Chapter 19 at a glance
- HS chapter
- 19
- Section
- IV — Prepared foodstuffs; beverages, spirits & tobacco
- Tariff headings
- 5 (19 subheadings)
- General customs duty
- 20% – 40%
- Import VAT
- 15% on the added tax value (ATV)
- Products listed
- 4
As at 2026-08-06. Source: SARS Tariff Book, Schedule 1 Part 1.
HS Chapter 19 covers cereal, flour, starch & milk preparations; pastry. Every tariff heading in the chapter is listed below, with its subheadings. Headings we have researched carry a duty page link showing the South African customs duty, a worked landed-cost example and any anti-dumping or ITAC permit exposure.
Duty pages in this chapter
1901.10
Infant food preparations (retail)
20% duty + 15% VAT
1902.19
Pasta, uncooked (spaghetti, macaroni & similar)
40% duty + 15% VAT
1905.31
Sweet biscuits
21% duty + 15% VAT
1905.90
Bread, rusks & savoury crackers
20% duty + 15% VAT
All 5 tariff headings in Chapter 19
Harmonised System HS 2022 nomenclature — the same headings and subheadings the SARS Tariff Book is built on. South Africa classifies to 8 digits, so confirm the last two digits of your line in the Tariff Book before you clear.
1901 Malt extract; flour/groats/meal/starch/malt extract products, no cocoa (or less than 40% by weight) and food preparations of goods of headings 04.01 to 04.04, no cocoa (or less than 5% by weight), weights calculated on a totally defatted basis, n.e.c.
- 1901.10 Food preparations; of flour, meal, starch, malt extract or milk products, suitable for infants or young children, put up for retail sale 20% duty
- 1901.20 Food preparations; mixes and doughs for the preparation of bread, pastry, cakes, biscuits and other bakers' wares
- 1901.90 Food preparations; of flour, meal, starch, malt extract or milk products, for uses n.e.c. in heading no. 1901
1902 Pasta; whether or not cooked or stuffed with meat or other substance, or otherwise prepared, egg spaghetti, macaroni, noodles, lasagne, gnocchi, ravioli, cannelloni; couscous, whether or not prepared
- 1902.11 Food preparations; pasta, containing eggs, uncooked, not stuffed or otherwise prepared
- 1902.19 Food preparations; pasta, uncooked (excluding that containing eggs), not stuffed or otherwise prepared 40% duty
- 1902.20 Food preparations; pasta, stuffed (with meat or other substances), whether or not cooked or otherwise prepared
- 1902.30 Food preparations; pasta (excluding stuffed), cooked or otherwise prepared
- 1902.40 Food preparations; couscous
1903 Tapioca and substitutes therefor prepared from starch; in the form of flakes, grains, pearls, siftings or similar forms
- 1903.00 Food preparations; tapioca and substitutes thereof, prepared from starch in the form of flakes, grains, pearls, siftings or similar
1904 Prepared foods obtained by swelling or roasting cereals or cereal products (e.g. corn flakes); cereals (other than maize (corn)) in grain form or in the form of flakes or other worked grains (not flour and meal), pre-cooked or otherwise prepared, n.e.c.
- 1904.10 Food preparations; obtained by the swelling or roasting of cereals or cereal products
- 1904.20 Food preparations; obtained from unroasted cereal flakes or from mixtures of unroasted cereal flakes and roasted cereal flakes or swelled cereals
- 1904.30 Prepared foods obtained by the swelling or roasting of cereals or cereal products (e.g. corn flakes); cereals, not maize (corn), in grain form or in the form of flakes or other worked grains, from bulgur wheat
- 1904.90 Food preparations; cereal or cereal products (excluding maize), in grain form, pre-cooked or otherwise prepared
1905 Bread, pastry, cakes, biscuits, other bakers' wares, whether or not containing cocoa; communion wafers, empty cachets suitable for pharmaceutical use, sealing wafers, rice paper and similar products
- 1905.10 Food preparations; crispbread, whether or not containing cocoa
- 1905.20 Food preparations; gingerbread and the like, whether or not containing cocoa
- 1905.31 Food preparations; sweet biscuits, whether or not containing cocoa 21% duty
- 1905.32 Food preparations; waffles and wafers, whether or not containing cocoa
- 1905.40 Food preparations; rusks, toasted bread and similar toasted products, whether or not containing cocoa
- 1905.90 Food preparations; bakers' wares n.e.c. in heading no. 1605, whether or not containing cocoa; communion wafers, empty cachets suitable for pharmaceutical use, sealing wafers, rice papers and similar products 20% duty