4101.90.40.00 - Vegetable pretanned

This HTS category, 4101.90.40.00, specifically covers vegetable pretanned raw hides and skins of bovine (including buffalo) or equine animals. "Pretanned" indicates that these hides have undergone an initial tanning process using vegetable-derived tannins, but have not been fully tanned or further prepared into finished leather. This stage is a precursor to full tanning, often involving liming, deliming, and bating processes before the vegetable tanning agents are applied.

This classification is distinguished from its sibling category, 4101.90.50.00, which is designated for "Other" hides and skins within the broader "Other" subcategory of bovine animals. Therefore, where 4101.90.40.00 is reserved for the specific stage of vegetable pretanning, 4101.90.50.00 would encompass any other preparations or types of bovine hides and skins not otherwise specified, such as those that may be pickled, limed, or dried without having undergone vegetable pretanning.

As this is a leaf node, there are no further subcategories. The classification hinges on the material's origin (bovine or equine), its preservation state (fresh, salted, dried, limed, pickled, or otherwise preserved), and crucially, the specific treatment of being vegetable pretanned, differentiating it from fully tanned leather or hides preserved by other means.