WCO Explanatory Notes reproduced for reference. © World Customs Organization. Verify against official WCO publication.
29.15 - Saturated acyclic monocarboxylic acids and their anhydrides, halides, peroxides and peroxyacids; their halogenated, sulphonated, nitrated or nitrosated denvatives. - Formic acid, its salts and esters : 2915.1 1 - - Formic acid 2915.12 - - Salts of formic acid 29 15.13 - - Esters of formic acid - Acetic acid and its salts; acetic anhydride : - - Acetic acid 29 15.24 - - Acetic anhydride 2915.29 - - Other 2915.21 - Esters of acetic acid 29 15.3 1 - - Ethyl acetate 2915.32 - - Vinyl acetate 2915.33 - - n-Butyl acetate 2915.36 - - Dinoseb (ISO)acetate 2915.39 - - Other 29 15.40 - Mono-, di- or trichloroacetic acids, their salts and esters 29 15.50 - Propionic acid, its salts and esters 2915.60 - Butanoic acids, pentanoic acids, their salts and esters 2915.70 - Palmitic acid, stearic acid, their salts and esters 2915.90 - Other This heading covers saturated acyclic monocarboxylic acids and their anhydrides, halides, peroxides and peroxyacids, esters and salts, as well as the halogenated, sul honated, nitrated or nitrosated derivatives (including compound derivatives) of any of these pro ucts. S (I) Formic acid (HCOOH) and its salts and esters. (a) Formic acid is found in nature and obtained synthetically. A mobile, colourless liquid, givin off slight fumes when exposed to air; has an irritating odour and is caustic. Use in dyeing, in tanning, in the coagulation of latex, in medicine as an antiseptic, or in organic synthesis. (b) The main salts of formic acid are : (1) Sodium formate (HCOONa). Deliquescent crystalline white powder; used in medicine, in tanning and in organic synthesis. (2) Calcium formate ((HC00)2Ca). Crystals. (3) Aluminium formate ((HC00)3Al). White powder used in the textile industry as a mordant and for waterproofing. There is also a basic formate usually put up in aqueous solution. (4) Nickel formate ((HC00)2Ni).Used as a catalyst for the hydrogenation of oil. (c) The main esters of formic acid are : ( 1 Methyl formate (HCOOCH3).A colourless liquid with an agreeable odour. (2) Ethyl formate (HCOOC2H5).A colourless, mobile, volatile and inflammable liquld with rn odour of rum. (3) Benzyl, bornyl, citronellyl, geranyl, isobornyl, linalyl menthyl, phenylethyl, rhodinyl and terpenyl forrnates. Mainly used in pe&ery. (11) Acetic acid (CH3COOH)and its salts and esters. (a) Acetic acid is obtained by the dry distillation of wood, or synthetically. A very acid li uid with a characteristrc and penetrating odour of vinegar caustic. When cold it so idifies into colourless crystals (glacial acetic acid). A solvent for phosphorus and sulphur and for many organic substances. Commercial acetic acid is slightly yellowish in colour, and has very often a sli ht empyreumatic odour. Used in the textile indus? in tanning as a coagulant or latex, or for the manufacture of acetates, synt etic plasticlsers, pharmaceutical products, etc. B (b) The main salts of acetic acid are : (1) Sodium acetate (CH3COONa).Colourless and odourless crystals, or anhydrous white or faintly yellow powder. Used as a mordant and for many chemical preparations. (2) Cobalt acetate ((CH3C00)2Co).Deliquescent violet-red crystals with an odour of acetic acid. (3) Calcium acetate ((CH3C00)2Ca).Colourless crystals when pure. (4) Basic copper acetate (CH,COOCuOH). Needles or small crystalline flakes, blue in colour; disintegrates on contact with air and turns greenish. (5) Neutral copper acetate ((CH3C00)2Cu). Greenish-blue owder or small crystals; dis~ntegrateson contact with air and turns to a whitis powder R B I (6) Lead acetate, neutral ((CH3C00)2Pb), or basic (e.g., Pb CHFOO)2. 3Pb0.H20). The neutral acetate occurs as colourless or faint1 ye1 ow or blue, toxic crystals. The basic acetate is a dense, white powder, use in medicine and as a reagent for chemical analyses. (7) Lithium and potassium acetates, used in medicine; chromium, aluminium and iron acetates, used as mordants. (c) The main esters of acetic acid are : (1) Methyl acetate (CB3COOCH3). Found amongst the roducts of the dry distillation of wood. A li uid with a fruity odour; used or preparing artificial h i t essences, and as a so vent for fats, resins and cellulose nitrate, etc. ? P (2) Ethyl acetate (CH3COOC2H,). Colourless, very mobile, highly inflammable li md with a fruity odour; it may contain ethanol as an impurity. Used as a so vent for cellulose nitrate, varnishes, etc.; also in mehcine as an antispasmodic and analgesic. (3) Vinyl acetate (CH3COOCH=CH2). Colourless liquid with a characteristic odour; a monomer used for preparing poly(viny1 acetate) (polymers of heading 39.05). (4) n-Propyl and isopropyl acetates. Used for making artificial fruit essences. (5) n-Butyl acetate. Colourless liquid; used for making artificial fruit essences and as a solvent. (6) Isobu 1 acetate. Colourless liquid; used for making artificial h i t essences and as a so vent. 'T (7) n-Pen 1 acetate (n-arnyl acetate) and 3-methylbutyl acetate (iso-my1 acetat3 Used for making artificial fruit essences. (8) ZEthoxyethyl acetate. (9) Benzyl, ter enyl, linal 1 eranyl, citronell 1, anisyl, paratolyl, cinnamyl, phenylethy , bornyl an iso ornyl acetates. used in perfumery. P 8 3 AI (10) Glycerol acetates (mono-, di-, triacetin). The heading also includes acetic anhydride (CH3C0)20). Colourless liquid with a strong, irritating odour; caustic; used for chernica syntheses. \ @ Mono-, I) di- and trichloroacetic acids and their salts and esters. (a) Monochloroacetic acid (ClCH,COOH). Colourless crystals. (b) Dichloroacetic acid (C4CHCOOH). Colourless liquid. (c) Trichloroacetic acid (C1,CCOOH). ColourIess crystals with penetrating odour; used in organic synthesis and in medicine. (IV) Propionic acid (CH3CH2COOH)and its salts and esters. Propionic acid is a liquid with an odour similar to acetic acid. (V) Butanoic acids and their salts and esters. (a) Butyric acid (butanoic acid) is a dense, oily liquid with a disagreeable rancid odour; colourless. Used for deliming hides. @) Isobutyric acid (2-methylpropanoic acid). (VI) Pentanoic acids and their salts and esters. (a) Valeric acid (pentanoic acid) is a colourless, transparent oily liquid with a disagreeable rancid odour. (b) Isovaleric acid (3-methylbutanoic acid). (c) Pivalic acid (2,2-dimethylpropanoic acid). (d) 2-Methylbutanoic acid. (VII) Palmitic acid (CH3(CH2),4COOH) and its salts and esters. (a) Palmitic acid is found in fats as a glyceride; it is a white powder, shiny crystals ox colourless flakes. @) Its main salts are : (I) Calcium palmitate, used in perfumery. (2) Aluminium almitate, used for water-proofing textiles and for thickening lubricating oi s. P The water-soluble palmitic salts (e ., sodium, potassium and ammonium palrnitates) are soaps but they remain classified in is heading. f (VIII) Stearic acid (CH3(CH2),6COOH)and its salts and esters. (a) Stearic acid is found in fats as a glyceride; white, amorphous, and similar to wax. (b) Its main salts are : (1) Calcium stearate, used in water-proofing textiles. (2) Magnesium stearate, used in the manufacture of varnishes. (3) Zinc stearate, used in medicine, in the rubber and plastics industries, and in the manufacture of oil-cloth. (4) Aluminium stearate, used for the same purposes as aluminium palmitate. (5) Copper stearate, used for bronzing plaster and as an antifouling agent. (6) Lead stearate, used as a drier. The water-soluble stearic salts e.g., sodium, potassium and ammonium stearates) are soaps but they remain classifie in this heading. (c) The esters also include ethyl and butyl stearates (used as plasticisers), and glycol stearate (used as a substitute for natural wax). (IX) Other products of this heading include : (a) Ethyl chloroformate, sometimes called ethyl chlorocarbonate - a colourless, lachrymatory liquid with a suffocating odour; inflammable. Used in organic synthesis. (b) Acetyl chloride (CH3COC1). Colourless liquid; when exposed to air gives off fumes imtating to the eyes; it has a strong odour. (c) Acetyl bromide (CH3COBr). Same characteristics as the chloride; used in organic synthesis. (d) Mono-, di- and tribromoacetic acids and their salts and esters. (e) n-Hexoic (caproic) and 2-ethylbutyric acids and their salts and esters. (f) n-Octoic (caprylic) and 2-ethylhexoic acids and their salts and esters. This heading excludes : (a) Potable solutions of acetic acid in water containing 10 % or less by weight of acetic acid (heading 22.09). (b) Salts and esters of crude stearic acid (generally heading 34.01,34.04 or 38.24). (c) Mixtures of glycerol mono-, di- and tristearates, fat emulsifiers (heading 34.04 when they have the character of artificial waxes or heading 38.24 in 0 t h cases). (d) Fatty acids of a purity of less than 90 % (calculated on the weight of the dry product) (heading 38.23).
Notes. 1.- Except where the context otherwise requires, the headings of this Chapter apply only to : (a) Separate chemically defined organic compounds, whether or not containing impurities; (b) Mixtures of two or more isomers of the same organic compound (whether or not containing impurities), except mixtures of acyclic hydrocarbon isomers (other than stereoisomers), whether or not saturated (Chapter 27); (c) The products of headings 29.36 to 29.39 or the sugar ethers, sugar acetals and sugar esters, and their salts, of heading 29.40, or the products of heading 29.41, whether or not chemically defined; (d) The products mentioned in (a), (b) or (c) above dissolved in water; (e) The products mentioned in (a), (b) or (c) above dissolved in other solvents provided that the solution constitutes a normal and necessary method of putting up these products adopted solely for reasons of safety or for transport and that the solvent does not render the product particularly suitable for specific use rather than for general use; (f) The products mentioned in (a), (b), (c), (d) or (e) above with an added stabiliser (including an anti- caking agent) necessary for their preservation or transport; (g) The products mentioned in (a), (b), (c), (d), (e) or (f) above with an added anti-dusting agent or a colouring or odoriferous substance or an emetic added to facilitate their identification or for safety reasons, provided that the additions do not render the product particularly suitable for specific use rather than for general use; (h) The following products, diluted to standard strengths, for the production of azo dyes : diazonium salts, couplers used for these salts and diazotisable amines and their salts. 2.- This Chapter does not cover : (a) Goods of heading 15.04 or crude glycerol of heading 15.20; (b) Ethyl alcohol (heading 22.07 or 22.08); (c) Methane or propane (heading 27.11); (d) The compounds of carbon mentioned in Note 2 to Chapter 28; (e) Immunological products of heading 30.02; (f) Urea (heading 31.02 or 31.05); (g) Colouring matter of vegetable or animal origin (heading 32.03), synthetic organic colouring matter, synthetic organic products of a kind used as fluorescent brightening agents or as luminophores (heading 32.04) or dyes or other colouring matter put up in forms or packings for retail sale (heading 32.12); (h) Enzymes (heading 35.07); (ij) Metaldehyde, hexamethylenetetramine or similar substances, put up in forms (for example, tablets, sticks or similar forms) for use as fuels, or liquid or liquefied-gas fuels in containers of a kind used for filling or refilling cigarette or similar lighters and of a capacity not exceeding 300 cm3 (heading 36.06); (k) Products put up as charges for fire-extinguishers or put up in fire-extinguishing grenades, of heading 38.13; ink removers put up in packings for retail sale, of heading 38.24; or (l) Optical elements, for example, of ethylenediamine tartrate (heading 90.01). 3.- Goods which could be included in two or more of the headings of this Chapter are to be classified in that one of those headings which occurs last in numerical order. 4.- In headings 29.04 to 29.06, 29.08 to 29.11 and 29.13 to 29.20, any reference to halogenated, sulphonated, nitrated or nitrosated derivatives includes a reference to compound derivatives, such as sulphohalogenated, nitrohalogenated, nitrosulphonated or nitrosulphohalogenated derivatives. Nitro or nitroso groups are not to be taken as “nitrogen-functions” for the purposes of heading 29.29. For the purposes of headings 29.11, 29.12, 29.14, 29.18 and 29.22, “oxygen function”, the characteristic organic oxygen-containing group of those respective headings, is restricted to the oxygen-functions referred to in headings 29.05 to 29.20. 5.- (A) The esters of acid-function organic compounds of sub-Chapters I to VII with organic compounds of these sub-Chapters are to be classified with that compound which is classified in the heading which occurs last in numerical order in these sub-Chapters. (B) Esters of ethyl alcohol with acid-function organic compounds of sub-Chapters I to VII are to be classified in the same heading as the corresponding acid-function compounds. (C) Subject to Note 1 to Section VI and Note 2 to Chapter 28 : (1) Inorganic salts of organic compounds such as acid-, phenol- or enol-function compounds or organic bases, of sub-Chapters I to X or heading 29.42, are to be classified in the heading appropriate to the organic compound; (2) Salts formed between organic compounds of sub-Chapters I to X or heading 29.42 are to be classified in the heading appropriate to the base or to the acid (including phenol- or enol- function compounds) from which they are formed, whichever occurs last in numerical order in the Chapter; and (3) Co-ordination compounds, other than products classifiable in sub-Chapter XI or heading 29.41, are to be classified in the heading which occurs last in numerical order in Chapter 29, among those appropriate to the fragments formed by "cleaving" of all metal bonds, other than metal- carbon bonds. (D) Metal alcoholates are to be classified in the same heading as the corresponding alcohols except in the case of ethanol (heading 29.05). (E) Halides of carboxylic acids are to be classified in the same heading as the corresponding acids. 6.- The compounds of headings 29.30 and 29.31 are organic compounds the molecules of which contain, in addition to atoms of hydrogen, oxygen or nitrogen, atoms of other non-metals or of metals (such as sulphur, arsenic or lead) directly linked to carbon atoms. Heading 29.30 (organo-sulphur compounds) and heading 29.31 (other organo-inorganic compounds) do not include sulphonated or halogenated derivatives (including compound derivatives) which, apart from hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen, only have directly linked to carbon the atoms of sulphur or of a halogen which give them their nature of sulphonated or halogenated derivatives (or compound derivatives). 7.- Headings 29.32, 29.33 and 29.34 do not include epoxides with a three-membered ring, ketone peroxides, cyclic polymers of aldehydes or of thioaldehydes, anhydrides of polybasic carboxylic acids, cyclic esters of polyhydric alcohols or phenols with polybasic acids, or imides of polybasic acids. These provisions apply only when the ring-position hetero-atoms are those resulting solely from the cyclising function or functions here listed. 8.- For the purposes of heading 29.37 : (a) the term “hormones” includes hormone-releasing or hormone-stimulating factors, hormone inhibitors and hormone antagonists (anti-hormones); (b) the expression “used primarily as hormones” applies not only to hormone derivatives and structural analogues used primarily for their hormonal effect, but also to those derivatives and structural analogues used primarily as intermediates in the synthesis of products of this heading. Subheading Notes. 1.- Within any one heading of this Chapter, derivatives of a chemical compound (or group of chemical compounds) are to be classified in the same subheading as that compound (or group of compounds) provided that they are not more specifically covered by any other subheading and that there is no residual subheading named “Other” in the series of subheadings concerned. 2.- Note 3 to Chapter 29 does not apply to the subheadings of this Chapter.