Sourcing bovine bile powder from China

Zero duty, with veterinary controls

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 29 September 2026, heading 0510 includes bile, whether or not dried. The supplied record contains a single commodity line, 0510 00 00 00. The table describes bovine bile powder purchasing specifications under that same line, rather than separate tariff subdivisions. See the wider bile and glands guide.

Goods from China carry 0% duty, with no anti-dumping or countervailing duty and no suspension listed. The UK Trade Tariff attaches veterinary control, CITES import and export controls, and seal-product import control. Ask your customs broker to confirm the requirements and applicability of these controls to the declared bovine material.

Before ordering, ask the Animal and Plant Health Agency and your broker to confirm Chinese origin eligibility, the import route, risk category and any health-certificate requirement. Supply the species, drying and other processing details, composition and intended downstream use when confirming the commodity code. Obtain a separate destination check for Northern Ireland.

Specify bovine identity, processing and assay

Specify the source species, whether the powder is whole dried bile or a processed preparation, the drying method and any carriers or additives. Agree moisture, bile-acid assay and its reporting basis, solubility, foreign matter and microbiological acceptance criteria with the receiving processor. Keep an approved sample and obtain results for the shipped batch.

Unprocessed raw material is not considered an intermediate product under official import guidance. Ask the Animal and Plant Health Agency which route covers the actual powder. Under the outside-feed-chain animal by-product route, production must be at an establishment approved to export to Great Britain. Animal by-product consignments must enter through an approved border control post. Use factory verification to compare the supplier's process and batch records with your specification.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: Illustrative small trial consignment of bovine bile powder for pharmaceutical processing, subject to import eligibility confirmation under 0510 00 00 00, invoiced at £1,500 free on board, with £900 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £2,400. Duty at 0% is £0. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £2,400, so it is £480. With no duty, the only import tax is the VAT, which a VAT-registered importer can usually reclaim. The import duty and VAT guide explains each step.

Inspection checklist

Identity: match the bovine species declaration, batch marks and identity results to the purchase order and retained sample.

Analysis: check that moisture, bile-acid assay, solubility and agreed microbiological results relate to the shipped batch and use the agreed methods.

Condition: inspect for damp, hard caking, foreign matter, damaged liners and evidence of leakage.

Packing: compare seals, batch labels, container condition and storage instructions with the agreed packing specification. Plan sampling with the inspection guide.

What goes wrong

A generic animal-bile description can conceal a different species or an undisclosed blend. Added carriers can change the assay, while moisture can cause caking and make sample comparisons misleading. Do not accept bear bile as a substitute: commercial trade in bear bile is prohibited.

A sample report does not establish the quality of the shipped batch. Do not release an order while the import route remains unresolved, and do not assume that a raw-material specification establishes suitability for food, supplements or finished medicines. Obtain advice for the intended use before offering the powder for sale.

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.