0711.40.00.00 - Cucumbers including gherkins

This HTS category, 0711.40.00.00, specifically covers cucumbers, including the smaller varieties commonly known as gherkins. These vegetables are preserved in a manner that renders them unsuitable for immediate consumption in their current state, but are intended for subsequent preparation. Examples include cucumbers preserved in brine, sulfurous water, or solutions containing other substances that serve to preserve them but do not confer a distinct character of ready-to-eat food.

It is important to distinguish this category from its siblings. While 0711.20 covers olives and the unnumbered entry refers to mushrooms and truffles, 0711.40.00.00 is exclusively for cucumbers. The sibling category 0711.90 is a residual category for "Other vegetables; mixtures of vegetables," and would only apply if the provisionally preserved item was a vegetable other than a cucumber, olive, mushroom, or truffle, or a mix of such vegetables.

As this is a leaf node within the HTS, there are no further subcategories. Classification at this level is definitive for cucumbers preserved in the outlined manner. The key defining characteristic for inclusion here is the provisional preservation method and the resulting unsuitability for immediate consumption, alongside the specific identity of the vegetable as a cucumber or gherkin.