Harmonised System of Nomenclature :

Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 is based on the Harmonised System of Nomenclature (popularly known as HSN).

HSN is an internationally accepted product coding system formulated under the auspices of the General Agreement on Tariffs & Trade (GATT). Excise Tariff Act is modelled along with international practices. The international practice of adopting a uniform classification was done to facilitate a common understanding of products across countries. In other words, the classification of a product under this code would be the same across the countries.