How to export saddlery from the UK to China

Choose the import route for your saddlery

Saddlery and equestrian goods fall under HS 420100, covering saddlery and harness for any animal, including leads, muzzles and saddle cloths. The Chinese tariff line is 42010000. Agree whether your buyer will use ordinary imports or cross-border retail, and have its customs broker confirm the requirements for your actual goods. GACC Decree 280 covers overseas food businesses, so its food-manufacturer registration does not apply to saddlery.

HMRC recorded £983k of UK goods exports to mainland China under HS 420100 in 2025 (2024: £786k, +25%). Exports to Hong Kong under the same codes were £142k. January to July 2026: £483k against £487k in the same months of 2025 (-0.8%).

Allow for Chinese duty and import VAT

Chinese tariff line 42010000 has a 10% MFN rate. The VAT Law gives a standard import VAT rate of 13%, subject to its reduced-rate categories and special rules. Import VAT uses the customs value plus customs duty plus consumption tax as its base. The importer’s customs broker or adviser confirms whether consumption tax applies to saddlery and the applicable VAT treatment. These charges shape landed cost and the price your importer can offer.

Prepare the UK export declaration

For saddlery exported from England, Scotland or Wales, obtain a GB EORI and classify the goods using the correct commodity code. The online export declaration needs the value, weight, packaging, destination, transport details and invoice and packing list references. Give the carrier the invoice and any applicable export licences or certificates. Use the HS 420100 description to check that each item belongs in the saddlery line before preparing the paperwork.

Check the cross-border retail listing and its exception

Chinese line 42010000 is on the cross-border e-commerce retail import list. Its remark excludes goods listed in the wildlife species import and export commodity catalogue unless they have the certificate from China’s endangered species import and export management office confirming that the species is outside that catalogue. Check this condition against the materials in your saddlery before choosing this route.

Listed goods entering through bonded 1210 or direct 9610 retail channels are supervised as personal-use articles. First-import licence, registration and filing requirements are not applied, except for suspended epidemic-area goods or emergency risk handling. The overseas business carries the main product quality and safety responsibility and must appoint a mainland-registered company to register with customs, declare truthfully and share civil liability.

The limits are RMB 5,000 per transaction and RMB 26,000 annually per person. Before ordering, consumers must accept a notice explaining possible differences from Chinese standards, possible absence of Chinese labels with Chinese electronic labels available online, and personal use without resale. Assess this route against your saddlery’s selling price and intended customer use.

Find and check a Chinese importer

Check that a prospective importer can explain the route for your saddlery, its classification and the landed-cost assumptions behind its offer. 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.

Through our export-to-China service, 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; your own filings remain yours. We check requirements with those partners.