Chapter 20: Preparations of vegetables, fruit, nuts or other parts of plants

1. This chapter does not cover:

1. (a) vegetables, fruit or nuts, prepared or preserved by the processes specified in Chapter 7, 8 or 11;

2. (b) vegetable fats and oils (Chapter 15);

3. (c) food preparations containing more than 20 % by weight of sausage, meat, meat offal, blood, insects, fish or crustaceans, molluscs or other aquatic invertebrates, or any combination thereof (Chapter 16);

4. (d) bakers' wares and other products of heading 1905; or

5. (e) homogenised composite food preparations of heading 2104.

2. Headings 2007 and 2008 do not apply to fruit jellies, fruit pastes, sugar-coated almonds or the like in the form of sugar confectionery (heading 1704) or chocolate confectionery (heading 1806).

3. Headings 2001, 2004 and 2005 cover, as the case may be, only those products of Chapter 7 or of heading 1105 or 1106 (other than flour, meal and powder of the products of Chapter 8) which have been prepared or preserved by processes other than those referred to in note 1(a).

4. Tomato juice, the dry weight content of which is 7 % or more, is to be classified in heading 2002.

5. For the purposes of heading 2007, the expression ‘obtained by cooking’ means obtained by heat treatment at atmospheric pressure or under reduced pressure to increase the viscosity of a product through reduction of water content or other means.

6. For the purposes of heading 2009, the expression ‘juices, unfermented and not containing added spirit’ means juices of an alcoholic strength by volume (see note 2 to Chapter 22) not exceeding 0,5 % vol.

1. For the purposes of subheading 200510, the expression ‘homogenised vegetables’ means preparations of vegetables, finely homogenised, put up for retail sale as food suitable for infants or young children or for dietetic purposes, in containers of a net weight content not exceeding 250 g. For the application of this definition, no account is to be taken of small quantities of any ingredients which may have been added to the preparation for seasoning, preservation or other purposes. These preparations may contain a small quantity of visible pieces of vegetables. Subheading 200510 takes precedence over all other subheadings of heading 2005.

2. For the purposes of subheading 200710, the expression ‘homogenised preparations’ means preparations of fruit, finely homogenised, put up for retail sale as food suitable for infants or young children or for dietetic purposes, in containers of a net weight content not exceeding 250 g. For the application of this definition, no account is to be taken of small quantities of any ingredients which may have been added to the preparation for seasoning, preservation or other purposes. These preparations may contain a small quantity of visible pieces of fruit. Subheading 200710 takes precedence over all other subheadings of heading 2007.

3. For the purposes of subheadings 200912, 200921, 200931, 200941, 200961 and 200971, the expression ‘Brix value’ means the direct reading of degrees Brix obtained from a Brix hydrometer or of refractive index expressed in terms of percentage sucrose content obtained from a refractometer, at a temperature of 20 °C or corrected for 20 °C if the reading is made at a different temperature.

1. For the purposes of heading 2001, vegetables, fruit, nuts and other edible parts of plants prepared or preserved by vinegar or acetic acid must have a content of free, volatile acid of 0,5 % by weight or more, expressed as acetic acid. In addition, mushrooms of subheading 20019050 should not have a salt content exceeding 2,5 % by weight.

2.

(a) The content of various sugars expressed as sucrose (sugar content) of products classified in this Chapter corresponds to the figure indicated by a refractometer (used in accordance with the method prescribed in the Annex to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 974/2014) at a temperature of 20 °C and multiplied by one of the following factors:

• 0,93 in respect of products of subheadings 200820 to 200880, 200893, 200897 and 200899;

• 0,95 in respect of products of the other headings.

However, the content of various sugars expressed as sucrose (sugar content) of the following products classified in this Chapter:

• products manufactured on the basis of seaweed and other algae prepared or preserved by processes not provided for in Chapter 12;

• products manufactured on the basis of manioc, arrowroot, salep, Jerusalem artichokes, sweet potatoes and similar roots and tubers with high starch or inulin content of heading 0714;

• products manufactured on the basis of vine leaves;

corresponds to the figure resulting from a calculation carried out on the basis of measurements which have been obtained applying the high performance liquid chromatography method (the “HPLC method”), using the following formula:

S + (G + F) × 0,95;

where:

“S” is the sucrose content determined by the HPLC method;

“F” is the fructose content determined by the HPLC method;

“G” is the glucose content determined by the HPLC method.

(b) The expression ‘Brix value’, mentioned in the subheadings of heading 2009, corresponds to the figure indicated by a refractometer (used in accordance with the method prescribed in the Annex to Implementing Regulation (EU) No 974/2014) at a temperature of 20 °C.

3. The products of subheadings 200820 to 200880, 200893, 200897 and 200899 are to be considered as containing added sugar when the ‘sugar content’ thereof exceeds by weight the percentages given hereunder, according to the kind of fruit or edible part of plant concerned:

• pineapples and grapes: 13 %,

• other fruits, including mixtures of fruit, and other edible parts of plants: 9 %.

4. For the purposes of subheadings 20083011 to 20083039, 20084011 to 20084039, 20085011 to 20085059, 20086011 to 20086039, 20087011 to 20087059, 20088011 to 20088039, 20089311 to 20089329, 20089712 to 20089738 and 20089911 to 20089940, the following expressions have the meanings hereby assigned to them:

• ‘actual alcoholic strength by mass’: the number of kilograms of pure alcohol contained in 100 kg of the product,

• ‘% mas’: the symbol for alcoholic strength by mass.

5. The following is to be applied to the products as they are presented:

1. (a) the added sugar content of products of heading 2009 corresponds to the ‘sugar content’ less the figures given hereunder, according to the kind of juice concerned:

   • lemon or tomato juice: 3,

   • grape juice: 15,

   • other fruit or vegetable juices, including mixtures of juices: 13.

2. (b) the fruit juices with added sugar, of a Brix value not exceeding 67 and containing less than 50 % by weight of fruit juice lose their original character of fruit juices of heading 2009.

Item (b) does not apply to concentrated natural fruit juices. Consequently, concentrated natural fruit juices are not excluded from heading 2009.

6. For the purposes of subheadings 20096951 and 20096971, ‘concentrated grape juice (including grape must)’ means grape juice (including grape must) for which the figure indicated by a refractometer (used in accordance with the method prescribed in the Annex to Implementing Regulation (EU) No 974/2014) at a temperature of 20 °C is not less than 50,9 %.

7. For the purposes of subheadings 20019092, 20060035, 20060091, 20071091, 20079993, 20089703, 20089705, 20089712, 20089716, 20089732, 20089736, 20089751, 20089772, 20089776, 20089792, 20089794, 20089797, 20089924, 20089931, 20089936, 20089938, 20089948, 20089963, 20098934, 20098936, 20098973, 20098985, 20098988, 20098997, 20099092, 20099095 and 20099097, ‘tropical fruit’ means guavas, mangoes, mangosteens, papaws (papayas), tamarinds, cashew apples, lychees, jackfruit, sapodillo plums, passion fruit, carambola and pitahaya.

8. For the purposes of subheadings 20019092, 20060035, 20060091, 20079993, 20081912, 20081992, 20089703, 20089705, 20089712, 20089716, 20089732, 20089736, 20089751, 20089772, 20089776, 20089792, 20089794 and 20089797, ‘tropical nuts’ means coconuts, cashew nuts, Brazil nuts, areca (or betel), cola and macadamia nuts.

9. Seaweeds and other algae prepared or preserved by processes not provided for in Chapter 12, such as cooking, roasting, seasoning or adding sugar, fall in Chapter 20 as preparations of other parts of plants. Seaweeds and other algae, fresh, chilled, frozen or dried, whether or not ground, are to be classified under heading 1212.