a number of commodity items. Particular attention is paid to the study of the texts of commodity subheadings containing expansion structures related to similar products used for different purposes. A number of contradictions in the interpretation and understanding of certain terms of the HS, which are widely used in the CN FEA EAEU, have been investigated. The problems of using the conceptual apparatus are revealed by the example of the analysis of the terms “furniture†and “coachwork†. Using the example of fittings, a detailed analysis of the definitions for the classification of parts and accessories of complex technical goods was carried out. In order to establish a uniform application and interpretation of the contents of the subheadings of the CN FEA EAEU it is necessary to provide the compliance with the structural features of a number of texts of commodity positions of the HS. The absence of a unified approach to the translation of texts of commodity items in the CN FEA EAEU having the same structure in the HS has been proved. The results of the study are significant as a basis for ensuring the regulation of the international trade.