Sourcing acacia honey from China

Acacia honey duty and import controls

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 3 November 2026, heading 0409 covers natural honey. Acacia honey falls under 0409 00 00 90, the line for honey other than Mānuka. The pack formats shown share this tariff line and its 16% duty for goods from China. No anti-dumping duty, countervailing duty or suspension is recorded for this line.

The tariff attaches veterinary control and import control of organic products. For Great Britain, arrange the health certificate, entry through a suitable border control post and the common health entry document for animal products; confirm IPAFFS pre-notification requirements with your customs broker. Confirm current country eligibility, the producer's registration and China-specific residue paperwork with your customs broker before ordering. Organic imports also need a certificate of inspection for each consignment and an importer certified by an approved UK control body.

This guide covers natural acacia honey without added ingredients. Honey preparations and confectionery need separate classification. Confirm the commodity code, and consult the wider honey guide for the rest of the heading.

Specify the acacia claim and processing

Agree the declared floral source, harvest area, extraction and filtration process, heating history, colour, flavour and pack format. Keep an approved reference sample. Ask a specialist laboratory to assess the floral claim using pollen analysis alongside the honey's physical, chemical and sensory characteristics. Specify separate authenticity testing for added syrups; a floral-origin report does not replace it.

For retail sale in England, a floral name requires honey wholly or mainly from the indicated source with that source's sensory, physical, chemical and microscopic characteristics. Filtered honey cannot carry a floral-origin claim. Establish whether processing significantly removes pollen before approving acacia-labelled packaging.

Agree batch reports for moisture, hydroxymethylfurfural, diastase activity, sugar composition and veterinary drug and pesticide residues. Record the test methods and acceptance criteria in the purchase specification. Match reports to the honey actually packed, and retain a sealed sample from each shipment.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: Illustrative order: 20 tonnes of bulk acacia honey in drums under 0409 00 00 90, invoiced at £42,000 free on board, with £3,500 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £45,500. Duty at 16% is £7,280. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £52,780, so it is £10,556. Import taxes total £17,836; a VAT-registered importer can usually reclaim the VAT, so the lasting cost is the £7,280 of duty. The import duty and VAT guide explains each step. This assumes the goods are standard-rated for VAT. Most food for human consumption is zero-rated, and animal feed can be too, in which case no import VAT is due, so check the rate for your product in HMRC's VAT Notice 701/14.

Inspection checklist

Floral identity: match the acacia claim, harvest records and laboratory assessment to the shipment's batch codes and approved sample.

Composition and authenticity: review moisture, heat-damage indicators, sugar composition, added-syrup testing and residue reports for the actual lot.

Packaging: check drum linings, jar or bottle closures, leaks, damaged packs, foreign matter and consistency against the approved sample.

Documents and labels: match the registered establishment, health certificate and batch details; check the harvesting country on labels and organic documents where applicable.

What goes wrong

A batch can pass general honey composition tests while lacking evidence for the acacia claim. Mixing floral sources or removing pollen can undermine the intended description. Approve the batch evidence before printing labels, and compare arrival samples with retained loading samples through quality inspection.

Added syrup, excess moisture and overheating are separate risks. Wet honey can ferment, while heating raises hydroxymethylfurfural and affects enzyme activity. Do not accept appearance or sweetness as proof of authenticity. Investigate failed reports, leaking packs and mismatched batch records before releasing stock.

Cambridge China Bridge sources these products for UK businesses, checking the factory and the documents before shipment. See factory verification. For repeat volumes, see container programmes.