The FSA and ESA organisations have been active with trade representatives working on the Environmental Goods Act (EGA). This act is an attempt to help the environment, by agreeing that products which are dedicated to improving the environment, should be traded freely on a global basis.
Products are agreed by the HS code definition for the product. HS codes are used by customs and excise departments to ensure the correct import duties are attached to each product.
So for products to be added to the EGA, the HS codes needed to be investigated. This entailed a working group of FSA and ESA members who conducted an exercise to ensure each sealing device was given the correct HS code.
The basis for the research was the international codes definitions in the UN comtrade database, and in the case of gaskets, the US Customs and Borders agency definitions for gaskets. These documents enabled the group to come up with the correct definition for each product.
The only really contentious issue was for AF sheet based gaskets where we agreed these should be defined as “synthetic inorganic materials, glass, aramid and mineral fibres, charged with fillers, and bonded with elastomers”.
The result of this groups work resulted in a table of sealing devices and their correct codes:
