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Descriptions

Descriptions explain the meaning of codes and other records in the Tariff to humans. Descriptions are widely used by all Tariff users.

The data structure allows specifying the language of the description. In the UK Tariff Data Standard, all descriptions are written in English only.

Descriptions with associated periods

Where the description is expected to change over calendar time, the description is implemented as a subrecord with a separate period subrecord.

This type of description is used for the “main” tariff elements, such as certificates, additional codes, commodity codes, footnotes, geographical areas, quotas and regulations.

There will be multiple description subrecords for a given record and the validity dates on the period records must be used to select the one that is live for a given date.

When a change to a description would give change the meaning of a record, a new description and period record should be created to reflect that the policy has changed from a given date. For example, certificate code U088 has multiple associated description subrecords that show how purpose and applicability have varied over calendar time:

Certificate codeDescriptionValid fromValid until
U088Origin declaration stating European Union origin, in the context of the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)2017-09-212021-01-01
U088Proofs of origin for Origin Quota products (Annex 5-A): Proof of origin containing the following statement in English: “Product originating in accordance with the Canada-UK Trade Agreement”.2021-01-01
Last updated 18 Apr 2024
See the SQL query that generated this table

This table was automatically generated from the open SQLite database providing the UK Tariff.

The following query was used to generate the table:

SELECT certificate_types.sid || certificates.sid AS "Certificate code",
       certificate_descriptions.description AS "Description",
       certificate_descriptions.validity_start AS "Valid from",
       LEAD(certificate_descriptions.validity_start) OVER (ORDER BY certificate_descriptions.validity_start) AS "Valid until"
FROM certificates
     INNER JOIN certificate_types ON certificates.certificate_type_id = certificate_types.trackedmodel_ptr_id
     INNER JOIN common_version_groups AS type_version_groups ON certificate_types.trackedmodel_ptr_id = type_version_groups.current_version_id
     INNER JOIN certificate_descriptions ON certificates.trackedmodel_ptr_id = certificate_descriptions.described_certificate_id
     INNER JOIN common_version_groups ON certificate_descriptions.trackedmodel_ptr_id = common_version_groups.current_version_id
WHERE certificates.trackedmodel_ptr_id = '77180'
ORDER BY certificate_descriptions.validity_start;

Description subrecords can still be updated to fix typos or formatting issues – the updates will then apply for the full length of the existing period.

The SQLite format only supports English and so merges the description and period subrecords into the same table.

Validity rules

Descriptions with validity dates are typically mandatory subrecords of the described record.

Descriptions without associated periods

Where the description will not change over calendar time, it is implemented as a subrecord without validity dates. The description can still be modified, but the change will be retroactive and will apply for the full lifetime of the described record.

This type of description is typically used for referential data such as type codes where the meaning of the code will not change in response to new policy.

The SQLite format only supports English and so merges the description into the same table as the described record.