Sourcing cold-seal kraft paper rolls from China

Products and search terms

cold-seal paper, self-seal kraft paper, cohesive coated paper, book wrap paper, cold seal rolls, paper mailer roll

What cold-seal paper is and who uses it

Cold-seal (cohesive) coating bonds when two coated surfaces are pressed together, without heat and without sticking to the goods. Booksellers, publishers' fulfilment centres and online retailers use it on rolls, often on wrapping machines, to pack books and flat items without tape or plastic mailers.

Most factories in China that make it buy kraft paper and coat it, so you are sourcing a converter, not a paper mill. Ask where the base paper comes from and who applies the coating; for the base paper itself see sourcing kraft paper and sack kraft.

Write the specification around the seal

State the base paper grammage and colour, the roll width, length or weight, core diameter, the coating pattern (full surface or edges) and the coating weight, and the seal strength you need after pressing. Ask for the release surface on the reverse, so the roll unwinds without blocking.

Cohesive coatings age, so ask the coater for the shelf life and storage conditions in writing and plan your stock turn around them. Test the samples on your own wrapping machine or by hand with your own products, at the temperatures your warehouse sees, before you approve. Write the results into the product specification.

Duty on coated paper in rolls

Paper in rolls that is coated with adhesive or other materials is classified in heading 4811. The right subheading depends on the coating: adhesive coatings point to 4811 41 or 4811 49, plastic coatings to 4811 51 or 4811 59. Ask the coater for the coating chemistry so your customs agent can classify it. The UK Trade Tariff API, read on 26 October 2026, shows 0% on both candidate lines below and no anti-dumping measure on China.

Packaging EPR and Plastic Packaging Tax

Under packaging extended producer responsibility, importing unfilled packaging, or importing goods in packaging, is a packaging activity. You are an obligated producer if you are established in the UK, supplied or imported more than 25 tonnes of packaging in the previous year and have an annual turnover of £1 million or more. See UK packaging EPR and the packaging EPR checker.

Plastic Packaging Tax applies to a component that contains more plastic by weight than any other single substance. Ask for the coating weight and composition per square metre, so you can show the paper is the heaviest substance; see UK Plastic Packaging Tax.

Inspection and shipping

At pre-shipment inspection, check roll dimensions and weight, grammage on a sample, coating coverage and pattern, a seal test on paper taken from several rolls, blocking, edge damage and moisture. Rolls must be wrapped and stood on end so the edges do not crush.

Cambridge China Bridge sources packaging for retailers and brands through our retailers service and arranges the seal tests and inspection before shipment.