GCC Common Customs Tariff · HS code · HS 1212.21
1212.21.00.00.00: Seaweeds & other algae fit for human consumption, fresh, chilled, frozen or dried, whether or not ground.
✓ Can be used in a customs declaration Data: GCC Common Customs Tariff, in force from 1 January 2025 · checked on 24 October 2026
What you pay
Importing into GCC
Customs duty only: import VAT, other taxes and trade defence duties of this country are not covered here, and the duty calculator works only with the EU, Türkiye, US and UK tariffs.
Same subheading in other tariffs
1212.21 Fit for human consumption
Binding rulings for similar goods
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.
- H312097 U.S. CBP
Application for Further Review of Protest No. 1001-19-100242; Classification of Calcified Seaweed Powders
- H272093 U.S. CBP
Internal Advice Request; Classification of Dried (Roasted) Seaweed, Thai Jasmine Rice, and Rice Cakes; US – Korea Free Trade Agreement.
- 600016700 HMRC
A frozen seaweed dish intended for use as a side dish, an appetiser, or an ingredient in commercially prepared foods, and Sushi dishes. Once defrosted, it is ready for consumption. The seaweed is mixed with black fungus, sesame seed, and chilli pepper. It is made by harvesting farmed seaweed,…
- 600012888 HMRC
Frozen seaweed (Undaria pinnatifida) The ingredients are: Seaweed (wakame), Black fungus, Agar-agar, Sesame oil, Sesame seeds, Chili, Rice Vinegar, Salt, high Fructose Corn Syrup, Mirin, Sugar, Flavour enhancer E621, Hydrolyzed, Vegetable Protein, Colouring E133 & Colouring E102. It is packed in…
- 600009799 HMRC
Product is 100% natural dried seaweed for human consumption, used as a raw material for making sushi. The seaweed is washed and dried at 160-350°C for approximately 5 seconds, it is then cooled and packaged in plastic bags. Available in various quantities.
Legal notes
Notes
1. Heading 1207 applies, inter alia, to palm nuts and kernels, cotton seeds, castor oil seeds, sesamum seeds, mustard seeds, safflower seeds, poppy seeds and shea nuts (karite nuts). It does not apply to products of heading 0801 or 0802 or to olives (Chapter 7 or 20).
2. Heading 1208 applies not only to non-defatted flours and meals but also to flours and meals which have been partially defatted or defatted and wholly or partially refatted with their original oils. It does not, however, apply to residues of headings 2304 to 2306.
3. For the purposes of heading 1209, beet seeds, grass and other herbage seeds, seeds of ornamental flowers, vegetable seeds, seeds of forest trees, seeds of fruit trees, seeds of vetches (other than those of the species Vicia faba) or of lupines are to be regarded as ‘seeds of a kind used for sowing’.
Heading 1209 does not, however, apply to the following, even if for sowing:
(a) leguminous vegetables or sweetcorn (Chapter 7);
(b) spices or other products of Chapter 9;
(c) cereals (Chapter 10); or
4. Heading 1211 applies, inter alia, to the following plants or parts thereof: basil, borage, ginseng, hyssop, liquorice, all species of mint, rosemary, rue, sage and wormwood.
Heading 1211 does not, however, apply to:
(a) medicaments of Chapter 30;
(b) perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations of Chapter 33; or
(c) insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, disinfectants or similar products of heading 3808.
5. For the purposes of heading 1212, the term ‘seaweeds and other algae’ does not include:
HS code 1212.21.00.00.00 is a line of the GCC Common Customs Tariff under HS subheading 1212.21 (fit for human consumption).
The customs duty is 5%, and quantities are declared in Kilograms.
For the same subheading, the UK duty is free, the EU duty is free, the Türkiye duty is free, the US duty is free, the Canada duty is free, the Mexico duty is 0%–20%, the Brazil duty is 5.4%, the Argentina duty is 5.4%, the Peru duty is 6%, the New Zealand duty is free, the Japan duty is 10.5%–40%, the Taiwan duty is 3%–15%, the Switzerland duty is free, the Norway duty is free, the North Macedonia duty is free and the Nigeria duty is 5%.
The GCC states imported goods of subheading 1212.21 worth US$2m in 2024.
Questions and answers
What is the GCC import duty for HS code 1212.21.00.00.00?
The customs duty in the GCC Common Customs Tariff is 5%; the supplementary unit is Kilograms. This page shows the rate as published by the national source and, where the source publishes them, preferential rates: choose the country of origin to see them. Trade defence duties and VAT are not covered.
Typical products
Everyday names, not part of the legal text.