NHM

Harmonised Commodity Code

Harmonisiertes Güterverzeichnis / Nomenclature harmonisée des marchandises

The Harmonised Commodity Code (NHM) is based on the international standard Harmonised System (HS) used to describe and code goods in international trade published by the World Customs Organisation (WCO). It also contains railway-specific content in chapters 27, 98 and 99.

The NHM is an important basis for conducting international freight traffic. It is a standard and compatible commodity code and thereby facilitates compilation, comparison and analysis of data exchanged between customers, railway undertakings (RU) and administrative bodies. At the same time, it assists the RUs in monitoring the market.

The NHM enables tariffs to be differentiated based on the type of commodity and contributes to the harmonisation of the tariff systems applied by RUs.

For goods with dangerous goods characteristics the “Regulations governing the international carriage of dangerous goods by rail” (RID) shall prevail and shall be observed. There is no reference to the respective UN numbers in the NHM.

The UIC leaflet 221 on NHM is available on the ETF web site here

nhm_difference_en_2024(1).xlsx

nhm_difference_fr_2024.xlsx

nhm_difference_de_2024.xlsx

Changes in NHM code from 2025

In February 2024, the NHM Management Committee decided to align the NHM list with HS codes to comply with changes in EU customs legislation and facilitate smoother multimodal transport. As a result, Chapter 27 of the NHM will fully transition to HS codes starting in 2025. Minor adjustments will also be made to Chapter 99, which will be implemented from May 2025. For more information read: The NHM codes are changing in 2025.

The following updated NHM files will be valid from 01.01.2025.
Until this date the previous files can be used.

NHM_2024_EN_Valid_from_01.01.2025_V2

NHM_2024_FR_Valid_from_01.01.2025_V2

NHM_2024_DE_Valid_from_01.01.2025_V2

Tables 2024

UIC Contact

For any further information please contact: Parinaz Bazeghi