Sourcing custard powder from China

Custard powder duty by recipe

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 30 September 2026, heading 2106 covers food preparations not elsewhere specified or included. The selected custard powder recipe bands carry 8% duty for goods from China, with no listed anti-dumping or countervailing duty. These are conditional classification options, not interchangeable codes. The listed suspension under 2106 90 98 49 concerns a specified cheese-containing powder, not ordinary custard powder; the other selected lines have no listed suspension.

The UK Trade Tariff attaches veterinary control and organic import control to these lines. Milk-containing composite products need an approved dairy origin. Ask your customs broker to confirm whether the Chinese product and its dairy ingredients are eligible, and which veterinary documents and border checks apply. Organic imports from China into Great Britain need a certificate of inspection for each consignment, and the exporter’s control body and country must be on the relevant organic registers.

Give the broker the complete recipe, sugar breakdown, milkfat content, ingredient origins and direct pack size to confirm the commodity code. For the wider heading, see our instant jelly and dessert powders guide.

Specify how the custard thickens

Define cook-up powder or an instant mix, whether the customer adds milk or water, and whether sugar is already included. Specify the starch source, thickening behaviour, vanilla flavour, cooked colour, sweetness and any milk or egg ingredients. Agree mixing instructions and compare the prepared custard with an approved sample.

For catering use, test viscosity during hot holding, scorching, skin formation and water separation after cooling. For retail packs, agree moisture-barrier packaging, resealing where needed and clear preparation instructions. Approve allergen information against the actual recipe; prepacked food must clearly identify its regulated allergens within the ingredients list.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: Illustrative order: a pallet of retail custard powder cartons under 2106 90 98 49, invoiced at £3,000 free on board, with £1,500 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £4,500. Duty at 8% is £360. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £4,860, so it is £972. Import taxes total £1,332; a VAT-registered importer can usually reclaim the VAT, so the lasting cost is the £360 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

Preparation: make custard from arrival samples using the agreed instructions; compare thickening, smoothness, colour and flavour with the retained sample.

Powder: check caking, unusual odour, foreign material and consistency between cartons; compare moisture results with the agreed specification.

Packing: check inner seals, damaged liners, net contents and evidence of moisture ingress; match carton batch references to the supplier’s batch documents.

Labels: compare ingredients and allergen information with the approved recipe, and check that the printed preparation instructions work. Arrange testing and certification support where needed.

What goes wrong

Cook-up starch supplied as an instant mix can leave thin or gritty custard. Changes in starch, flavouring or colouring can make the production batch behave differently from the sample. Moisture entering poorly sealed packs causes hard lumps, while an unsuitable preparation method can hide these differences during sample approval.

A factory can also add milk powder or change the sugar blend without updating the specification, labels or classification information. Require approval before recipe changes and repeat the preparation trial on the shipment batch. Keep batch samples and use our quality inspection guide to plan checks.

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.