1605.55.05.00 - Products containing fish meat; prepared meals

This HTS category, 1605.55.05.00, specifically covers prepared or preserved octopus. It encompasses products where octopus is the primary ingredient, processed in a manner that renders it ready for consumption or further culinary preparation. This includes, but is not limited to, canned octopus, octopus in brine, smoked octopus, and cooked octopus preparations. The key determinant for classification under this heading is the presence of octopus as the principal component and its treatment beyond mere fresh or frozen state.

Distinguishing this category from its sibling, 1605.55.60.00 "Other," is crucial. While the "Other" category would capture any molluscs not specifically enumerated elsewhere within the 1605.55 subheading, this classification is precisely for octopus. Therefore, if a product contains prepared or preserved molluscs, and that mollusc is definitively identified as octopus, it should be classified here, and not under the more general "Other" designation. This ensures accurate tariff application for specific aquatic invertebrate preparations.

As a leaf node, 1605.55.05.00 does not have further subcategories. The classification ends with the preparation of octopus. All variations in preparation methods for octopus, such as cooking, marinating, or preserving in various mediums, will fall under this single HTS code, provided octopus is the primary ingredient. Further differentiation would typically occur at higher levels of the tariff schedule if specific processing or packaging methods created distinct product categories.