The project will coincide with the adoption of the VAT system throughout the country by April 2002.

The proposed uniform classification and codification of commodities will be made along the lines of attempts that have already been made in this direction by the Central Excise and Customs Tariff Classification, which is modeled on the International Convention of Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding Systems, according to Director of Centre for Taxation Studies (CTS) director John Mathai, who is also Kerala's commissioner of commercial taxes.

The responsibility for evolving a uniform clasiffication and coding for all states was entrusted to CTS by the Union finance minister Yashwant Sinha at the chief minister's conference held in July, Mathai added. Consequently, a two day workshop on the uniform classification and codification of commodities is being organised by CTS. The seminar, which is being attended by commissioners and top officials from the commercial taxes departments of 14 states, began on Friday.The scheduling, classification and coding will be done on the basis of the nature of goods, rates etc. It will be prepared so as to facilitate the introduction of the universal VAT system, inter-state comparison and easy reference. It will also be compatible with the Tariff Acts of the customs and central excise departments.

At present, each state follows different systems for classifying, scheduling and codifying commodities in their tax statutes.