On 13 February 2026, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled in ECLI:NL:HR:2026:211 on the customs classification of a lotion against head lice.
The case
A Dutch company declared the product as a hair care product under subheading 3305 90 00 of the Combined Nomenclature, at 0% duty. Dutch Customs classified it as an insecticide under subheading 3808 91 90, at 6%. The liquid consisted of 99% dimeticone and was promoted as a non-chemical way to combat head lice and nits. The company argued that an insecticide needs a toxic effect.
The ruling
Heading 3808 is not limited to toxic products. The everyday meaning of a word in the Dutch translation cannot decide this, given the international basis of the Harmonised System. The explanatory notes of the World Customs Organization are not binding, but they support this reading.
Heading 3305 is narrower than the court of appeal thought. It does not cover every preparation that is meant to be applied to the hair. The product must primarily serve to clean, care for or improve the hair as such. Killing lice and nits does not do that.
Because the objective purpose of the product was only to kill lice and nits, it could not fall under heading 3305. The court of appeal had reached 3808 by a different route, but the result stood.
What to check
- Look at the objective characteristics of the product and at how the manufacturer markets it. Both played a part here.
- Do not reason from the wording in your own language. The English and French texts of the Harmonised System are the authentic ones.
- A product applied to the body is not automatically a cosmetic or care product for customs. Ask what it actually does.
mr. J. el Khalfioui LL.M.