About Chapter 55
Chapter 55 of the Harmonized System of Nomenclature (HSN) is titled “Man-made staple fibres”. It is part of Section XI, Textiles & Textile Articles, together with Chapter 50 (silk), Chapter 51 (wool, fine or coarse animal hair), Chapter 52 (cotton), Chapter 53 (other vegetable textile fibres), Chapter 54 (man-made filaments), Chapter 56 (wadding, felt and nonwovens; special yarns), Chapter 57 (carpets and other textile floor coverings), Chapter 58 (special fabrics, lace and embroidery), Chapter 59 (impregnated, coated, covered or laminated textile fabrics), Chapter 60 (knitted or crocheted fabrics), Chapter 61 (articles of apparel and clothing accessories), Chapter 62 (articles of apparel and clothing accessories) and Chapter 63 (other made up textile articles; sets).
The chapter is divided into 16 headings, from 5501 (synthetic filament tow) to 5516 (woven fabrics of artificial staple fibres). The headings with the most codes that people search for are artificial staple fibres, not carded, combed or otherwise processed for spinning (5504), yarn (other than sewing thread) of artificial staple fibres, not put up for retail sale (5510) and woven fabrics of synthetic staple fibres (5513).
The chapter note limits headings 5501 and 5502 to filament tow longer than 2 m, with less than 5 turns of twist per metre and a total measurement above 20,000 decitex; tow of 2 m or less is classified in heading 5503 or 5504.
Every heading is listed below. Under each are the codes that have their own page on Laabam One, 5 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 55: 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 55, DGCI&S (title, headings and notes); Notification No. 78/2020 – Central Tax (HSN digits on invoices).