About Chapter 21
Chapter 21 of the Harmonized System of Nomenclature (HSN) is titled “Miscellaneous edible preparations”. It is part of Section IV, Prepared Foodstuffs, Beverages, Tobacco, together with Chapter 16 (preparations of meat, of fish, of crustaceans), Chapter 17 (sugars and sugar confectionery), Chapter 18 (cocoa and cocoa preparations), Chapter 19 (preparations of cereals, flour, starch or milk), Chapter 20 (preparations of vegetables, fruit), Chapter 22 (beverages, spirits and vinegar), Chapter 23 (residues and waste from the food industries) and Chapter 24 (tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes, products).
The chapter is divided into 6 headings, from 2101 (extracts, essences and concentrates, of coffee) to 2106 (food preparations not elsewhere specified or included). The headings with the most codes that people search for are sauces and preparations therefor, mixed condiments and mixed seasonings (2103), food preparations not elsewhere specified or included (2106), extracts, essences and concentrates, of coffee (2101), soups and broths and preparations therefor; homogenised composite food preparations (2104) and icecream and other edible ice, whether or not containing cocoa (2105).
Note 1 keeps flavoured tea in heading 0902, spices in headings 0904 to 0910, mixed vegetables in heading 0712 and roasted coffee substitutes containing coffee in heading 0901, so none of them is classified here as a miscellaneous edible preparation.
Every heading is listed below. Under each are the codes that have their own page on Laabam One, 8 codes in this chapter, each with its full classification: its chapter, heading and sub-heading, and the codes beside it.
Every code in this chapter begins with 21: four digits make a heading, six a sub-heading, and eight a tariff item of India's Customs Tariff. How many of those digits a GST tax invoice shows depends on the business, not the goods: under Notification No. 78/2020 – Central Tax, from 1 April 2021, four digits where aggregate turnover in the previous financial year was up to ₹5 crore, and six above it. Up to ₹5 crore, the code may be left off invoices to unregistered buyers.
No GST rate is shown here. GST rates were revised in September 2025, and a rate appears on this site only once it has been checked against the CBIC rate notifications.
Sources: ITC(HS) Chapter 21, DGCI&S (title, headings and notes); Notification No. 78/2020 – Central Tax (HSN digits on invoices).