Sourcing aquatic invertebrates from China

0% to 10% by species and condition

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 3 October 2026, heading 0308 covers aquatic invertebrates other than crustaceans and molluscs, including sea cucumbers, sea urchins and jellyfish. It covers live, fresh, chilled, frozen, dried, salted, brined and smoked forms. Frozen jellyfish carries 0% duty from China; all other supplied lines carry 10%. No anti-dumping or countervailing duty or suspension is recorded.

Every supplied line carries veterinary and organic import controls. Illegal fishing controls appear on all supplied lines except frozen jellyfish; CITES import and export controls appear on sea cucumber and other aquatic invertebrate lines. Confirm the exact control documents with your customs broker before shipment, including the Common Health Entry Document for the veterinary control. These border instructions concern Great Britain; confirm Northern Ireland arrangements separately.

Choose the code from the scientific species, condition and processing description, rather than the supplier's general name for seafood. Ask your broker to check seasoned, cooked or otherwise prepared products separately. Use our commodity code guide before agreeing the declaration.

Specify species, salt and usable weight

For sea cucumbers, specify species, whole or cut form, cleaned condition, size grade, moisture, salt and texture after rehydration. For sea urchins, distinguish whole animals from separated edible parts and agree colour, firmness and handling. For jellyfish, specify species, bell or tentacle cuts, salt treatment, declared additives, drained weight and the preparation needed before eating.

Before ordering for food use, check that the exporting country and establishment are approved for the exact commodity. Sea cucumbers and sea urchins are echinoderms, so ask the port health authority to confirm the approval category for the proposed form. Pre-notification through IPAFFS is required for fishery consignments. Agree the applicable health certificate and border route before loading.

Organic food from China entering Great Britain needs a certificate of inspection for each consignment. For protected species, check CITES documents with APHA. Where the tariff attaches illegal fishing controls, ask the broker or port health authority to confirm catch-certificate applicability and any aquaculture exemption for your species and production method.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: Illustrative hypothetical order: 2 tonnes of salted jellyfish under 0308 30 80 90, invoiced at £16,000 free on board, with £1,500 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £17,500. Duty at 10% is £1,750. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £19,250, so it is £3,850. Import taxes total £5,600; a VAT-registered importer can usually reclaim the VAT, so the lasting cost is the £1,750 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

Identity: match scientific species, whole or cut form and batch markings to the purchase specification and shipping documents.

Usable weight: measure drained jellyfish weight, deglazed frozen product weight and dried sea cucumber rehydration performance against the agreed sample.

Condition: check frozen packs for thawing signs and damaged seals, dried sea cucumbers for mould or foreign matter, and jellyfish for broken cuts and inconsistent texture.

Treatment and packs: compare salt, moisture and declared additives with the specification; review laboratory results, storage instructions and carton labels before release.

What goes wrong

A broad seafood approval or an available tariff code can be mistaken for approval of the exact product. Confirm the country, establishment and product category before paying for production. Certificate descriptions, species names and carton markings should agree; resolve discrepancies before shipment.

Salt, brine or glaze can conceal a shortfall in usable product. Sea cucumbers may rehydrate unevenly, jellyfish cuts may become soft or fragmented, and frozen sea urchin product may lose its agreed texture. Keep an approved sample and a written sampling method. Our inspection guide explains how to organise checks.

Cambridge China Bridge sources these products for UK businesses, checking the factory and the documents before shipment. See factory verification.