Bamboo canes and rattan from China

Zero duty on plaiting materials

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 26 September 2026, bamboos, rattans and other vegetable materials of a kind used primarily for plaiting, such as cleaned, bleached or dyed cereal straw, reeds, rushes and osier, carried 0% duty on goods from China, with no anti-dumping measure. The heading covers the raw or simply prepared material, such as canes cut to length or split.

Bamboo baskets, furniture, flooring and kitchenware are classified as finished goods, including our wooden and bamboo kitchenware guide. Confirm the commodity code from how far the material has been worked. For finished woven products, see our bamboo mats and screens guide.

Plant health and treatments

Bamboo canes, rattan and straw are plant products, so check GB plant health import requirements on GOV.UK for the exact material, since some need a phytosanitary certificate and pre-notification while fully processed material may not. Any regulated solid wood crates or pallets used to ship them must be treated and marked to ISPM 15; packaging made wholly from processed wood such as plywood is exempt.

Canes treated with a biocidal insecticide or preservative are treated articles under the retained Biocidal Products Regulation (EU) No 528/2012, which requires the active substance to be permitted for the relevant use and any applicable labelling requirements to be met, so ask the supplier what, if anything, has been applied. Labelling depends on biocidal claims, approval conditions and any necessary safety instructions; some substances awaiting approval remain permitted under transitional provisions. Heat treatment or kiln drying avoids that question for many buyers.

Worked duty example

Suppose, purely for illustration, you import a container of bamboo garden canes in bundles under 1401 10 00 00. At £9,000 free on board and £3,000 to ship and insure, the customs value is £12,000. With 0% duty on bamboo canes, the only charge is import VAT: 20% of £12,000, or £2,400. VAT-registered businesses usually recover that in their next return. Once the bamboo is made into furniture, baskets or flooring it is classified as the finished article instead. The method is set out in how UK import duty and VAT work.

What goes wrong

Bamboo and rattan fail on insects, mould and grading. Powder-post beetles bore into starchy bamboo cut in the wrong season and keep emerging in the buyer's warehouse; damp bundles grow mould on the voyage; canes split at the nodes as they dry; diameters and lengths are mixed inside bundles; and rattan core varies in diameter so it jams in weaving.

Inspect bundles for exit holes and fresh bore dust, measure moisture on samples with a meter, check diameters with a gauge and lengths against the order at several points in each bundle, count canes per bundle, check straightness and splits, and confirm any heat treatment or fumigation certificate matches the lot before loading.

Cambridge China Bridge sources bamboo garden canes, split bamboo and rattan cane and core for garden centres, furniture makers and craft suppliers, starting with graded samples. See how we handle first orders.