How to export Prepared seafood from the UK to China

Prepared and canned fish and seafood: UK exports under HS 1604-1605 (30 subheadings)

Treat these products as a long-approval project: months, not weeks, and the Chinese authority decides. The manufacturer must apply for GACC registration and obtain competent-authority recommendation following a plant audit, with an audit report and recommendation letter. Aquatic products are on the recommended list; confirm your product in GACC's registration system. The importer must obtain an entry quarantine permit before signing the contract wherever that approval is required.

HMRC recorded £270k of UK goods exports to mainland China under 30 HS6 subheadings in 2025 (2024: £428k, -37%). Exports to Hong Kong under the same codes were £320k. January to July 2026: £171k against £80k in the same months of 2025 (+112.4%). These are UK exports under HS 1604-1605 (30 subheadings).

The largest supplied UK export line was 16055900, prepared or preserved molluscs within that line's exclusions, at £236k. That is an HS-code total, rather than sales of a particular brand. Before dispatch, verify the factory's registered listing and arrange the overseas exporter or agent's GACC filing and the importer's local customs filing.

Price against the Chinese tariff line

The listed Chinese tariff lines distinguish salmon, shark fins and different prepared-fish products; the selected rates below cannot be applied across every seafood product. Duty and import VAT add to landed cost and shape the price an importer can offer. VAT is generally 13%, with 9% for specified goods including agricultural products; have the importer's customs broker confirm the applicable treatment and whether consumption tax applies. VAT uses customs value plus duty plus consumption tax.

Build the fish-specific label file

For imported aquatic products, prepare the product and scientific names, specification, production date, batch, shelf life, storage conditions, production method and production area. Include the name, registration number and address of every producing and processing business, and state that the destination is the PRC. A registered manufacturer must also mark its China registration number, or its home authority's approved number, on the packaging.

For ordinary imports, prepackaged seafood needs a compliant Chinese label, including origin and the domestic agent's name, address and contact details. Include GB 10136-2015, the animal-based aquatic-products standard, in the product review. GB 7718-2025 takes effect on 16 March 2027; check artwork against both current labelling requirements and the incoming standard before committing to a print run.

Resolve the UK certificate position before shipment

Classify the seafood, obtain a GB EORI for exports from England, Wales or Scotland, and arrange the export declaration with commodity code, value, weight, packaging, destination, transport and invoice and packing-list references. Animal products have special export rules. GOV.UK's China health-certificate listing contains no certificate for this product: ask APHA about the applicable certificate and access position before arranging shipment. Give the carrier the invoice and any required export licences or certificates.

Check the exact retail e-commerce entry

The cross-border retail list partially covers this range: 16041190, 16041200, 16041300, 16041400, 16041500 and 16041700. The eel entry excludes goods in the wildlife commodity catalogue when the specified certificate confirming a species outside that catalogue cannot be supplied. Check the exact Chinese line and that remark before choosing this route; an entry for one fish preparation does not cover every canned product.

Listed goods through bonded 1210 or direct 9610 are supervised as personal-use imports, with first-import licence, registration and filing requirements disapplied subject to epidemic and emergency-risk exceptions. The overseas business must appoint a mainland-registered company for customs registration, truthful declaration and shared civil liability. Consumers must accept the risk notice; goods cannot be resold. The limits are RMB 5,000 per transaction and RMB 26,000 annually per person.

Find an importer who can assess the factory and product

Give prospective importers the species, preparation, packaging, proposed tariff line and factory registration position so they can assess the route and landed price. Our own staff in China find and check Chinese importers and distributors for UK brands. If an importer has already approached you, our staff in China check that company before stock is sent or anything is signed.

For this category, our help is limited to preparation, finding and checking a Chinese importer, and coordinating licensed partners. We prepare registration and label work with licensed partners in China. Regulated roles, including the importer of record and any required cross-border e-commerce agent, stay with licensed partners in China; the brand's own filings stay the brand's. We check with licensed partners. See our export preparation service.