Sourcing dehydrated castor oil from China

Dehydrated castor oil: 6% duty

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 1 October 2026, heading 1518 covers chemically modified fats and oils, including dehydrated oils, and inedible oil mixtures or preparations. For dehydrated castor oil supplied as a chemically modified oil, 1518 00 91 80 is the classification to check. It carries 6% duty for goods from China, with no anti-dumping or countervailing duty and no suspension recorded on that line.

The table includes comparison lines for mixtures. Technical fluid vegetable-oil mixtures carry 2% if crude and 4% otherwise, subject to end-use authorisation as explained in the published background guide. Other inedible mixtures carry 6%. Biodiesel-containing blend lines have separate anti-dumping measures; obtain the complete formulation before classifying a blend. See the wider blown castor oil guide and confirm the commodity code.

The tariff attaches veterinary, CITES, seal-product and waste import controls to the chemically modified oil line. Confirm the applicable declarations and documents for your vegetable oil with your customs broker before shipment. Keep evidence of its ingredients and whether it is waste. If oil from China is waste requiring notification controls, the exporter must apply to the competent authority in the dispatch country for consent. Confirm the shipment route before ordering.

Specify dehydration and coating performance

Specify dehydrated castor oil explicitly, its intended use in your resin or coating process, and whether it contains other oils, solvents, catalysts or additives. Ask for the manufacturing description and substance identity. Agree viscosity with its measurement temperature and method, acid value, iodine value, hydroxyl value, moisture, colour and insoluble matter. Set acceptance limits from your process trials.

Test the sample in your actual formulation. Compare resin compatibility, drying behaviour, film hardness and colour with your approved material. Agree drum material, closure type, storage instructions and batch identification. Retain an approved sample and request a certificate of analysis for each production batch.

For a substance you have not previously imported, consider whether UK REACH registration is required. Classification and labelling must be carried out by someone with scientific competence. Obtain the supplier's safety data sheet and arrange a review of the substance identity and proposed labels before sale in Great Britain.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: Illustrative trial batch of dehydrated castor oil in sealed drums under 1518 00 91 80, invoiced at £4,000 free on board, with £2,500 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £6,500. Duty at 6% is £390. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £6,890, so it is £1,378. Import taxes total £1,768; a VAT-registered importer can usually reclaim the VAT, so the lasting cost is the £390 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

Identity: match the oil description, manufacturing information and declared additives to the purchase specification and batch certificate.

Laboratory: independently sample the batch and compare viscosity, acid value, iodine value, hydroxyl value and moisture with the agreed limits.

Performance: repeat the approved resin or coating trial using the shipment sample; record drying behaviour, film appearance and compatibility.

Arrival: check drum seals, leakage, corrosion, batch markings and sediment; compare a retained sample with the approved material before releasing stock. Use the quality inspection guide to prepare the inspection brief.

What goes wrong

A quotation that says only castor oil can lead to the wrong material being supplied. Differences in dehydration, viscosity or undeclared blending can change resin processing and film drying. Water, sediment or contamination from reused drums can make an otherwise matching certificate misleading.

Approve the material through a formulation trial, then link the approved sample to the production batch and shipment documents. Hold a batch that fails the agreed checks until the cause is established. Ask for factory verification to check the producer's process records and laboratory capability.

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.