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Customs code · HS subheading 8549 21

Final code reached

Electrical and electronic equipment waste and scrap mainly for precious-metal recovery

Containing specified hazardous components

This is a complete 8-digit customs code. Exports and Intrastat use it as it is. For an import into the EU the declaration uses 8549 21 00 00: this code with 00 added.

This covers waste and scrap of electrical and electronic equipment that is mainly used for recovering precious metals. It must contain primary cells or batteries, electric accumulators, mercury switches, cathode-ray-tube or other activated glass, or electrical or electronic components containing cadmium, mercury, lead or PCBs.

For example

  • Discarded computers containing electric accumulators, mainly sent for precious-metal recovery
  • Discarded electrical and electronic equipment containing lead-containing electronic components, mainly sent for precious-metal recovery
  • Discarded electronic equipment containing mercury switches, mainly sent for precious-metal recovery
See the official tariff text

Official tariff text

Electrical and electronic waste and scrap, of a kind used principally for the recovery of precious metal, containing primary cells, primary batteries, electric accumulators, mercury-switches, glass from cathode-ray tubes or other activated glass, or electrical or electronic components containing cadmium, mercury, lead or polychlorinated biphenyls "PCBs"

You are seeing what applies when you export from the EU. Switch above if you import.

You are seeing what applies when you import into the EU. Switch above if you export.

Your answer for export

The full EU export code is 8549 21 00.

You do not pick a 10-digit EU import line for an export declaration or Intrastat. The destination classifies the goods under its own tariff.

8 digits, ready

Selling to Norway, Great Britain and the United States

What they charge on arrival.

Norway, Great Britain and the United States use their own tariff lines under the 6-digit HS code. The rates below are what their customs charge on goods arriving from the EU. Match the goods against each country's own wording before you rely on a rate.

Norway

Duty free

  • Their lines1 Norwegian line

85.49.2100 Containing primary cells, primary batteries, electric accumulators, mercury-switches

Norwegian tariff data checked Sept. 13, 2026.

Great Britain

Duty free

  • Their lines1 British line

8549 21 00 00 Containing primary cells, primary batteries, electric accumulators, mercury-switches

Northern Ireland follows other rules.

UK tariff data checked Sept. 13, 2026.

United States

10.0%

Estimated from published US measures

  • Their lines1 US line
  • Entry dateSept. 17, 2026

8549.21.00.00 Electrical and electronic waste and scrap, Of a kind used principally for the recovery

The US importer of record files the entry.

US tariff data checked Sept. 16, 2026.

See the 1 Norwegian line

Selling to Norway

Norway splits the 6-digit category its own way, so these are Norway's own lines under it, not this EU code. Check your product against their wording; what Norwegian customs charges is shown per line.

  • 85.49.2100

    Containing primary cells, primary batteries, electric accumulators, mercury-switches, glass from cathode-ray tubes or other activated glass, or electrical or electronic components containing cadmium, mercury, lead or polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)

    Ordinary duty
    Duty free

Norwegian tariff data version 1.5/1.2, last checked Sept. 13, 2026.

Contains data from Norwegian Customs (data.toll.no), licensed under CC BY 4.0, adapted for display.

See the 1 British line

Selling to Great Britain

What UK customs charges when goods like these arrive in Great Britain.

  • 8549 21 00 00

    Containing primary cells, primary batteries, electric accumulators, mercury-switches, glass from cathode-ray tubes or other activated glass, or electrical or electronic components containing cadmium, mercury, lead or polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)

    Ordinary duty
    Duty free

These rates apply in Great Britain. Different rules may apply for goods entering Northern Ireland.

UK tariff data version v4.0.1599, last checked Sept. 13, 2026.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Source: UK Department for Business and Trade (data.api.trade.gov.uk).

See the 1 US line

Selling to the United States

What US customs charges when goods like these arrive from the EU. The US importer of record files the entry and pays the duty.

  • 8549.21.00.00

    Electrical and electronic waste and scrap, Of a kind used principally for the recovery of precious metal, Containing primary cells, primary batteries, electric accumulators, mercury-switches, glass from cathode-ray tubes or other activated glass, or electrical or electronic components containing cadmium, mercury, lead or polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)

    General rate
    Free
    From the EU
    10.0% Estimated from published US measures US headings applied: 9903.05.39 Section 301 forced-labour action, 91 FR 47318 (memorandum 91 FR 47717), U.S. note 52 to subchapter III of chapter 99

Worked out for an entry on Sept. 17, 2026.

US tariff schedule 2026HTSRev19, last checked Sept. 16, 2026.

Last change we recorded: Revision 19 (2026), Sept. 16, 2026.

Anti-dumping and countervailing duties, US import taxes and customs fees are not included.

The descriptions above are the US tariff texts, which the United States publishes in English only.

Source: the US International Trade Commission's Harmonized Tariff Schedule (hts.usitc.gov), public domain, and the measures published in the Federal Register.

This is a planning estimate from the US Harmonized Tariff Schedule (revision shown) and the published Federal Register measures as of the date shown, for a shipment of EU origin. It is not a customs entry, legal advice or a broker's opinion, and tariffs.help is not a US-licensed customs broker. The US importer of record or their broker confirms the classification, origin, value and the duty due before filing.

Before you use the code

Check the facts that sit outside the code

The code can be right while what you pay still changes, because of where the goods come from, when they arrive, or extra EU measures.

Classify your own product, free Look up the current rates and rules
  1. The product and its form Check that your product really matches this description, including what it is made of and the form it arrives in.
  2. Country of origin Trade agreements, sanctions and extra measures can change the treatment of the very same code.
  3. Current tariff measures Check today's rate, any restrictions or licences, and the quantity customs asks for, with Toldstyrelsen or TARIC.

On an import declaration

8549 21 00 00

When these goods are imported into the EU, the declaration uses the 10-digit form 8549210000: this code with 00 added. There is no further split under it.

Look this line up in the EU tariff

Exports from the EU and Intrastat normally use the 8-digit code as it is.

EU tariff data of Sept. 13, 2026.

Rates, origin and documents

Read the signals first. Open only the ones you want to check.

Besides the ordinary duty, the EU records these kinds of measure against this code. They are listed as signals only: whether one applies to your goods can depend on where they come from, who produced them, the exact product and the documents you present. No amounts are worked out here.

Data of Sept. 1, 2026

Lower duty for goods from some countries

Possible

Preferential rates exist for goods originating in:

  • Andorra
  • San Marino
  • Türkiye
  • European Union
  • Comoros (excluding Mayotte), Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and dependencies and Zimbabwe
  • Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique and Namibia
  • Western Sahara
  • European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway
  • +34 origins

These rates apply to Economic Partnership Agreements; CARIFORUM except Haiti; GSP-EBA (Special arrangement for the least-developed countries - Everything But Arms); GSP+ (incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance); OCTs (Overseas Countries and Territories); GSP - General arrangements except India.

Whether you can use one depends on the origin rules for the goods and on the documentation you can show.

Check this code in the official EU TARIC database

Restrictions and paperwork

Important

Import restrictions are recorded for goods originating in:

  • North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea)
  • Ukraine
  • any country

The EU records document conditions on this code. What customs may ask for depends on where the goods come from, exactly what the product is and the customs procedure.

Proof of origin 2 conditions

If you claim a lower rate for goods from a country the EU has a trade agreement with, customs asks for proof of origin, for example a EUR.1 certificate or an origin declaration.

Show the EU's own wording for these conditions
  • Invoice declaration or origin declaration made out by any exporter on invoice or any other commercial document
  • Movement certificate EUR.1

Sanctions and restricted regions 2 conditions

Some conditions come from EU sanctions rules. They matter when the goods are linked to a country or region the EU restricts trade with.

Show the EU's own wording for these conditions
  • Goods not originating from or destined to Crimea or Sevastopol (Articles 2 and 2b.1 of Council Regulation (EU) No 692/2014)
  • Goods not originating from or not destined for the non-government controlled areas of Ukraine in the oblasts of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia

Product controls and permits 1 condition

Depending on the exact product, customs may ask for a licence, a permit or a control certificate before the goods are released.

Show the EU's own wording for this condition
  • Notification document as mentioned in Regulation (EU) 2024/1157 - Article 5 and Annex IA

Other conditions 3 conditions

These conditions match none of the groups above. Whether customs asks for one depends on the goods, where they come from and the customs procedure.

Show the EU's own wording for these conditions
  • Information document accompanying shipments of waste as mentioned in Regulation (EU) 2024/1157 – Article 18 and Annex VII
  • Product not subjected to the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2024/1157
  • Movement document as mentioned in Regulation (EU) 2024/1157 – Article 5 and Annex IB
Check this code in the official EU TARIC database

EU tariff measure data of Sept. 1, 2026.

One last classification check

Check the path and the nearest alternatives.

Use this view if you are still unsure the code describes the product precisely.

How we got to this code

  1. XVI
  2. 85
  3. 8549
  4. 8549 21
  5. 8549 21 00
Show the steps

Subheading 8549 21 has only this one 8-digit code, so there is no neighbour to compare with.

Worth comparing

Codes that sit close to this one, for when the material itself could be different.

Browse chapter 85

Similar products elsewhere in the tariff

Often confused with

Duty rates shown here are estimates, read from official EU / Danish, Norwegian and UK tariff data for orientation only. Confirm the current rate with Toldstyrelsen, TARIC, Norwegian Customs or the UK Online Trade Tariff before you file. The rate you pay can also depend on the country of origin. These are base customs duties only: import VAT, excise duties, anti-dumping duties and safeguard or quota measures are not included.