The new version of the HS includes 234 sets of amendments. Environmental and social issues are a major feature of these amendments, due to the importance of the HS as a global tool for collecting trade statistics and monitoring trade.
The amendments also introduce specific subheadings to facilitate the collection and comparison of data on the international movement of certain substances controlled under the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Other amendments resulted from changes in international trade patterns and are intended to adapt the HS to current trade practices. Advances in technology are also reflected in the amendments, inter alia, the size criteria for newsprint, light-emitting diode (LED) lamps, multi-component integrated circuits (MCOs), and hybrid, plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles.