TDO Help - Product Search

Keyword and Code Search

Users can now perform a "Keyword and Code Search" in the same search box under "Search for a Product". Follow the instructions below for a Keyword, Code, and Browse List of Products search options.

Keyword Search

The Keyword Search is applied against product descriptions for commodities classified according to the international Harmonized System (HS). Both Canada and the United States employ this system to compile customs-based trade statistics.

The search is applied against the description (as stored in Trade Data Online) and against a thesaurus of synonyms and related terms.

Steps for Performing a Keyword Search

  1. A new screen will appear when the "Search for a Product" option is activated in the main panel.
  2. A search box will appear below a set of instructions. This is where keywords are entered. Click on "search" afterwards to launch the search.
  3. Keyword search is not case-sensitive and not sensitive to accentuated characters. Also, logical operators may be employed as explained further down below.
  4. A picklist of results will appear in the "Search Results" area below the search box. The number of records retrieved will also be indicated. The results from the last search performed will be displayed if one was performed. If not, the message "Search criteria not specified" will be displayed instead.
  5. A selection is made by highlighting an item in the "Product List" area and clicking on the button "Add to Selected Product(s)" which will be displayed below. This will transfer the item to the "Selected Product(s)" area further down. Multiple selections are possible (see below).
  6. The "Selected Codes" area will always display your active selection list. Items can be removed by clicking on the action button "Remove".
  7. Select "Grouped" or "Shown Individually".
  8. Run Report.

To make multiple selections

You can select or deselect highlighted items by clicking them again while holding down the key appropriate for your platform:

  • Hold down the "Ctrl" key while clicking on the products you desire.

Use of Operators: Examples

You can perform a keyword search using more than one word and with logical (Boolean) operators such as "AND", "NOT" and "OR" spaced between your words.

The keyword search also automatically consults the built-in thesaurus to help you narrow or broaden your search criteria as required.

  • Search on: "engines AND aircraft"

    This will return only codes and descriptions related in some way to both these terms. The numerous types of engines not associated with aircrafts will not appear, although components of aircraft engines will be picked up.

  • Search on: "sandals OR slippers"

    This will return codes and descriptions relating to both these terms. Other kind of footwear will be excluded by this more precise selection.

  • Search on: "suits NOT track"

    This will return only codes and descriptions related to "suits", but will exclude "track suits" from the returned list.

Because the search is a string type of search, you might pick up items that do not seem related to your request. For instance, a search on organ will pick up that string of letters from words such as organic and inorganic in the thesaurus and display a long list of organic and inorganic chemicals.

Thus, if you are looking for say pipe organs or church organs, you might choose to enter "organ AND musical" in the keyword search box to narrow the number of items returned.

About the Keyword Search Thesaurus

Keyword searches in Trade Data Online are aided by use of a built-in thesaurus of synonyms and related terms customized for HS and NAICS descriptors.

This feature was added because similar terms can be used to describe the same product but only one appears in the product description.

For instance, the word "bovine" is the term commonly used in the Harmonized System and the word "cow" has been added in the thesaurus as a keyword.

Thus, if a search is carried out using the word "cow", product codes using the term "bovine" will also be returned.

The thesaurus has other uses.

The word "animal" has also been added to the thesaurus. Someone wishing to find all the codes for live animals (entered in the window as "LIVE AND ANIMAL") would thus pick up bovines (incl. cows), swine (incl. pigs) and equines (incl. horses) among others through inclusion of the latter term in the thesaurus. This allows retrieval of similar type commodities through use of more generic terms.

Code Search

The Code Search is applied against the numeric HS codes (at the 2, 4 and 6-digit levels) for commodities classified according to the international Harmonized System (HS) used by Canada, the United States and others.

This option is most useful for those already familiar with the HS classification codes.

Steps for Performing a Code Search

  1. A new screen will appear when the "Search for a Product" option is activated in the main panel.
  2. A search box will appear below a set of instructions. This is where numeric codes are entered. Click on "search" afterwards to activate.
  3. Code search is limited to a maximum of 6 digits, but partial codes, code ranges and the OR operator (to built a list) can be used as described in more detail below.
  4. The results from the last search performed will be displayed if one was performed. If not, the message "Search criteria not specified" will be displayed instead.
  5. A selection is made by highlighting an item in the "Product List" area and clicking on the button "Add to Selected Product(s)" which will be displayed below. This will transfer the item to the "Selected Product(s)" area further down. Multiple selections are possible (see below).
  6. The "Selected Product(s)" area will always display your active selection list. Items can be removed by clicking on the action button "Remove".
  7. Select "Grouped" or "Shown Individually".
  8. Run Report.

To make multiple selections

You can select or deselect highlighted items by clicking them again while holding down the key appropriate for your platform:

  • Hold down the "Ctrl" key while clicking on the products you desire.

Code Search Options

  • Partial codes are allowed. For example, entering "24" will return all the HS codes that begin with these digits (i.e. the codes of Chapter 24).

    • A range of codes may be entered using the ":" as an operator. For example, entering:

    value="8403 : 8406"

    will return a picklist with the codes from HS 8403 to HS 8406.

    A list of codes may also be specified using the "OR" operator. For example, entering

  • "42 OR 61 OR 63"

    will return a picklist with the HS4 and HS6 codes in Chapters 42, 61 and 63.

  • Use of the AND and NOT operators is disabled in the code search.
  • A maximum of 6 digits is allowed. If you enter more, only the first 6 digits will be retained. If you want trade statistics for 8 or 10-digit codes based on Canadian or U.S. extensions to the Harmonized System, please note that this data is not available in Trade Data Online.

Browse List of Products

The Browse List of Products option allows you to select products by displaying a complete list of all the HS4 and HS6 codes in the different chapters and sections of the Harmonized System (HS).

Steps for Using the Browse List of Products Option

  1. A new screen will appear when the "Browse List of Products" option is activated in the main panel.
  2. A selection box will appear below a set of instructions. This will display the various Chapters of the HS with groups of chapters organized in Sections.
  3. When the "View Products" option is chosen, the picklist of HS codes will appear in the "Product List" area below. The number of records retrieved will also be indicated.
  4. A selection of one or more 4 or 6-digit codes is made by highlighting an item in the search results area and clicking on the button "Add to Selected Products". This will transfer the item to the list of selected codes displayed below. Multiple selections are possible (see below).
  5. The "Selected Product(s)" area will display your active selection list. Items can be removed by highlighting and clicking on the action button "Remove" below.
  6. The "Selected Product(s)" area can thus display both individual 4 or 6-digit HS codes and entire chapters or sections, creating a variety of possible combinations. When there is a clear conflict between selections (e.g. selecting 1903 and 190300 of the same family), a warning will appear to prevent double-counting.
  7. Select "Grouped" or "Shown Individually".
  8. Run Report.

To make multiple selections

You can select or deselect highlighted items by clicking them again while holding down the key appropriate for your platform:

  • Hold down the "Ctrl" key while clicking on the products you desire.

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