How to export preserved vegetables from the UK to China

Match the product to its Chinese tariff line

Preserved vegetables and potato products span frozen, dried, provisionally preserved and prepared goods. Frozen potatoes under HS 071010 and prepared frozen potatoes under HS 200410 have different Chinese tariff lines and MFN rates. Give your importer the ingredients and processing specification before agreeing the classification. The largest listed UK export line was prepared olives, 20057000, at £142k in 2025; that is an HS-code total.

Confirm the factory's GACC registration route

GACC Decree 280 requires overseas food manufacturers, processors and storage enterprises exporting food to China to register. Dehydrated vegetables are on the recommendation list: our reading places HS 0712 products on that route, but confirm the precise product in GACC's registration system. The manufacturer applies itself or through an agent; the exporting country's competent authority must also provide its recommendation and audit report. Plan for months, not weeks; the Chinese authority decides.

Do not apply the dehydrated-vegetable route automatically to frozen potatoes or vinegar-preserved vegetables. Confirm their registration category separately. Once registered, the manufacturer's China registration number or home-authority-approved number must appear on the packaging. The overseas manufacturer's registration number must also be entered correctly on the Chinese customs declaration; customs does not accept a declaration that fails this requirement.

Price the duty and VAT into the importer's offer

The selected tariff lines above show why processing matters: 07101000 carries 13% MFN duty, while 20041000 carries 5%. Duty and import VAT add to landed cost and shape the price your importer can offer. The VAT Law sets 13% generally and 9% for agricultural products; have the importer's customs broker confirm this product's treatment and whether consumption tax applies. Import VAT uses the customs value plus duty plus any applicable consumption tax.

Prepare the label and the UK export paperwork

For ordinary imports, prepackaged vegetables need a compliant Chinese label identifying origin and the domestic agent's name, address and contact details. Pickled products should be assessed against GB 2714-2015, 酱腌菜, where applicable. Check artwork against the current requirements and GB 7718-2025, which takes effect on 16 March 2027, before committing to a packaging run.

For exports from England, Scotland or Wales, arrange a GB EORI and the correct UK commodity code. The online export declaration needs the value, weight, packaging, destination, transport and invoice and packing-list references. The carrier needs the invoice and any required export licences or certificates. Give the declarant the actual preparation method so frozen potatoes and prepared frozen potatoes are distinguished.

Use cross-border retail only for listed products

The cross-border retail list covers only part of this range. Dried garlic 07129050 and other dried vegetables and mixtures 07129099 are restricted to online bonded imports. Listed vinegar-preserved cucumbers 20011000, other vinegar-preserved plant foods 20019090 and whole or cut tomatoes 20021010 and 20021090 offer further possibilities. Entries 07129099 and 20019090 exclude goods in the wildlife commodity catalogue where the specified non-catalogue-species certificate cannot be provided.

Listed goods imported through qualifying cross-border retail channels are supervised as personal-use articles, with first-import licence, registration and filing requirements disapplied, subject to the stated suspension and emergency-risk exceptions. Consumers must accept the risk notice and cannot resell the goods. This route therefore serves retail orders rather than stock for a Chinese distributor.

The overseas cross-border business retains primary responsibility for quality and safety and must appoint a mainland-registered company to register with customs, declare truthfully and share civil liability. Before choosing this route, have the operator check the exact Chinese code and list remark for your vegetable product.

Find and check the Chinese buyer before committing stock

Ask a prospective buyer which vegetable products it wants, which import channel it will use and who will coordinate classification, label review and customs declaration. Agree those responsibilities before printing packaging or committing stock. Our own staff in China find and check Chinese importers and distributors for UK brands; they also check a company that has already approached you before stock is sent or anything is signed.

We prepare registration and label work with licensed partners in China. The importer of record and any required cross-border e-commerce agent remain with licensed partners in China, and your own filings remain yours. Use our export-to-China service to discuss the product and the buyer you want checked.