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Handmade and artisanal goods: the tolerance list
Short answer: Only hand-made goods under specific commodity codes (for example 4420 11/19, 4602, 4802 10 00, 5702 10 00, 5804 30 00, 5805 00 00 and several 7013 glassware codes), unprocessed agricultural goods (chapters 1–15) and antiques/art/stamps/coins (9701–9706) get the tolerance: declaring the literal values "M-PID" and "NS-PID" is deemed compliant. Other handmade items must supply real identifiers.
Goods deemed compliant with conventional values
| Category | Commodity codes (non-exhaustive, from the guidance) |
|---|---|
| Unprocessed agricultural and perishable goods | Chapters 1 to 15 |
| Hand-made and artisanal goods | 4420 11, 4420 19, 4602, 4802 10 00, 5702 10 00, 5804 30 00, 5805 00 00, 7013 28 10, 7013 33 11, 7013 33 19, 7013 37 51, 7013 37 59, 7013 41 10, 7013 49 91, 7013 91 10 |
| Antiques, collectibles, art, stamps, coins | 9701, 9702, 9703, 9704, 9705, 9706 |
For these, the guidance says the goods are "deemed administratively to comply" when the conventional PID "M-PID" is given in C127 and "NS-PID" in C128 — the literal words, not a code you invent.
Everyone else
Handmade jewellery, clothing, candles, soap, leather goods and most other craft items are not on the list. They follow the normal rule: your own reference as merchant code, your own model reference as maker's code (you are the manufacturer), and Y081 if no barcode exists. Second-hand, refurbished, personalised and print-on-demand goods must give the identifiers of the underlying original product.
Questions
My handmade earrings — on the list?
Jewellery is not among the listed codes, so no tolerance: use your reference as both merchant and maker's code and Y081 for the missing barcode.
Does the tolerance remove the need for a barcode?
The listed goods usually have none; Y081 is declared for the barcode field as usual. The tolerance concerns the merchant and manufacturer fields.