HERMES, name derived from the Greek god of trade, was developed to track the history of the nomenclature of goods in trade in a certain time window.
It is particularly useful for customs services, law enforcement agencies, international traders, and other economic operators who need to follow the evolution of product codes for tariffs and statistical purposes. It forms part of the THESEUS front-end interface (accessible only to authorised users) and is based on annual updates to the Combined Nomenclature classification system, sourced from Eurostat's RAMON website.
HERMES uses several features to facilitate users' understanding of product code history. One of the main functionalities is the ability to visualise changes in product codes through graphs and tables, distinguishing between filtered results (direct relationships linked to a reference code) and non-filtered results (all possible paths). The tool allows users to interactively select product codes by typing in keywords or code numbers and retrieve their history, including changes and descriptions in different languages. Moreover, HERMES offers the "Tree Hierarchy" procedure, which returns a hierarchical tree of direct product code relationships, providing a detailed perspective on how codes have evolved over time.
The Combined Nomenclature (CN) is a system used by the European Union for classifying goods in international trade. It serves both the needs of the Common Customs Tariff and the EU's external trade statistics. The CN is based on the Harmonized System (HS), an internationally standardized system maintained by the World Customs Organization (WCO). In the CN, the first six digits correspond to the HS, while the seventh and eighth digits provide further subdivisions specific to the EU, known as 'CN subheadings'. This classification determines the duties applied to goods and how they are treated for statistical purposes within the EU.
AccThe RAMON website is the official source for the European Union's classification systems related to trade and tariffs, including the yearly updates to the Combined Nomenclature (CN). Managed by Eurostat, the site provides access to various nomenclature tables and updates, available for download in formats such as CSV. These resources are essential for users who need to understand the classification and evolution of goods in international trade, as they help in accurately determining tariffs and statistical treatments within the EU.