Chapter 02: Meat and edible meat offal

1. This chapter does not cover:

1. (a) products of the kinds described in headings 0201 to 0208 or 0210, unfit or unsuitable for human consumption;

2. (b) edible, non-living insects (heading 0410);

3. (c) guts, bladders or stomachs of animals (heading 0504) or animal blood (heading 0511 or 3002); or

4. (d) animal fat, other than products of heading 0209 (Chapter 15).

1.

A. The following expressions have the meanings hereby assigned to them:

1. (a) ‘carcases of bovine animals’, for the purposes of subheadings 020110 and 020210: whole carcases of the slaughtered animals after having been bled, eviscerated and skinned, imported with or without the heads, with or without the feet and with or without the other offals attached. Where carcases are imported without the heads, the latter must have been separated from the carcase at the atloido-occipital joint. When imported without the feet, the latter must have been cut off at the carpo-metacarpal or tarso-metatarsal joints; ‘carcase’ includes the front part of the carcase comprising all the bones and the scrag, neck and shoulder, having more than 10 pairs of ribs;

2. (b) ‘half-carcases of bovine animals’, for the purposes of subheadings 020110 and 020210: the product resulting from the symmetrical division of the whole carcase through the centre of each cervical, dorsal, lumbar and sacral vertebra and through the centre of the sternum and of the ischio-pubic symphysis; ‘half-carcase’ includes the front part of the half-carcase comprising all the bones and the scrag, neck and shoulder, having more than 10 ribs;

3. (c) ‘compensated quarters’, for the purposes of subheadings 02012020 and 02022010: portions composed of either:

   • forequarters comprising all the bones and the scrag, neck and shoulder, and cut at the tenth rib; and hindquarters comprising all the bones and the thigh and sirloin, and cut at the third rib, or

   • forequarters comprising all the bones and the scrag, neck and shoulder, and cut at the fifth rib, with the whole of the flank and breast attached; and hindquarters comprising all the bones and the thigh and sirloin, and cut at the eighth cut rib.

   The forequarters and the hindquarters constituting ‘compensated quarters’ must be presented to customs at the same time and in equal numbers, and the total weight of the forequarters must be the same as that of the hindquarters; however, a difference between the weights of the two parts of the consignment is allowed, provided that this does not exceed 5 % of the weight of the heavier part (forequarters or hindquarters);

4. (d) ‘unseparated forequarters’, for the purposes of subheadings 02012030 and 02022030: the front part of a carcase, comprising all the bones and the scrag, neck and shoulder, with a minimum of four pairs of ribs and a maximum of 10 pairs of ribs (the first four pairs of ribs must be whole, the others may be cut), with or without the thin flank;

5. (e) ‘separated forequarters’, for the purposes of subheadings 02012030 and 02022030: the front part of a half-carcase, comprising all the bones and the scrag, neck and shoulder, with a minimum of four ribs and a maximum of 10 ribs (the first four ribs must be whole, the others may be cut), with or without the thin flank;

6. (f) ‘unseparated hindquarters’, for the purposes of subheadings 02012050 and 02022050: the rear part of a carcase comprising all the bones and the thigh and sirloin, including the fillet, with a minimum of three pairs of whole or cut ribs, with or without the shank and with or without the thin flank;

7. (g) ‘separated hindquarters’, for the purposes of subheadings 02012050 and 02022050: the rear part of a half-carcase, comprising all the bones and the thigh and sirloin, including the fillet, with a minimum of three whole or cut ribs, with or without the shank and with or without the thin flank;

8. (h)

   1. ‘crop’ and ‘chuck and blade’ cuts, for the purposes of subheading 02023050: the dorsal part of the forequarter, including the upper part of the shoulder, obtained from a forequarter with a minimum of four ribs and a maximum of 10 ribs by a cut along a straight line through the point where the first rib joins the first sternal segment to the point of reflection of the diaphragm on the tenth rib;

   2. ‘brisket’ cut, for the purposes of subheading 02023050: the lower part of the forequarter, comprising the brisket navel end and the brisket point end.

B. Products covered by additional notes 1(A)(a) to (g) to this chapter may be presented with or without the vertebral column.

C. In determining the number of whole or cut ribs referred to in additional note 1(A), only those attached to the vertebral column are to be taken into consideration. If the vertebral column has been removed, only the whole or cut ribs which otherwise would have been directly attached to the vertebral column are to be taken into consideration.

2.

A. The following expressions have the meanings hereby assigned to them:

1. (a) ‘carcases or half-carcases’, for the purposes of subheadings 02031110 and 02032110: slaughtered pigs, in the form of carcases of domestic swine which have been bled and eviscerated and from which the bristles and hooves have been removed. Half-carcases are derived from whole carcases by division through each cervical, dorsal, lumbar and sacral vertebra, through or along the sternum and through the ischio-pubic symphysis. These carcases or half-carcases may be with or without head, with or without the chaps, feet, flare fat, kidneys, tail or diaphragm. Half-carcases may be with or without spinal cord, brain or tongue. Carcases and half-carcases of sows may be with or without udders (mammary glands);

2. (b) ‘hams’ (legs), for the purposes of subheadings 02031211, 02032211, 02101111 and 02101131: the posterior (caudal) part of the half-carcase, including bones, with or without the foot, shank, rind or subcutaneous fat.

   The ham (leg) is separated from the rest of the half-carcase, so that it includes, at most, the last lumbar vertebra;

3. (c) ‘fore-ends’, for the purposes of subheadings 02031911, 02032911, 02101930 and 02101960: the anterior (cranial) part of the half-carcase without the head, with or without the chaps, including bones, with or without foot, shank, rind or subcutaneous fat.

   The fore-end is separated from the rest of the half-carcase, so that it includes, at most, the fifth dorsal vertebra.

   The upper (dorsal) part of the fore-end, whether or not containing the blade-bone and attached muscles (neck-end in fresh or collar in salted condition), is considered a cut of the loin, when it is separated from the lower (ventral) part of the fore-end, at most by a cut just below the vertebral column;

4. (d) ‘shoulders’, for the purposes of subheadings 02031219, 02032219, 02101119 and 02101139: the lower part of the fore-end whether or not containing the blade-bone and attached muscles, including bones, with or without foot, shank, rind or subcutaneous fat.

   The blade-bone and attached muscles, presented separately, remain classified in this subheading as a part of the shoulder;

5. (e) ‘loins’, for the purposes of subheadings 02031913, 02032913, 02101940 and 02101970: the upper part of the half-carcase, extending from the first cervical vertebra to the caudal vertebrae, including bones, with or without the tenderloin, blade-bone, subcutaneous fat or rind.

   The loin is separated from the lower part of the half-carcase by a cut just below the vertebral column;

6. (f) ‘bellies’, for the purposes of subheadings 02031915, 02032915, 02101211 and 02101219: the lower part of the half-carcase situated between the ham (leg) and the shoulder, commonly known as ‘streaky’, with or without bones, but with the rind and the subcutaneous fat;

7. (g) ‘bacon sides’, for the purposes of subheading 02101910: the pig half-carcase without the head, cheek, chap, feet, tail, flare fat, kidney, tenderloin, blade-bone, sternum, vertebral column, pelvic bone and diaphragm;

8. (h) ‘spencers’, for the purposes of subheading 02101910: the bacon side without the ham, whether or not boned;

9. (ij) ‘three-quarter sides’, for the purposes of subheading 02101920: the bacon side without the fore-end, whether or not boned;

10. (k) ‘middles’, for the purposes of subheading 02101920: the bacon side without the ham and the fore-end, whether or not boned.

    The subheading also includes cuts of middles containing tissue of loin and belly in natural proportion to the entire middles.

B. The parts of the cuts defined in paragraph 2(A)(f) fall in the same subheadings, only if they contain rind and subcutaneous fat.

If the cuts falling in subheadings 02101111, 02101119, 02101131, 02101139, 02101930 and 02101960 are derived from a bacon side from which the bones indicated under paragraph 2(A)(g) have already been removed, the lines of cutting must follow those defined under paragraph 2(A)(b), (c) and (d) accordingly; in any case, these cuts or parts thereof must contain bones.

C. Subheadings 02064900 and 02109949, include, in particular, heads or halves of heads of domestic swine, with or without the brains, cheeks or tongues, and parts thereof.

The head is separated from the rest of the half-carcase as follows:

• by a straight cut parallel to the cranium; or

• by a cut parallel to the cranium up to the level of the eyes and then inclined to the front of the head, thereby causing the chaps to remain attached to the half-carcase.

The cheeks, snouts and ears as well as the meat attached to the head, particularly to the rear part, are considered parts of heads. However, the cuts of boneless meat of the fore-end, presented alone (jowls, chaps, or chaps and jowls together), fall in subheading 02031955, 02032955, 02101950 or 02101981, as the case may be.

D. For the purposes of subheadings 02091011 and 02091019, ‘subcutaneous pig fat’ has the meaning of the fatty tissue which accumulates under the rind of the pig and adheres to it, irrespective of the part of the pig from which it comes; in any case, the weight of the fatty tissue must exceed the weight of the rind.

These subheadings also include subcutaneous pig fat from which the rind has been removed.

E. For the purposes of subheadings 02101131, 02101139, 02101219 and 02101960 to 02101989, products in which the water/protein ratio in the meat (nitrogen content × 6,25) is 2,8 or less is considered as ‘dried or smoked’. The nitrogen content is determined in accordance with ISO method 937-1978.

3.

A. For the purposes of heading 0204, the following expressions have the meanings hereby assigned to them:

1. (a) ‘carcases’, for the purposes of subheadings 020410, 020421, 020430, 020441, 02045011 and 02045051: whole carcases of the slaughtered animals after having been bled, eviscerated and skinned, imported with or without the heads, with or without the feet and with or without the other offals attached. Where carcases are imported without the heads, the latter must have been separated from the carcase at the atloido-occipital joint. When imported without the feet, the latter must have been cut off at the carpo-metacarpal or tarso-metatarsal joints;

2. (b) ‘half-carcases’, for the purposes of subheadings 020410, 020421, 020430, 020441, 02045011 and 02045051: the product resulting from the symmetrical division of the whole carcase through the centre of each cervical, dorsal, lumbar and sacral vertebra and through the centre of the sternum and of the ischio-pubic symphysis;

3. (c) ‘short-forequarters’, for the purposes of subheadings 02042210, 02044210, 02045013 and 02045053: the anterior part of the carcase, with or without the breast, including all the bones and the shoulders, scrag and middle neck, cut at right angles to the backbone, with a minimum of five and a maximum of seven pairs of whole or cut ribs;

4. (d) ‘short-forequarters’, for the purposes of subheadings 02042210, 02044210, 02045013 and 02045053: the anterior part of the half-carcase, with or without the breast, including all the bones and the shoulder, scrag and middle neck, cut at right angles to the backbone, with a minimum of five and a maximum of seven whole or cut ribs;

5. (e) ‘chines and/or best ends’, for the purposes of subheadings 02042230, 02044230, 02045015 and 02045055: the remaining part of the carcase after the legs and short-forequarters have been removed, with or without the kidneys; the chines, when separated from the best ends, must include a minimum of five lumbar vertebrae; the best ends, when separated from the chines, must include a minimum of five pairs of whole or cut ribs;

6. (f) ‘chine and/or best end’, for the purposes of subheadings 02042230, 02044230, 02045015 and 02045055: the remaining part of the half-carcase after the legs and short-forequarters have been removed, with or without the kidney; the chine, when separated from the best end, must include a minimum of five lumbar vertebrae; the best end, when separated from the chine, must include a minimum of five whole or cut ribs;

7. (g) ‘legs’, for the purposes of subheadings 02042250, 02044250, 02045019 and 02045059: the rear part of the carcase, comprising all the bones and the legs and cut at right angles to the backbone at the sixth lumbar vertebra just under the ilium or at the fourth sacral vertebra through the ilium anterior to the ischio-pubic symphysis;

8. (h) ‘legs’, for the purposes of subheadings 02042250, 02044250, 02045019 and 02045059: the rear part of the half-carcase comprising all the bones and the leg cut at right angles to the backbone at the sixth lumbar vertebra just under the ilium or at the fourth sacral vertebra through the ilium anterior to the ischio-pubic symphysis.

B. In determining the number of whole or cut ribs referred to in paragraph 3 A, only those attached to the backbone are to be taken into consideration.

4. The following expressions have the meanings hereby assigned to them:

1. (a) ‘poultry cuts, with bone in’, for the purposes of subheadings 02071320 to 02071360, 02071420 to 02071460, 02072620 to 02072670, 02072720 to 02072770, 02074421 to 02074461, 02074521 to 02074561, 02075421 to 02075461, 02075521 to 02075561 and 02076021 to 02076061: the cuts specified therein, including all bones.

   Poultry cuts as referred to in (a) which have been partly boned fall in subheading 02071370, 02071470, 02072680, 02072780, 02074471, 02074481, 02074571, 02074581, 02075471, 02075481, 02075571, 02075581 and 02076081;

2. (b) ‘halves’, for the purposes of subheadings 02071320, 02071420, 02072620, 02072720, 02074421, 02074521, 02075421, 02075521 and 02076021: halves of poultry carcases, obtained by a longitudinal cut in a plane along the sternum and the backbone;

3. (c) ‘quarters’, for the purposes of subheadings 02071320, 02071420, 02072620, 02072720, 02074421, 02074521, 02075421, 02075521 and 02076021: leg quarters or breast quarters, obtained by a transversal cut of a half;

4. (d) ‘whole wings, with or without tips’, for the purposes of subheadings 02071330, 02071430, 02072630, 02072730, 02074431, 02074531, 02075431, 02075531 and 02076031: poultry cuts, consisting of the humerus, radius and ulna, together with the surrounding musculature. The tip, including the carpal bones, may or may not have been removed. The cuts must have been made at the joints;

5. (e) ‘breasts’, for the purposes of subheadings 02071350, 02071450, 02072650, 02072750, 02074451, 02074551, 02075451, 02075551 and 02076051: poultry cuts, consisting of the sternum and the ribs distributed on both sides of it, together with the surrounding musculature;

6. (f) ‘legs’, for the purposes of subheadings 02071360, 02071460, 02074461, 02074561, 02075461, 02075561 and 02076061: poultry cuts consisting of the femur, tibia and fibula, together with the surrounding musculature. The two cuts must have been made at the joints;

7. (g) ‘turkey drumsticks’, for the purposes of subheadings 02072660 and 02072760: turkey cuts, consisting of the tibia and fibula, together with the surrounding musculature. The two cuts must have been made at the joints;

8. (h) ‘turkey legs, other than drumsticks’, for the purposes of subheadings 02072670 and 02072770: turkey cuts, consisting of the femur together with the surrounding musculature or of the femur, tibia and fibula, together with the surrounding musculature. The two cuts must have been made at the joints;

9. (ij) ‘duck or goose paletots’, for the purposes of subheadings 02074471, 02074571, 02075471 and 02075571: ducks or geese, plucked and completely drawn, without heads or feet, with carcase bones (breastbone, ribs, backbone and sacrum) removed, but with the femurs, tibias and humeri.

5. The duty rate applicable to mixtures falling in this chapter is as follows:

1. (a) in mixtures where one of the components represents at least 90 % by weight, the rate applicable to that component applies;

2. (b) in other mixtures, the rate applicable is that of the component which results in the highest amount of import duty.

6.

(a) Uncooked seasoned meats fall in Chapter 16. ‘Seasoned meat’ is uncooked meat that has been seasoned, either in depth or over the whole surface of the product, with seasoning either visible to the naked eye or clearly distinguishable by taste.

(b) Products falling in heading 0210 to which seasoning has been added during the process of preparation remain classified therein, provided that the addition of seasoning has not changed their character.

7. For the purposes of subheadings 021011 to 021093, the term ‘meat and edible meat offal, salted or in brine’ means meat and edible meat offal deeply and homogeneously impregnated with salt in all parts and having a total salt content by weight of 1,2 % or more, provided that it is the salting which ensures the long-term preservation. For the purposes of subheading 021099, the term ‘meat and edible meat offal, salted or in brine’ means meat and edible meat offal deeply and homogeneously impregnated with salt in all parts and having a total salt content by weight of 1,2 % or more.