Sourcing canned sardines from China

Canned sardines: 12% duty

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 16 October 2026, heading 1604 covers prepared or preserved fish. The supplied whole-or-piece sardine lines carry 12% duty for goods from China, with no listed anti-dumping or countervailing duty and no suspension. The table repeats the other sardines code for different packing media; these are product variants, not separate tariff lines.

The tariff attaches veterinary, illegal fishing and organic import controls. For Great Britain, arrange plant approval checks, health certification and entry through a designated border control post, and confirm advance-notification requirements with your customs broker. Wild-caught sardines need validated catch documentation. If importing as organic, obtain a Great Britain certificate of inspection for each consignment and check the exporter’s control body and export country against the organic registers.

Confirm the species, packing medium and whether the fish is whole, in pieces or minced before choosing your commodity code. Do not apply this sardine rate to minced preparations. See the wider prepared fish guide for other products, but use this guide’s supplied tariff reading for these sardine lines.

Specify the fish, filling and can

Specify the scientific species, whole fish or pieces, skin and bone presentation, fish size, oil or sauce recipe, salt level, net and drained weights, can shape, opening style and carton arrangement. Agree an approved sample for texture, flavour and appearance, including how much broken fish is acceptable.

Before ordering, check the factory’s approval for fishery products exported to Great Britain and match its identity to the proposed paperwork. Agree batch records for raw-fish handling, heat processing, commercial sterility and histamine testing. Confirm with the relevant food authority which label particulars are required, including the food name, ingredients with allergens emphasised, net quantity, date mark, storage conditions and the food business’s UK address.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: Illustrative wholesale order of canned sardines in tomato sauce, not a quotation under 1604 13 19 90, invoiced at £30,000 free on board, with £4,000 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £34,000. Duty at 12% is £4,080. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £38,080, so it is £7,616. Import taxes total £11,696; a VAT-registered importer can usually reclaim the VAT, so the lasting cost is the £4,080 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

Can integrity: inspect arrival cartons for leakage, swelling, rust and damage around seams; compare seam teardown results with the agreed can specification.

Contents and weight: open sampled cans, check species presentation, broken pieces, texture and packing medium; compare measured net and applicable drained weights with the label.

Batch evidence: match can and carton batch marks to processing records, commercial sterility results and histamine test reports.

Labels and documents: check allergen emphasis, date marks and the UK business address; match plant identity and shipment details across certificates and commercial documents. Plan checks using our inspection guide.

What goes wrong

A can that looks sound can still have a defective seam. Other failures include short drained weight, excessive broken fish, a changed sauce recipe and incomplete batch evidence. Hold leaking or swollen stock apart while investigating, and agree responsibility for rejected batches before ordering.

Border paperwork can fail even when the cans meet the sample specification. A Chinese cannery may use fish caught by vessels registered elsewhere: where processing takes place in a different country from vessel registration or licensing, additional processing or storage documentation is needed. Confirm the document chain before loading.

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.