HEADING 32.03 - COLOURING MATTER OF VEGETABLE OR ANIMAL ORIGIN (INCLUDING DYEING EXTRACTS BUT EXCLUDING ANIMAL BLACK) WHETHER OR NOT CHEMICALLY DEFINED; PREPARATIONS AS SPECIFIED IN NOTE 3 TO THIS CHAPTER BASED ON COLOURING MATTER OF VEGETABLE OR ANIMAL ORIGIN.

203 COMMODITIES

This heading covers the greater part of the products of vegetable or animal origin used mainly as colouring substances. These products are generally extracted from materials of vegetable origin (wood barks roots seeds flowers lichens etc.) or of animal origin by steeping them in water or in weak acid or ammonia solution or in the case of certain vegetable materials by fermentation. They are relatively complex materials and generally contain one or more colouring principles with small quantities of other substances (sugars tannins etc.) originating either from the raw materials or resulting from the extraction process. They are included in this heading whether or not they are chemically defined compounds.

The heading includes :

(1) Colouring matter and dyeing extracts of vegetable origin obtained from logwood (haematein haematoxylin etc.) yellow woods (fustic Cuba and Tampico woods etc.) red woods (Pernambuco Lima Brazil wood etc.) sandalwood quercitron wood black cutch (acacia catechu) annatto madder alkenna henna turmeric Persian berries safflower saffron etc. The heading also includes orchil and litmus prepared from certain lichens; oenin from the skins of various kinds of grapes; chlorophyll extracted from nettles and from various other plants as well as sodium-chlorophyll copper-chlorophyll and xanthophyll; an imitation Vandyke brown prepared by the partial decomposition of vegetable material such as beechwood bark or cork; and natural indigo obtained from plants of the genus Indigofera (mainly Indigofera tinctoria). It is generally in the form of dark blue powder paste cakes lumps etc.

(2) Colouring matter of animal origin e.g. cochineal extract obtained by extraction generally with acidified water or ammonia solution from cochineal insects; kermes a red colouring extract from kermes insects; sepia a brown colour obtained from the ink sac of a species of cuttle fish; colouring extracts prepared from shellac the main one being known as lac-dye; natural nacreous (pearl) pigment obtained from fish scales and consisting essentially of guanine and hypoxanthine in crystal form.

The heading also covers preparations based on colouring matter of vegetable or animal origin of a kind used for colouring any material or used as ingredients in the manufacture of colouring preparations. These include :

(i) Solutions of annatto in vegetable oil used in some countries for colouring butter.

(ii) Natural nacreous (pearl) pigment dispersed in a medium consisting of water or a mixture of water and a water-soluble solvent. This product is sometimes called " pearl essence " and is used in the manufacture of aqueous coatings or cosmetic preparations.

However the preparations referred to in the last sentence of Note 3 to this Chapter are excluded.

This heading also excludes :

(a)Carbon black (heading 28.03).

(b)Substances which in practice are not used for their dyeing properties such as morin haematin and haemin (CHAPTER29).

(c)Synthetic organic colouring matter (heading 32.04).

(d)Colour lakes obtained by fixation of a natural colour of animal or vegetable origin on to a base (e.g. carmine lake logwood lake yellow wood redwood lakes) (heading 32.05).

(e)Dyes and other colouring matter put up in forms or packings for retail sale (heading 32.12).

(f)Ivory black and other animal black (heading 38.02).