1801.00.00.00 - Cocoa beans, whole or broken, raw or roasted

This HTS category, 1801.00.00.00, exclusively covers cocoa beans in their raw or roasted state, whether they are whole or have been broken. This classification is specifically for the unprocessed cocoa bean, which serves as the fundamental raw material for all chocolate and cocoa-derived products. It is crucial to distinguish this from later-stage cocoa preparations, such as cocoa powder (Chapter 18, heading 1805) or chocolate itself (Chapter 18, headings 1806), which undergo significant processing beyond the initial roasting of the bean.

As a leaf node within the HTS system, this category does not have further subdivisions. Therefore, classification relies solely on the physical state of the cocoa bean itself. Factors such as the degree of roasting (lightly roasted versus heavily roasted) do not alter the classification under this heading. Similarly, the form of the bean (whole or broken) is encompassed. Any product derived from the cocoa bean that involves further processing, such as fermentation, grinding, or the addition of other ingredients, will fall under different HTS classifications.