HS Code 1509.90.10 — Olive oil and its fractions, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified: In aerosol containers | South Africa Import & Export

Switching from olive oil in a bottle (1509.90.90) to olive oil in an aerosol (1509.90.10) doesn’t change your duty by one cent — but it changes everything about how the shipment moves. The can is UN1950 dangerous goods, and clearance routes through SACAA and Port Health.

What this HS code covers

HS 1509.90.10 is the South African 8-digit tariff line for olive oil and its fractions — refined or otherwise blended — arriving in aerosol containers. In commercial terms that is almost entirely retail cooking spray: a pressurised can with a hydrocarbon or compressed-gas propellant that dispenses olive oil as a fine mist. The full heading HS 1509 covers all olive oil and its fractions; the parent sub-heading HS 1509.90 covers “other” olive oil (i.e. not extra-virgin, virgin or “other virgin”), and SARS then splits that into 1509.90.10 (aerosol) and 1509.90.90 (everything else — typically liquid in glass or PET). The same aerosol/non-aerosol split repeats at 1509.20.10/.90, 1509.30.10/.90 and 1509.40.10/.90 — eight lines in total under the heading.

South African trade picture

South Africa imported USD 27.3 million of olive oil across the entire HS 1509 heading in 2024, on 3,511 tonnes net (UN Comtrade, reporter ZAF, HS 1509, 2024, accessed 18 May 2026). That is a sharp pullback from the 2022 spike (USD 46.2 million / 12,093 tonnes) when the EU drought pushed olive-oil retail prices to record highs and importers cleared stock through 2023–2024.

The relevant parent sub-heading for aerosol cooking spray is HS 1509.90 (“other” olive oil), which in 2024 was USD 3.4 million on 730 tonnes (UN Comtrade, reporter ZAF, HS 150990, 2024). The top three sources at this sub-heading were Italy (53.1%, USD 1.81 million), Spain (29.1%, USD 0.99 million) and Portugal (16.6%, USD 0.56 million). Together that is 98.8% — aerosol cooking-spray olive oil into SA is essentially an EU trade flow. Note the inversion versus the wider heading: at HS 1509 overall, Spain dominates (54.3%) because Spain is the bulk virgin/extra-virgin source; at HS 1509.90, Italy leads because Italian co-packers in Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna run most of the EU’s retail-aerosol filling lines.

One honest caveat: UN Comtrade does not publish below HS6. The aerosol-only share that sits specifically on tariff line 1509.90.10 is a subset of that USD 3.4 million figure, but the precise 8-digit split is not separately reported. For an SAD500-level cut you have to query SARS Customs trade statistics directly.

Duties and VAT

The MFN duty rate on HS 1509.90.10 is 10% ad valorem (SARS Schedule No. 1 Part 1, Chapter 15, dated 15 May 2026). The preferential rates are:

Two things to note. First, those rates are identical to the non-aerosol line 1509.90.90 and to every other 1509.xx.10/.90 pair. The aerosol container does not change the SARS duty by one cent — it is purely a packaging-form classification flag. Second, AfCFTA at 4% is unusually generous on this line (most chapter 15 cooking oils sit at MFN under AfCFTA); commercially this matters most for Tunisian or Moroccan aerosol exporters who are AfCFTA parties but not SADC.

VAT is the standard 15% on the Added Tax Value: customs value, plus the 10% mark-up under section 13(2) of the VAT Act, plus customs duty (VAT Act 89 of 1991). There is no excise duty on olive oil and no health promotion levy — the sugar levy applies only to sugary beverages under HS 22.02. There is no active anti-dumping, countervailing or safeguard duty on HS 1509 imports (on JLog’s current Gate-3 watchlist, re-checked per consignment), and no Schedule 4 rebate item covers olive oil (SARS Schedule No. 4, dated 13 March 2026).

Documents and compliance

The classification is straightforward. The compliance burden is not, because the moment a flammable propellant is inside the can the consignment is dangerous goods. Under the UN Model Regulations, the proper shipping name is UN1950 — AEROSOLS, hazard Class 2.1 (flammable gas) where the propellant is propane, butane, isobutane, dimethyl ether or an LPG blend — which covers the vast majority of cooking sprays. Where the propellant is CO2 or N2 the same UN1950 number applies but the hazard class drops to 2.2 (non-flammable, non-toxic gas). The Shipper’s Declaration must state which.

Air imports are governed by SACAR Part 92 (Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Air) and SACATS Part 92 technical standards under the South African Civil Aviation Authority, which cross-reference the ICAO Technical Instructions and the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations (67th Edition, effective 1 January 2026). Sea imports are governed by the IMDG Code (Amendment 41-22, in force 1 January 2024). For the product side, Port Health under the Department of Health enforces the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act 54 of 1972 and the labelling regulation R.146 of 2010 at the port of entry — and storage in South Africa falls under the OHSA General Safety Regulations and the SANS 10263 series for flammable substances.

Documents you should have on file before the consignment lands:

• Commercial invoice with the full 8-digit tariff line (1509.90.10) and country of origin
• Packing list with carton-by-carton net and gross weights
• Bill of lading or air waybill
• EUR.1 movement certificate (for EU origin, to claim the zero duty rate) or approved-exporter invoice declaration for consignments above €6,000
• Safety Data Sheet (SDS) stating the propellant and confirming UN1950 + hazard division
• IATA Shipper’s Declaration for Dangerous Goods (for air freight) or IMDG dangerous goods note (for sea freight)
• Carton labelling: UN1950 + Class 2.1 (or 2.2) hazard diamond, orientation arrows, net quantity per inner package, shipper and consignee details
• R.146-compliant retail labels: full ingredient and allergen statement, nutrition information, net contents declaration — printed at origin, not retro-fitted in a SA bonded warehouse

Common mistakes

The first mistake importers make is assuming that because the duty is the same on 1509.90.10 and 1509.90.90, the difference is academic. It is not — declaring an aerosol shipment under the liquid line means your SAD500 will not match your air waybill, and a SARS post-clearance audit can reclassify the cargo with retrospective DG handling charges from the carrier (not from SARS) plus carrier penalties. The second mistake is treating UN1950 as a single entry on the Shipper’s Declaration. It is not enough — the propellant must be characterised and the hazard division (2.1 vs 2.2) declared, with the SDS as the audit evidence. The third is assuming NRCS runs a Letter of Authority regime over filled food aerosols. It does not — NRCS regulates the empty pressure receptacle under VC 8043 and a handful of unrelated specifications, but the filled retail aerosol of cooking spray sits with SACAA (transport), Port Health (product), and OHSA/SANS (storage). And the fourth is leaving retail labelling for the SA end of the journey — relabelling 20,000 aerosol cans in a bonded warehouse after Port Health stops them at the port costs many multiples of printing R.146-compliant labels at origin.

How JLog handles it

We clear HS 1509.90.10 consignments at OR Tambo and Cape Town with the dangerous-goods paperwork prepared up front. That means we check the SDS and the IATA Shipper’s Declaration against the SAD500 entry before the freight moves, route the consignment on a carrier that accepts UN1950 Class 2.1 on the intended aircraft type (some passenger-aircraft bookings will refuse aerosols and need to go CAO), and check the EUR.1 against the EU origin documents so you actually get the zero duty rate rather than paying 10% by default. On arrival we hold the cargo in DG-appropriate handling arranged at our Woodstock premises, and release to your retail or wholesale destination once Port Health has cleared the R.146 labelling.

If the can is pressurised, the paperwork has to be too. Get it right at origin and the port becomes a formality instead of a R200,000 relabelling bill.

Get a quote

Get a quote for shipping HS 1509.90.10: https://jlog.co.za/get-a-quote