Corrugated board and kraft paper from China

Zero duty on board in rolls and sheets

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 26 September 2026, corrugated paper and paperboard whether or not perforated (4808 10 00 00), creped or crinkled kraft paper (4808 40 00 00) and other paper of the heading, such as embossed or perforated paper in rolls or sheets (4808 90 00 00), carried 0% duty on goods from China, with no anti-dumping measure.

Cartons, boxes and cases already made up are classified in heading 4819, and printed retail packaging is covered in our packaging sector page. Confirm the commodity code from whether the board is still in sheets or has been cut, creased and glued into boxes. For finished pizza packaging, see our corrugated pizza box sourcing guide. For grey board and laminated paperboard, see our grey board and laminated paperboard guide.

Paper and paperboard of chapter 48 are within the scope of the UK Timber Regulations, except bamboo-based and recovered (waste and scrap) products. The business that first places the goods on the GB market, usually the importer, must carry out due diligence on the timber behind the paper, so ask the supplier for the pulp source, species and country of harvest, and any FSC or PEFC chain of custody certificate.

Strength, moisture and EPR

Corrugated board is specified by flute, liner and medium grades and tested for edge crush resistance by ISO 3037, bursting strength by ISO 2759, flat crush by ISO 3035 and grammage by ISO 536, after conditioning to ISO 187. Board that absorbs moisture at sea loses much of its stacking strength, so moisture content by ISO 287 and water absorptiveness by the Cobb method of ISO 535 matter as much as the dry figures.

Board made into packaging and supplied in the UK counts under packaging extended producer responsibility, so the business that brands, fills or imports the packaging may need to report it; see the GOV.UK guidance on packaging EPR.

Worked duty example

For a made-up shipment of 30,000 sheets of double-wall corrugated board on pallets under 4808 10 00 00, add the £2,600 of freight and insurance to the £9,500 free-on-board price and customs sees £12,100. Duty on corrugated board is zero, leaving import VAT of £2,420, 20% of the customs value. For a VAT-registered buyer that is a cash-flow cost rather than a lasting one. Boxes and cartons already made up are in heading 4819 instead. The duty and VAT guide walks through the calculation.

What goes wrong

Board fails on strength, warp and damage. Liners of lower grade or recycled content than ordered cut the edge crush and burst values; board that is too dry or too damp warps so it will not feed through converting machines; flutes are crushed by overtight strapping or stacking; and sheets are cut out of square or to the wrong size.

Test edge crush, burst, flat crush, grammage and moisture on conditioned samples from several pallets, check liner and medium grades against the specification, measure sheet size, squareness and warp, and inspect pallets for crushed edges and wet corners before loading.

Cambridge China Bridge sources corrugated board, creped kraft and packaging papers for box makers and packers, including regular container programmes. See our container programmes.

Related guides: Grey board and laminated paperboard from China. For coated packaging stock, see our coated paper and board sourcing guide.