Ceramic ornaments and figurines from China

6% or 2% duty

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 26 September 2026, statuettes and other ornamental ceramic articles, heading 6913, carried 6% on goods from China for porcelain or china, earthenware or fine pottery and other ceramics, and 2% for articles of common pottery, whether hand-made or not, with no anti-dumping measure.

Ceramic tableware and kitchenware are classified under headings 6911 and 6912, and metal or wooden ornaments by their material (see our metal ornaments guide and wooden ornaments guide). Confirm the commodity code from the body and whether the item is purely decorative.

Product safety

Ornaments sold to consumers must be safe under the General Product Safety Regulations 2005. An ornament that looks like a toy or is sold in a way that invites children to play with it can be treated as a toy, and one shaped like a cup or bowl may be used for food, so either mark it clearly as decorative and not for food, or have it meet the toy or food-contact rules.

Seasonal ornaments with lights or batteries are electrical products as well, and need to meet those rules.

Specifying ornaments

Specify body (porcelain, stoneware, earthenware, dolomite), size and weight, glaze and decoration method (hand-painted, decal, lustre), colours against a physical master sample, base felt or pads, hanging loops for tree decorations, labelling (decorative use only where needed), and inner and outer packing with a drop test.

Worked duty example

Take a hypothetical order of 8,000 porcelain figurines, entered under 6913 10 00 90: £32,000 free on board plus £2,800 of freight and insurance gives a customs value of £34,800. The 6% duty on porcelain figurines comes to £2,088, and import VAT is 20% of £36,888, which is £7,377.60. If you are VAT-registered you normally reclaim the £7,377.60, leaving £2,088 as the real cost at the border. Step by step: UK import duty and VAT.

Inspection checklist

Glaze and decoration: check sampled pieces in daylight for crawling, pinholes, crazing, bare spots and misaligned decals, and compare colours and hand-painting with the master sample.

Form and stability: check pieces stand level without rocking, check for cracks by tapping and visual inspection, and check hanging loops and glued parts hold.

Packing: drop-test packed cartons from the agreed height, check each piece is wrapped or in moulded inserts, and check labels and barcodes.

What goes wrong

Ceramic ornaments fail on breakage, glaze and consistency. Pieces arrive broken because inner packing is thin, glazes crawl or craze, hand-painting varies from the sample, bases rock or scratch furniture without felt, and seasonal pieces arrive after the selling window because production started late.

Approve a master sample, drop-test packing and book production early for seasonal lines. See our quality inspection guide.

Cambridge China Bridge sources ceramic ornaments and figurines for gift, garden and seasonal retailers, and has no minimum order of its own; the factory's minimum per design applies. See small orders.