Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 of 23 July 1987, creates the goods nomenclature called the Combined Nomenclature, or in abbreviated form 'CN', established to meet, at one and the same time, the requirements both of the Common Customs Tariff and of the external trade statistics of the European Union.[1] It is closely related to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States.
These categories are based on the international Harmonized System, the global system of nomenclature that is used to describe most world trade in goods, maintained by the World Customs Organization (WCO).[2] Virtually all countries base their tariff schedules on the WCO's Harmonized System.