Sourcing brandy from China

0% customs duty, with Alcohol Duty separate

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 7 October 2026, heading 2208 covers undenatured ethyl alcohol below 80% by volume, spirits, liqueurs and other spirituous beverages. The grape-wine spirit and brandy lines shown carry 0% customs duty for goods from China, with no anti-dumping or countervailing duty and no suspension listed. The tariff attaches an import control for organic products.

Alcohol Duty is separate from customs duty. For spirits above 22% alcohol by volume, the rate is £33.99 per litre of pure alcohol. Confirm with HMRC or your customs broker how import VAT at 20% is calculated, including the treatment of customs duty and Alcohol Duty, and when Alcohol Duty is payable under the proposed import or excise-warehousing arrangement. UK-established wholesalers should confirm with HMRC whether Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme approval or an exclusion applies to their sales. Agree the duty route before shipment.

Organic brandy needs an inspection certificate for release as organic, issued by the exporter's control body in the exporting country. Your importing business must be based and certified in the UK. Ask your organic control body and customs broker to confirm exporter eligibility and consignment paperwork. Confirm the commodity code from the recipe and container size. The Cognac rows are comparisons, not suggested codes for Chinese-made generic brandy. See the wider spirits guide.

Specify the brandy recipe, maturation and bottle

Specify the grape-wine raw material, alcoholic strength and tolerance, oak vessel type, maturation history, blending records, colour and every addition. Agree bottle capacity, closure, tamper seal, carton dividers and label artwork. Obtain samples from the proposed production batch and retain an agreed reference sample for comparison.

For Great Britain, brandy has a minimum alcoholic strength of 36% and must not be flavoured. Have the recipe and production records reviewed before approving the product name. Registered geographical indications protect names linked to particular regions, so check origin and entitlement before approving regional names on labels.

Confirm spirit-drink labelling requirements with the relevant food authority, including the product name, alcoholic strength, net quantity and UK business name and address. Ask whether an ingredients-list exemption applies and how any allergens should be declared. Check every bottle and gift-box variant against the approved artwork.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: Illustrative order: 1,500 litres of bulk brandy in containers holding more than 2 litres; FOB value and freight are illustrative under 2208 20 66 00, invoiced at £12,000 free on board, with £1,500 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £13,500. Duty at 0% is £0. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £13,500, so it is £2,700. 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. HMRC's VAT Notice 701/14 lists alcoholic beverages among the exceptions that are standard-rated even though most food is zero-rated, so the 20% VAT shown applies.

Inspection checklist

Liquid: test alcoholic strength, methanol and other contaminants against the agreed specification; compare colour, clarity, aroma and taste with the retained sample.

Maturation: reconcile oak-vessel and blending records with the batch offered; investigate unsupported age claims or unexplained recipe changes.

Packaging: check fill quantity, leaking closures, tamper seals, glass damage, carton dividers and crushed gift boxes on arrival.

Documents: match batch identification, analysis reports and labels; check paperwork for the chosen duty route and any organic claim. Plan checks using the inspection guide.

What goes wrong

A supplier's brandy description can conceal a recipe or maturation history that has not been checked. Flavour additions, strength below the brandy minimum, unsupported regional names and labels copied from another market need resolving before artwork approval. A colour match alone does not establish that the production batch matches the approved sample.

Zero customs duty can distract buyers from Alcohol Duty and VAT. Model both before ordering using the duty and VAT guide. Resolve differences between the sample, analysis report and delivered liquid before accepting the batch, and record leaking bottles or damaged cases on arrival.

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.