WCO Explanatory Notes reproduced for reference. © World Customs Organization. Verify against official WCO publication.
34.01 - Soap; organic surface-active products and preparations for use as soap, in the form of bars, cakes, moulded pieces or shapes, whether or not containing soap; organic surface-active products and preparations for washing the skin,in the form of hquid or cream and put up for retad sale, whether or not containing soap; paper, waddmg, felt and nonwovens, impregnated, coated or covered with soap or detergent. - Soap and organic surface-active products and reparations, in the forrn of bars, cakes, moulded ieces or shapes, an paper, wadding, felt and nonwovens, impregnate ,coated or covered with soap or detergent : - - For toilet use (including medicated products) - - Other - Soap in other forms - Organic surface-active products and reparations for washing the skin, in the B 340 1.1 1 3401.19 3401.20 3401.30 P form of liquid or cream and put up or retail sale, whether or not containing soap (I) SOAP Soa is an alkaline salt (inorganic or organic) formed from a fatty acid or a mixture of fatty acig containing at least eight carbon atoms. In practice, pait of the fatty acids may be replaced by rosin acids. The headin covers only soap soluble in water, that is to sa true soap. Soaps forrn a class of anionic sur ace-active agents, with an alkaline reaction, w ich lather abundantly in aqueous solutions. lT f There are three categories of soap : Hard soa s, which are usually made with sodium hydroxide or sodium carbonate and comprise the bulk o the ordinary soaps. They may be white, coloured or mottled. f Soft soaps,which are made with potassium hyboxide or potassium carbonate. They are viscous and generally green, brown or pale yellow in colour. They may contain small quantities (generally not exceeding 5 %) of synthetic organic surface-active products. Liquid soaps, which are solutions of soap in water, in some cases with a small quantity (generally not exceeding 5 %) of alcohol or glycerol added, but not containing synthetic organic surface-active products. This part covers in particular : (1) Toilet soaps frequently coloured and perfumed, which include : floating soaps and deodorant soaps, as well as glycerin soa s, shaving soaps, medicated soaps and certain disinfectant or abrasive soaps, as describe below. (a) Floating soaps and deodorant soaps. (b) Glycerin soaps, which are translucent and are made by treating white soap with alcohol, glycerol or sugar. (c) Shaving soaps (shaving creams fall in heading 33.07). (d) Medicated soaps containing boric acid, salicylic acid, sulphur, sulphonamides or other medicinal substances. (e) Disinfectant soaps, containing small quantities of phenol, cresol, naphthol, formaldehyde or other bactericidal, bacteriostatic, etc., substances. These soaps should not be confused with disinfecting pre arations of heading 38.08 containing the same constituents, the diffnrnce lying m t&e proportions of the constituents (soap, on the one hand, and phenol, cresol, etc., on the other . The disinfecting preparations of heading 38.08 contain a substantial pro ortion o phenol, cresol, etc., and are liquid whereas disinfectant soaps are usually soyid. (f) Abrasive soaps, consisting of soa to which sand, silica, pumice powder, slate powder, sawdust or any similar pro uct has been added. The headin covers abrasive soaps on1 in the form of bars, cakes or moulded pieces or sha es, brasive scouring pastes an powders, whether or not containing soap, fall in hea Ing 34.05. d' B B W (2) Household soaps, which may be coloured or p e h e d , abrasive or disinfectant. P (3) Rosin, tall oil or naphthenate soaps containing not only alkaline salts of fa acids, but also alkaline resinates of heading 38.06 or alkaline naphthenates of heading 34 2. (4) Industrial soaps, prepared for special purposes, such as those used for wire-drawing, for polymerising synthetic rubber, or in laundries. Subject to the exc tion in aragraph 1 f ) above, the soaps of this heading are generally in the following forms :Tars, czes, moulde pieces or shapes, flakes, powder, paste or aqueous solution. d (11) ORGANIC SUWACE-ACTIVE PRODUCTS AND PREPARATIONS FOR USE AS SOAP, IN THE FORM OF BARS, CAKES OR MOULDED PIECES OR SHAPES, WHETHER OR NOT CONTAINING SOAP This part includes toilet or washing products and preparations, in which the active component consists wholly or partly of synthetic *surface-activeagents (which may contain soap m any proportion), provided they are put up in the form of bars, cakes or moulded pieces or shapes, that is to say, the ordinary forms of soaps intended for the same uses. This part also includes such products and preparations which have been rendered abrasive by adding sand, silica, pumice powder, etc., provided they are put up in the forms described above. (III) ORGANIC SURFACE-ACTIVE PRODUCTS AND PREPARATIONS FOR WASHING THE SKIN, IN THE FORM OF LIQUID OR CREAM AND PUT UP FOR RETAIL SALE, WHETHER OR NOT CONTAINING SOAP This art includes reparations for washing the skin, in which the active component consists who1 y or partly o synthetic organic-surface active agents (which may contain soa in an proportion), provided they are in the form of liquid a cream and put up for retail s&. preparations not put up for retail sale are classified in heading 34.02. f f SUCK (IV)PAPER, WADDING, FELT AND NONWOVENS, IMPREGNATED, COATED OR COVERED WITH SOAP OR DETERGENT This part covers paper, wadding, felt and nonwovens, impregnated, coated or covered with soap or detergent, whether or not perfumed or put up for retail sale. These products are generally used for washing the hands or the face. Apart fiom the exclusions referred to above, the heading excIudes : (a) Soap-stocks (heading 15.22). (b) Products and preparations insoluble in water, which are "soaps" only in the chemical sense, such as calcium or other metallic "soaps" (Chapters 29,30,38, etc., as the case may be). (c) Paper, wadding, felt and nonwovens, simply perfumed (Chapter 33). (d) Shampoos and dentieices (headings 33.05 and 33.06 respectively). (e) Or anic surface-activeagents (other than soap), surface-active preparations and washing pre arations (wgether or not containmg soap) and solutions or dispersions of soap in an organlc soyvent, of heading 34.02. (f) Cellular lastics, cellular rubber, textile materials (other than wadding, felt and nonwovens) and metal impregnated, coated or covered with soap or detergent (these generally fall in the heading appropriate to the supporting material). 34.02- Organic surface-active agents (other than soap); surface-active preparations, washing preparations (including auxiliary washlng preparations) and cleaning preparations, whether or not containing soap, other than those of heading 34.01. - Organic surface-active agents, whether or not put up for retail sale : 3402.1 1 - - Anionic 3402.12 - - Cationic - - Other 3402.20 - Preparations put up for retail sale 3402.90 - Other 3402.19 (I) ORGANIC SURFACE-ACTIVE AGENTS (OTHER THAN SOAP) The or anic surface-active agents of this heading are chemical compounds, not chemically defmecf which contain one or more hydmphilic or hydro hobic functional grou s in such a proportion that, when mixed with water at a concentrabon o 0.5 % at 20 O C and le to stand for one hour at the same temperature, the give a transparent or translucent liquid or stable emulsion without s aration of insolub e matter (see Note 3 (a) to this Chapter). For the purposes of this heaxn an emulsion should not be considered as having a stable character if, after being left to stand?or one hour at 20 "C, (I) solid articles are visible to the naked eye, (2) it has separated into visual1 distinguishable phases or it has separated into a transparent part and a translucent part, visib e to the naked eye. P: % 6) Organic surface-active agents are capable of adsorption at an interface; in this state they dis lay a number of physico-chemical properties, articularly surface activi e.g., reduction of sur ace tension, foaming, emulsifymg, wetting), w ch is why they are usual y own as "surfactants". Ei ?'I, I; However, products which are not capable of reducing the surface tension of distilled wate; to 4.5 x lo-' ~ / m (45 d ~ l c m or ) less at a concenahon of 0.5 % at 20 OC are not regarded ss surface-actlve agents and are there ore excluded ffom this heading. Organic surface-active agents may be : These surface-active agents may contain, as im urities resulting fiom the manufacturing process, small quantities of fatty alcohols, alky ates or other hydrophobic raw materials which have escaped sulphation or sulphonation. They ma also contain sodium sul hate or other residual inorganic salts in a proportion gener ly not exceeding 15 OO, when expressed as the anhydrous salts, f P (2) Cationic, in which case the ionise in aqueous solution to produce ositively char ed organic ions responsible for t ie surface activity. Examples are : salts of atty amines an of quaternary ammonium bases. f % (3) Non-ionic, in which case they do not produce ions in an aqueous solution. Their solubility in water is due to the presence in the molecules of functional groups which have a strong affinity for water. Examples are : products of the condensahon of fatty alcohols, fatty acids or alkylphenols with ethylene oxide; ethoxylates of fatty acid anides. (4) Ampholytic, in which case, depending on the conditions of the medium, they can be ionised in an aqueous solution and give to the compound the characteristics of an anionic or a cationic surface-active agent. This ionic behaviour is similar to that of am hoteric compounds in the broadest sense. These are, for example, alkylbetaine or su phobetaine roteins, their decomposition products and substitution compounds of amino-carboxyfic, amino-sulphonic, aminosulphuric and amino-phosphoric acids. (II) SURF'ACE-ACTIVE PREPARATIONS, WASHING PREPARATIONS (INCLUDING AUXILIARY WASHING PREPARATIONS) AND CLEANING PREPARATIONS, WHETHER OR NOT CONTAINING SOAP, OTHER THAN THOSE OF HEADING 34.01 This group comprises three categories of preparations : (A) Surface-active preparations. These include : (1) Intermixtures of the surface-active agents of Part I) above (e sul horicinoleates mixed with sulphonated alkylnaphthalenes or sulp ted fatty coho s). (2) Solutions or dispersions of the surface-active agents of Part (I) above in an organic solvent (e.g., a solution of a sulphated fatty alcohol in cyclohexanol or in tetrahydronaphthaIene). (3) Other mixtures based on a surface-active agent of Past ( above (e.g., surfaceactive preparations containing a proportion o? soap, such as alkylbenzenesulphonate with sodium stearate). (4) Solutions or dispersions of soa in an organic solvent such as cyclohexanol. (Solutions of soa in water, w ich may have a small quantity Qenerally not exceeding 5 %) o alcohol or glycerol added, are liquid soaps of head~ng34.01). 1. P 2.f E Surface-active preparations are used for their cleansing, wetting, emulsifying or dispersing properties in many industrial applications, for example as : (i) Detergents for the textile industry, to eliminate fats and soiling matter on textiles during manufacture and finishing. (ii) Wetting agents, emulsifjmg agents, fulling assistants and brightening agents, for the textile industry. (iii) Soaking agents (for raw hides), de-greasin agents, wetting agents (for use in dyeing), levelling agents or toners for the leat er or fur industnes. (iv) Basic materials for the manufacture of washing preparations of Part (B) below (e.g., anionic surface-active reparations which may contain, either as a residue or as a result of deliberate ad rtions, a considerable quantity of sodium sulphate or other inorganic salts of the type arising during the manufacture of the surfaceactive agent). (v) Dispersing agents for the paper or synthetic rubber industries. (vi) Flotation aids for the mining industry. (vii) Emulsifying agents used in the preparation of pharmaceutical or cosmetic products. Z B This group does not include organic surface-active products and preparations for washing the skin, in which the active component consists wholly or partly of s thetic organic-surface active agents (which may contain soap in any proportion), in the form of &id or cream and put up for retsll sale (heading 34.01). (E3) Washing preparations (including auxiliary washing preparations) and cleaning preparations, having a basis of soap or other organic surface-active agents. This category covers washing preparations, auxiliary washing preparations and certain cleaning preparations. These various preparations generally contain essential constituents and one or more subsidiary constituents. The resence of these latter constituents distinguishes, in particular, these preparations ftorn i o s e described in Part (A) above. The essential constituents are synthetic organic surface-active agents or soaps or mixtures thereof. The subsidiary constituents are : (1) Builders (e-g., sodium olyphosphates, carbonates, silicate or borate, salts of nitrilotriacetic acid ( N T A ) ~ (2) Boosters (e.g., alkanolarnides, fatty acid amides, fatty amine oxides). (3) Fillers (e.g., sodium sulphate or chloride). (4) Ancillaries (e.g., chemical or optical bleaches, antiredeposition agents, corrosion inhibitors, antielectrostatic agents, colouring matter, perfimes, bacteric~des,enzymes). These preparations act on surfaces by bringing the soil on the surface into a state of solution or dispersion. Washing preparations based on surface-active a ents are also known as detergents. This type of preparation is used for washing clothes an also dishes or kitchen utensils. i They may be liquids, powders or pastes and are used for household or industrial p Toilet and washing products in the form of bars, cakes, moulded pieces or shapes all 1n heading 34.01. yes* Auxiliary washing preparations are used for soaking @re-washing),rinsing or bleaching clothes, household linen, etc. Cleaning preparations serve for cleaning floors, windows or other surfaces. They may also contarn small quantities of odoriferous substances. (C) Cleaning or de-greasing preparations, not having a basis of soap or other organic surface-active agents. These include : (i) Acid or alkaline cleaners special1 formulated for cleaning sanitary ware, frying-pans, ., those containing s o ~ u mhydrogen sulphate or a mxture of sodium hypoc etcm? orite and trisodium orthophosphate. (ii) Degreasing or cleaning preparations, used, e.g., in dairies or breweries, and with a basis of: - alkaline substances such as sodium carbonate or caustic soda, or - solvents and emulsifiers. This group of products may contain small quantities of soap or other surface-active agents. This heading does not cover : (a) Shampoos or preparations for foam baths, whether or not containing soap or other surface-active agents (Chapter 33). (b) Paper, wadding, felt and nonwovens, impregnated, coated or covered with detergent (heading 34.01). (c) Pxeparations, containing shce-active agents where the surface-active function is either not re uired or is only subsidiary to the main h c t i o n of the preparation (headings 34.03,34.05,38.08, 38.0 ,38.24, etc., as the case may be). (d) Abrasive preparations containing surface-active agents (scouringpastes and powders) (heading 34.05). (e) Water-insoluble naphthenates, petroleum sulphonates and other water-insoluble surface-active products and preparations. They fall in heading 38.24, provided they are not included in a more specific headmg.
1.- This Chapter does not cover : (a) Edible mixtures or preparations of animal, vegetable or microbial fats or oils of a kind used as mould release preparations (heading 15.17); (b) Separate chemically defined compounds; or (c) Shampoos, dentifrices, shaving creams and foams, or bath preparations, containing soap or other organic surface-active agents (heading 33.05, 33.06 or 33.07). 2.- For the purposes of heading 34.01, the expression “soap” applies only to soap soluble in water. Soap and the other products of heading 34.01 may contain added substances (for example, disinfectants, abrasive powders, fillers or medicaments). Products containing abrasive powders remain classified in heading 34.01 only if in the form of bars, cakes or moulded pieces or shapes. In other forms they are to be classified in heading 34.05 as “scouring powders and similar preparations”. 3.- For the purposes of heading 34.02, “organic surface-active agents” are products which when mixed with water at a concentration of 0.5 % at 20 C and left to stand for one hour at the same temperature : (a) give a transparent or translucent liquid or stable emulsion without separation of insoluble matter; and (b) reduce the surface tension of water to 4.5 x 10-2 N/m (45 dyne/cm) or less. 4.- In heading 34.03 the expression “petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals” applies to the products defined in Note 2 to Chapter 27. 5.- In heading 34.04, subject to the exclusions provided below, the expression “artificial waxes and prepared waxes” applies only to : (a) Chemically produced organic products of a waxy character, whether or not water-soluble; (b) Products obtained by mixing different waxes; (c) Products of a waxy character with a basis of one or more waxes and containing fats, resins, mineral substances or other materials. The heading does not apply to : (a) Products of heading 15.16, 34.02 or 38.23, even if having a waxy character; (b) Unmixed animal waxes or unmixed vegetable waxes, whether or not refined or coloured, of heading 15.21; (c) Mineral waxes or similar products of heading 27.12, whether or not intermixed or merely coloured; or (d) Waxes mixed with, dispersed in or dissolved in a liquid medium (headings 34.05, 38.09, etc.).