In some circumstances (IP VPN inter-AS model C, Carrier Supporting Carrier, indirect static routes, etc.) an IPv4 or IPv6 packet may arrive on a QPPB-enabled interface and match a route A1 whose next-hop N1 is resolved by a route A2 with next-hop N2 and perhaps N2 is resolved by a route A3 with next-hop N3, etc. The QPPB result is based only on the forwarding-class and priority of route A1. If A1 does not have a forwarding-class and priority association then the QoS classification is not based on QPPB, even if routes A2, A3, etc. have forwarding-class and priority associations.