HS Code 4406Railway or tramway sleepers (cross-ties) of wood

What HS code 4406 covers

A sleeper is the beam laid across a track to hold the rails in place. In the UK and many other places it is called a railway sleeper. In the US it is usually called a railroad tie or a crosstie. Tramway tracks use the same part. Customs puts all of them under one heading, as long as the item is made of wood.

The heading sits in Chapter 44, which is about wood and articles of wood. You may also see it written as HSN code 4406 or HTS 4406. These names point to the same four digits. The first six digits of a code are shared by customs offices around the world. After that, each country can add its own extra digits for its national tariff. So the same sleeper can have a longer code in one country and a different long code in another. Check the local tariff before you file.

If you are not sure whether your goods belong here, the HS code classifier can help you narrow it down.

How to choose the right 4406 code

Two questions decide the code. First, is the wood impregnated? That means it has been treated, for example soaked with a preservative. Second, is it coniferous or non-coniferous? Coniferous wood is softwood from cone-bearing trees. Non-coniferous wood is everything else. Answer both questions and you have your six-digit code.

• 440611: not impregnated, coniferous
• 440612: not impregnated, non-coniferous
• 440691: impregnated, coniferous
• 440692: impregnated, non-coniferous

Headings often confused with 4406

Some wood products look close to a sleeper but belong elsewhere. A sleeper is a finished piece for a track. A raw or half-prepared piece of timber is not.

Heading 4403 is wood in the rough, including logs that are only roughly squared. A log squared by hand but not made into a sleeper stays there. Heading 4404 covers piles, pickets and stakes of wood that are pointed but not sawn lengthwise, along with split poles. Plain sawn timber goes there unless it is a sleeper. Heading 4418 covers builders' joinery and carpentry, such as assembled flooring panels.

When two headings seem to fit, read each official description and pick the one that names the product most exactly.

Find importers and exporters of railway sleepers

Once you know your code, you can look at who trades it. EximDataX shows shipment-level import and export records from official customs sources. You can search by HS code to see who imports and exports a product, and book a free demo.

Coverage: 43 direct customs feeds plus 184 mirror-derived countries. Named buyers and named suppliers are available in 38 of the 43 direct markets. Most markets refresh weekly and some refresh daily.

Start with the import data or export data pages, or go straight to buyer data and supplier data to build a contact list.