Sourcing aluminium blister foil from China

Duty depends on the foil construction

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 18 October 2026, heading 7607 covers aluminium foil no thicker than 0.2 mm, excluding backing. Blister foil descriptions need to distinguish rolled stock, worked lidding foil and backed laminates. The selected rows are classification candidates, not interchangeable codes. See the wider aluminium foil guide.

The selected unbacked lines carry 6% duty from China; backed foil under 0.021 mm carries 10%. They show no anti-dumping or countervailing duty and no attached import controls. The suspension on 7607 19 90 96 is restricted to a specified battery-cathode laminate, not ordinary blister foil. Elsewhere in the heading, certain thin, small-roll plain or embossed foil carries 7.50% plus residual anti-dumping duty of 35.60%; do not apply that treatment to all blister foil.

Give your broker the layer construction, aluminium thickness, roll weight and details of printing or coating to confirm the commodity code. For converter stock, check whether the narrowly specified suspension applies before budgeting a reduced rate. Consult the wider published foil guide and confirm with the relevant authorities or your customs broker whether future carbon border adjustment obligations and packaging producer responsibility apply to your business; include any applicable requirements in your import planning.

Specify the lidding foil and sealing surface

State whether you need push-through lidding, peelable lidding or a forming laminate. Specify alloy and temper, aluminium thickness separately from total laminate thickness, backing materials, coating chemistry, sealing side, width, core dimensions, winding direction and splice acceptance. Name the blister web it will seal to and agree sealing trials on your packing line before approving bulk production.

For printed medicine packs, all information on packaging for licensed medicines must be printed directly onto the packaging; over-labelling must not be used. Agree the artwork with your medicine customer before printing. For food or supplement applications involving food contact, ask for the alloy, manufacturer’s declaration and migration reports covering the intended use.

Ask for batch-linked material and coating records. Agree how seal integrity, opening behaviour, pinholes and print adhesion will be assessed. Retain approved samples of the actual coated or laminated construction, rather than approving plain foil alone.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: Illustrative order: 200 kg of coated, unbacked blister lidding foil under 7607 19 10 90, invoiced at £3,000 free on board, with £2,200 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £5,200. Duty at 6% is £312. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £5,512, so it is £1,102.40. Import taxes total £1,414.40; a VAT-registered importer can usually reclaim the VAT, so the lasting cost is the £312 of duty. The import duty and VAT guide explains each step.

Inspection checklist

Construction: measure aluminium gauge and total thickness separately, check width and confirm the backing and coating against the approved sample.

Barrier and seal: inspect for pinholes, scratches and coating gaps; run sealing and opening trials with the intended blister web.

Print: check artwork version, registration, legibility and rub resistance; inspect for ink transfer onto the contact surface.

Rolls and records: check winding direction, unwinding, splice identification, crushed cores and batch labels through quality inspection.

What goes wrong

A foil can look correct yet seal poorly because the lacquer does not suit the blister web. Uneven coating leaves weak seals; pinholes and handling scratches compromise the barrier. Incorrect temper changes push-through behaviour, while excessive winding tension or damaged cores cause feeding problems.

A supplier may quote total laminate thickness when you requested aluminium thickness, or replace the approved lacquer without telling you. Keep the layer specification and approved sample with the purchase order, and investigate failed sealing trials before releasing the batch.

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.