Essential oil, also known as essential oil in English, is a volatile aromatic substance extracted from the flowers, leaves, stems, roots, or fruits of plants through methods such as steam distillation, liposuction, extrusion, cold soaking, or solvent extraction. But not all plants can produce essential oils, only plants containing sebaceous glands can produce essential oils. These aromatic molecules extracted from plants are important components of perfume, cosmetics, spices and other products.

Essential oils are often highly concentrated and cannot be directly applied to the skin. They are usually used for aromatherapy or bathing. Essential oil can be applied to the skin only after being diluted with base oil, or other ingredients can be added to make skin care essence oil. The base oil of essential oils is mostly vegetable oil extracted from oil seeds and fruits, which can be directly applied to the skin.

（1） Single essential oil and compound essential oil

Unilateral essential oil is the essence ingredient extracted from the whole plant or a part of a plant, usually named after the plant, such as rose essential oil, lavender essential oil, tea tree essential oil, etc. Compound essential oils are composed of two or more single essential oils. Single essential oils are classified under tariff codes 3301.1200~3301.2999 according to different varieties, while compound essential oils containing two or more essential oils are usually classified under tariff code 3302.9000.

（2） Citrus essential oil

The leaves, flowers, and fruits of citrus plants such as lemon, sweet orange, grapefruit, and red orange can all be used to extract essential oils, but only essential oils extracted from the skin can be called essential oils of citrus fruits. Among them, orange oil is classified under tariff code 3301.1200, lemon oil is classified under tariff code 3301.1300, and white lemon oil (lime oil) is classified under tariff code 3301.1910.

It should be noted that the term "orange" in subheading 3301.12 does not include oranges (including honey oranges and pomelo oranges), Clement oranges, Wilkins oranges, and similar hybrid citrus fruits. Pomelo oil, grapefruit oil, Australian cold pressed orange peel oil, grapefruit oil, bright red orange peel oil, bergamot oil, and other essential oils of citrus fruits are classified under tariff code 3301.1990.

（3） Skin care essence oil

Skin care essence oil is an oily essence formulated from many essence substances. It has skin care effects such as strengthening skin barrier, balancing water oil balance, locking water and moisturizing. It usually contains a variety of single essential oils, a variety of vegetable base oils, caprylic acid/capric acid glyceride and other ingredients. It is a skin care product and should be included in the tax code 3304.9900.

According to the standardized declaration requirements for essential oils under tax item 33.01 in the "Catalogue and Interpretation of Customs Import and Export Commodity Standard Declaration of the People's Republic of China (2022)";

Enterprises should declare: 1. Product name; 2. Purpose; 3. Processing technology; 4. Packaging specifications; 5. Brand (Chinese or foreign name); 6. Model number; 7. Ingredient content.

Compound essential oils under tax item 33.02 should be declared according to the standard declaration requirements: 

1. Product name; 2. Ingredients; 3. Purpose; 4. Brand (Chinese or foreign name); 5. Model; 6. Packaging specifications.

Skincare products under tax item 33.04 should be declared according to the standard declaration requirements, including: 

1. Product name; 2. Purpose; 3. Packaging specifications; 4. Brand (Chinese or foreign name); 5. GTIN code.