0709 20 00: Other vegetables, fresh or chilled: asparagus

General

1. Blanching is not permitted within this Chapter, with the exception of:

• frozen vegetables (uncooked or cooked by steaming or boiling in water) of heading 0710;
• dried leguminous vegetables, shelled, whether or not skinned or split, of heading 0713.

2. Sprouts (vegetable sprouts and other sprouts) are sprouted seeds used for human consumption, eaten either raw or cooked. Sprouting is the practice of germinating seeds by moistening them (this increases the water content in the seeds and brings them out of dormancy), until a new plant starts growing upward and leaves develop.

Generally, sprouts that are ready for human consumption can be presented in three ways:

(a) as a germinating plant with seed leaves (cotyledons, embryonic first leaves), remains of the seeds and roots;

(b) as a plant consisting of the sprouting cereal grain, for example, sprouted barley, so-called ‘green malt’ (see also the explanatory note to subheadings 1107 10 11 to 1107 10 99), which can be used either raw in salads or, after further processing, for the production of mainly beer or whisky;

(c) as a ‘baby plant’ consisting only of seed leaves, without the remains of seeds or roots and not bearing ‘adult leaves’ (true leaves, formed post-embryonically). These kinds of sprout are usually presented, with a growth medium, in little boxes.

When classifying sprouts, the following principles are to be applied:

• sprouts of the vegetables named in Chapter 7 are to be classified as fresh vegetables in Chapter 7 under their respective headings, given that fresh vegetables fall in this Chapter whether intended for use as food, for sowing or for planting, with the exception of seedling vegetables in a condition for replanting of heading 0602 (see the HS General Explanatory Note to Chapter 7, tenth paragraph),
• beans used for bean-sprout production are to be classified under heading 0713 as dried leguminous vegetables (see the HS Subheading Explanatory Note to subheading 0713 31). However, bean sprouts germinated from these, and sprouts from other dried leguminous vegetables, are classified as fresh leguminous vegetables under heading 0708,
• although, in the form of just seeds, some plants qualify for classification in another chapter of the Combined Nomenclature, such as Chapter 9 or 12, once they have been germinated they become suitable for consumption as a vegetable and are to be classified accordingly in Chapter 7, since they have lost the objective characteristics of Chapter 9 or 12. See the HS Explanatory Note to heading 0709, first paragraph, (14), as regards bamboo shoots and soya-bean sprouts,
• sprouts made from the grains of cereals of Chapter 10 (heading 1001, 1002, 1003, 1004, 1006 or 1008), for example, sprouted barley, are to be classified in subheading 1107 10 (sprouted barley is excluded from Chapter 10, see the HS Explanatory Note to heading 1003, exclusion (a)) which is the most specific heading for sprouted cereals, the heading not being limited to dried sprouted cereals (malt). ‘Green malt’ is classified in subheadings 1107 10 11 to 1107 10 99 (see the explanatory note to subheadings 1107 10 11 to 1107 10 99, first paragraph) and is considered as grain that has started to germinate but has not yet been dried,
• sprouts made from the variety Zea mays var. saccharata (sweetcorn), to be classified in Chapter 7 by application of note 2 to Chapter 7 and note 2 to Chapter 10, are to be classified in heading 0709 (subheading 0709 99 60).

Non-exhaustive list of sprouts together with their CN codes: