0406 · Cheese and curd
Products in which the milk-fat has been wholly or partially replaced by other (for example, vegetable) types of fat are not regarded as cheese within this heading (generally, heading 2106).
EU Combined Nomenclature · CN code · HS 0406.10
Fresh cheese and curd
Not declarable on its own: use one of its 2 subdivisions Data: EU Combined Nomenclature, in force from 1 January 2026 · checked on 24 October 2026
Importing into EU
Charges on top of the customs duty, and rules the goods must meet at the border.
Declare the 10-digit TARIC code that fits the goods: measures can differ between subdivisions.
| 0406 10 80 10 | Pizza cheese, frozen, cut into pieces each weighing not more than 1 gram, in containers with a net content of 5kg or more, or a water content, by weight, of 52% or more, and a fat content by weight in the dry matter of 38% or more |
| 0406 10 80 80 | Other |
| Order number | Origin | In-quota duty | Period | Volume | Balance | Validity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 09.0148 | All third countries | 13 EUR / 100 kg | 1 July 2026 – 30 June 2027 | 5,360,000 kg | 5,360,000 kg | Open |
| 09.0152 | All third countries | 102.9 EUR / 100 kg · 106.4 EUR / 100 kg · 69 EUR / 100 kg · 70.4 EUR / 100 kg · 71.9 EUR / 100 kg · 75.5 EUR / 100 kg · 85.8 EUR / 100 kg · 92.6 EUR / 100 kg · 94.1 EUR / 100 kg | 1 July 2026 – 30 June 2027 | 19,525,000 kg | 19,229,689 kg | Open |
| 09.4227 | Iceland | Free | 1 January 2021 – | — | — | Managed by import licences |
| 09.4935 | Mercosur | 125.19 EUR / 100 kg · 126.81 EUR / 100 kg · 130.41 EUR / 100 kg · 135.9 EUR / 100 kg · 150.39 EUR / 100 kg · 154.53 EUR / 100 kg · 166.68 EUR / 100 kg · 169.38 EUR / 100 kg · 193.5 EUR / 100 kg · 199.08 EUR / 100 kg | 1 May 2026 – 31 December 2026 | — | — | Managed by import licences |
Balances from the Commission’s weekly quota report of 23 October 2026. Licence-managed quotas are allocated through import licences; their balance is not published in the weekly report.
The rate each member state applies to goods of this code, from the Commission’s Taxes in Europe Database. A reduced rate can cover only part of the goods under a code: check the national VAT law.
TEDB · 26 October 2026
| Agreement or scheme | Countries | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| standard rate (no agreement) | — | 221,2 €/100 kg/net |
| GSP-EBA (Special arrangement for the least-developed countries - Everything But Arms) | Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin and 42 moreAfghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo - Kinshasa, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Kiribati, Laos, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, São Tomé & Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tuvalu, Uganda, Yemen, Zambia | Free |
| CARIFORUM | Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize and 10 moreAntigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent & the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago | Free |
| OCTs (Overseas Countries and Territories) | Antarctica, Aruba, Caribbean Netherlands, Curaçao and 8 moreAntarctica, Aruba, Caribbean Netherlands, Curaçao, French Polynesia, French Southern Territories, Greenland, New Caledonia, Sint Maarten, St Barthélemy, St Pierre & Miquelon, Wallis & Futuna | Free |
| Central America | Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama | Free |
| SADC EPA | Botswana, Eswatini, Namibia | Free |
| Eastern and Southern Africa States | Mauritius, Seychelles, Zimbabwe | Free |
| EU–Andorra agreement | Andorra | Free |
| EU–Albania agreement | Albania | Free |
| EU–Bosnia & Herzegovina agreement | Bosnia & Herzegovina | Free |
| EU–Canada agreement | Canada | Free |
| EU–Switzerland agreement | Switzerland | Free |
| EU–Côte d’Ivoire agreement | Côte d’Ivoire | Free |
| EU–Chile agreement | Chile | Free |
| EU–Cameroon agreement | Cameroon | Free |
| EU–Ecuador agreement | Ecuador | Free |
| EU–Egypt agreement | Egypt | Free |
| Preferential origin in accordance with the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco on the amendment of Protocols 1 and 4 to the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Kingdom of Morocco, of the other part. | Western Sahara | Free |
| EU–Fiji agreement | Fiji | Free |
| EU–United Kingdom agreement | United Kingdom | Free |
| EU–Georgia agreement | Georgia | Free |
| EU–Ghana agreement | Ghana | Free |
| EU–Israel agreement | Israel | Free |
| EU–Iceland agreementQuota | Iceland | Free |
| EU–Jordan agreement | Jordan | Free |
| EU–Japan agreement | Japan | Free |
| EU–Kenya agreement | Kenya | Free |
| EU–South Korea agreement | South Korea | Free |
| EU–Lebanon agreement | Lebanon | Free |
| EU–Morocco agreement | Morocco | Free |
| EU–Moldova agreement | Moldova | Free |
| EU–Montenegro agreement | Montenegro | Free |
| EU–North Macedonia agreement | North Macedonia | Free |
| EU–Norway agreementQuota | Norway | Free |
| EU–New Zealand agreementQuota | New Zealand | Free |
| EU–Peru agreement | Peru | Free |
| EU–Papua New Guinea agreement | Papua New Guinea | Free |
| EU–Palestinian Territories agreement | Palestinian Territories | Free |
| EU–Serbia agreement | Serbia | Free |
| EU–Singapore agreement | Singapore | Free |
| EU–San Marino customs union | San Marino | Free |
| EU–Ukraine agreement | Ukraine | Free |
| EU–United States agreementQuota | United States | Free |
| EU–Vietnam agreement | Vietnam | Free |
| EU–Samoa agreement | Samoa | Free |
| EU–Kosovo agreement | Kosovo | Free |
| EU–South Africa agreement | South Africa | Free |
| MercosurQuota | Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay | 199.08 EUR / 100 kg |
WTO tariff quota.
| Country | Value | Share | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| €108m | 52.6% | -14% | |
| €63.9m | 31.1% | +10.2% | |
| €11.9m | 5.8% | +115.3% | |
| €7.6m | 3.7% | +1.4% | |
| €6.7m | 3.2% | +13.5% | |
| €3.2m | 1.6% | -1.2% | |
| €1.7m | 0.8% | +5.7% | |
| €912k | 0.4% | -30.1% |
0406.10 Fresh (unripened or uncured) cheese, including whey cheese, and curd
Decisions of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CROSS) and HMRC (Advance Tariff Rulings) on goods classified here. A ruling binds only its holder, but shows how the authorities classify similar goods. The descriptions are the authorities’ own, in English.
The tariff classification of Cream Cheese from Austria
The tariff classification of Flavored Cream Cheese from Germany
The tariff classification of Flavored Cream Cheese from Germany
The tariff classification of Flavored Cream Cheese from Germany
Halloumi blocks sliced and then skewered. With each tray containing four skewers. These are drizzled with a hot honey sauce made from honey, jalapeños, and chillies. The skewers are then packed in a 225g foil tray container with heat sealed film.
13 rulings in total for this code
1. The expression ‘milk’ means full-cream milk or partially or completely skimmed milk.
2. For the purposes of heading 0403, yogurt may be concentrated or flavoured and may contain added sugar or other sweetening matter, fruit, nuts, cocoa, chocolate, spices, coffee or coffee extracts, plants, parts of plants, cereals or bakers’ wares, provided that any added substance is not used for the purpose of replacing, in whole or in part, any milk constituent, and the product retains the essential character of yogurt.
3. For the purposes of heading 0405:
(a) the term ‘butter’ means natural butter, whey butter or recombined butter (fresh, salted or rancid, including canned butter) derived exclusively from milk, with a milkfat content of 80 % or more but not more than 95 % by weight, a maximum milk solids-not-fat content of 2 % by weight and a maximum water content of 16 % by weight. Butter does not contain added emulsifiers, but may contain sodium chloride, food colours, neutralising salts and cultures of harmless lactic-acid-producing bacteria;
(b) the expression ‘dairy spreads’ means a spreadable emulsion of the water-in-oil type, containing milkfat as the only fat in the product, with a milkfat content of 39 % or more but less than 80 % by weight.
4. Products obtained by the concentration of whey and with the addition of milk or milkfat are to be classified as cheese in heading 0406 provided that they have the three following characteristics:
(a) a milkfat content, by weight of the dry matter, of 5 % or more;
(b) a dry matter content, by weight, of at least 70 % but not exceeding 85 %; and
(c) they are moulded or capable of being moulded.
5. This chapter does not cover:
(a) non-living insects, unfit for human consumption (heading 0511);
(b) products obtained from whey, containing by weight more than 95 % lactose, expressed as anhydrous lactose calculated on the dry matter (heading 1702);
(c) products obtained from milk by replacing one or more of its natural constituents (for example, butyric fats) by another substance (for example, oleic fats) (heading 1901 or 2106); or
(d) albumins (including concentrates of two or more whey proteins, containing by weight more than 80 % whey proteins, calculated on the dry matter) (heading 3502) or globulins (heading 3504).
6. For the purposes of heading 0410, the term ‘insects’ means edible non-living insects, whole or in parts, fresh, chilled, frozen, dried, smoked, salted or in brine, as well as flours and meals of insects, fit for human consumption. However, it does not cover edible non-living insects otherwise prepared or preserved (generally Section IV).
1. The duty rate applicable to mixtures falling in headings 0401 to 0406 shall be as follows:
(a) in mixtures where one of the components represents at least 90 % by weight, the rate applicable to that component applies;
(b) in other mixtures, the rate applicable shall be that of the component which results in the highest amount of import duty.
2. For the purposes of subheadings 040811 and 040819, the following applies:
the expression ‘otherwise preserved’ applies also to egg yolks with limited amounts of salt (in general, an amount of up to around 12 % by weight) or minor amounts of chemicals added for preservation purposes, provided that both of the following conditions are fulfilled:
(i) the products retain the character of egg yolks of subheadings 040811 and 040819;
(ii) salt or chemicals are not used at a level higher than is necessary for the purposes of preservation.
3. Dairy produce of Chapter 4 includes dairy permeates, which are milk products characterised by a high content of lactose and obtained by removing milk fats and milk proteins from milk, whey, cream and/or sweet buttermilk, and/or from similar raw material by ultrafiltration or other processing techniques.
4. For the purposes of subheadings 040410 and 040490 the following applies :
Milk permeate and whey permeate can be analytically distinguished by the presence of substances (e.g. lactic acid, lactates and glycomacropeptides) which are associated with whey production.
Subheading 040410 includes ‘whey permeate’ which is a product with generally a slightly sour smell, obtained from whey or mixtures of natural whey constituents by ultrafiltration or other processing techniques.
The presence of substances associated with whey production (e.g. lactic acid, lactates and glycomacropeptides) is a condition for the classification of whey permeates into that subheading.
Subheading 040490 includes ‘milk permeate’ which is a product with generally a milky smell obtained from milk by ultrafiltration or other processing techniques. The quantitatively limited level or absence of lactic acid and lactates (lower than 0,100 % by weight, in milk permeates in powder form, or lower than 0,015 % by weight in milk permeates in liquid form) as well as the absence of glycomacropeptides, are the conditions for the classification of milk permeates into subheading 040490.
The method to be used for the detection of lactates shall be the ISO 8069:2005 method and the method to detect rennet whey (i.e. the presence of caseinomacropeptides such as glycomacropeptides) shall be the method set out in Appendix II to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/150.
The European Commission's explanatory notes on how to classify goods in these CN codes. They are not legally binding but customs authorities follow them; they complement the HS Explanatory Notes of the World Customs Organization.
Products in which the milk-fat has been wholly or partially replaced by other (for example, vegetable) types of fat are not regarded as cheese within this heading (generally, heading 2106).
For whey cheese, see the HS Explanatory Note to heading 0406, second paragraph.
Curd or ‘white cheese’ is the product obtained from curdled milk from which most of the serum has been extracted (for example, by draining or squeezing). Curd (other than in powder) with up to 30 % by weight of added sugar and fruit is regarded as retaining the character of curd and remains classified in these subheadings.
These subheadings include products of the type ‘cagliata’, i.e., products obtained by coagulating with rennet, other enzymes or acid treatment, full-cream milk, milk partially or completely skimmed, from which most of the serum has been extracted. These products are presented in the form of a paste not yet plastic-curd, smooth, easy to separate into grains, with an intense characteristic smell and with a sodium chloride content not exceeding 0,3 % by weight. They are ‘intermediate’ products, needing to be further processed, mainly to obtain cheeses.
General
Caseinates obtained from milk casein are used, for example, as emulsifiers (sodium caseinate) or as a source of protein (calcium caseinate). Products containing caseinates in excess of 3 % by weight of the dry matter are excluded from headings 0401 to 0404, since those caseinates do not occur naturally in milk at this level (in particular, see heading 1901).
Explanatory Notes to the Combined Nomenclature of the European Union, Official Journal C (consolidated text and later amendments) · © European Union
The Combined Nomenclature of each year, as published in the Official Journal: description, third-country duty and supplementary unit.
| Year | Description | Third-country duty | Supplementary unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Other | 221,2 €/100 kg/net | — |
| 2025 | unchanged | 221,2 €/100 kg/net | — |
| 2024 | unchanged | 221,2 €/100 kg/net | — |
| 2023 | unchanged | 221,2 €/100 kg/net | — |
| 2022 | unchanged | 221,2 €/100 kg/net | — |
| 2021 | unchanged | 221,2 €/100 kg/net | — |
| 2020 | unchanged | 221,2 €/100 kg/net | — |
| 2019 | Other | 221,2 €/100 kg/net | — |
In the EU Combined Nomenclature, 0406 10 80 is one of 3 lines under subheading 0406.10, fresh (unripened or uncured) cheese, including whey cheese, and curd.
The third-country duty is a specific or compound duty: 221,2 €/100 kg/net.
Goods from 128 countries can enter the EU at a preferential rate instead of the standard 221,2 €/100 kg/net; 124 of them pay no duty at all, for example under GSP-EBA or CARIFORUM.
In the EU, additional duty of 50% applies on top of the customs duty to goods from Belarus and Russia.
In the 12 months to August 2026, the EU imported fresh cheese and curd (HS 0406.10) worth €205.2m (down 3% on the year before), at an average of €3.92 per kg; United Kingdom supplied 53%, followed by Switzerland.
For the same subheading, the Türkiye duty is 140%, the US duty is 8.5%–10%, the Mexico duty is 45%, the Brazil duty is 14.4%–28%, the Argentina duty is 16%–28%, the Peru duty is free, the New Zealand duty is free, the Japan duty is 22.4%–29.8%, the Taiwan duty is 5%, the GCC duty is 5% and the Nigeria duty is 20%.
EU member states imported goods of subheading 0406.10 worth US$7bn in 2024; the largest supplier from outside the EU was the United Kingdom, and the United Kingdom ranked 1st with US$109m.
The third-country duty in the EU Combined Nomenclature is 221,2 €/100 kg/net; the supplementary unit is —. Preferential rates for goods from agreement countries, anti-dumping duties and VAT are not included.
128 countries have a preferential rate on this line, 124 of them at 0%, under GSP-EBA, CARIFORUM and OCTs and other arrangements. The rate applies only to goods that meet the rules of origin of the agreement, with proof of origin. Choose the country of origin on this page to see its rate.
Additional duty of 50% on goods from Belarus and Russia. These are charged on top of the customs duty.
For subheading 0406.10 as a whole, the largest supplier from outside the EU in 2024 was the United Kingdom (US$109m), followed by Switzerland.
Everyday names, not part of the legal text.