The 68th Session of the Harmonized System Committee has concluded on a high note. 

The Committee has been dealing with a pandemic generated backlog of issues that had resulted from the loss of a full Committee meeting at the start of the pandemic and the move from two weeks of full day in-person sessions to restricted numbers of three hour virtual sessions pandemic situation. 

Building on the exceptionally productive 67th Session, the 68th Session examined 63 documents and their annexes, including all remaining agenda items postponed from previous meetings.  

The meeting, chaired by Ms. Ulla Larsson from Sweden, was held in a blended format of online sessions and CLiKC forum discussions and was attended by 291 registered delegates from 87 countries and the European Union. The International Chamber of Commerce and the World Trade Organization also participated as observers.

At his closing remarks, the Director of the Tariff and Trade Affairs Directorate, Mr. Konstantinos Kaiopoulos, congratulated the Chairperson and the delegates to the Committee for their active participation and the successful examination of all pending items. Summing up, he highlighted that the Committee finalised and approved the Amendment to the Compendium of Classification Opinions consequential to the Article 16 Council Recommendation of 28 June 2019, corrigendum corrections to the amendment of the HS2022 Explanatory Notes, 32 new Classification Opinions, 6 amendments of the ENs and 29 new classification decisions.