Sourcing dried adzuki beans from China

Adzuki duty and organic import control

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 4 November 2026, dried adzuki beans under 0713 32 00 00 carry 0% duty from China, with no anti-dumping or countervailing duty recorded and no suspension listed. Heading 0713 covers dried shelled leguminous vegetables, whether or not skinned or split. The variants in the table share the same adzuki code. Dried pulses sold as food are zero-rated for VAT.

The tariff attaches import control of organic products. For organic beans from China entering Great Britain, obtain a Great Britain certificate of inspection for each consignment and check the exporter’s control body and country against the non-UK organic registers. The exporter’s control body issues the certificate. Confirm the shipment paperwork with your customs broker before dispatch.

Confirm the commodity code from the species, dried condition and intended use. Do not classify red kidney beans as adzuki merely because they are red. For other pulses, see dried beans and pulses.

Specify beans for cooking or bean paste

Write dried adzuki beans into the specification, with the species, whole or split form, skin condition, colour and size grade. Agree moisture, broken and discoloured beans, foreign matter and insect acceptance criteria against a retained sample. For bean paste, compare cooked texture, skin fragments and colour using your own process.

State whether the beans are for cooking or producing sprouts. Confirm with the Food Standards Agency any official certificate requirements for seeds intended for sprouting, using the wider pulses guide as a discussion checklist. Agree pesticide residue testing against GB maximum residue levels and match reports to the shipped lot. If retail packing is planned, settle the label artwork before packing.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: 20 tonnes of dried adzuki beans for cooking, illustrative only under 0713 32 00 00, invoiced at £24,000 free on board, with £2,500 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £26,500. Duty at 0% is £0. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £26,500, so it is £5,300. With no duty, the only import tax is the VAT, which a VAT-registered importer can usually reclaim. 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 and grade: compare beans from different bags with the retained sample; check size, colour, splits, shrivelled beans and mixed species.

Moisture and pests: measure moisture across bags and inspect for mould, musty odour, live insects and exit holes.

Cleaning and cooking: screen for stones, soil and other seeds; cook a sample using the intended process and compare texture and paste yield.

Bags and documents: check clean bags, secure seams, net weight and matching lot identifiers on bags and test reports. Review organic paperwork where applicable. See quality inspection.

What goes wrong

A visually acceptable sample can hide uneven cooking across the shipment. Mixed sizes, shrivelled beans and inconsistent skin condition can change the texture and colour of bean paste. Keep an approved sample and record the cooking method so that supplier and buyer compare the same result.

Excess moisture and damaged bags allow mould and contamination; insect eggs can hatch during the voyage. Inspect before loading and again on arrival. Separate suspect lots while checking them, and investigate reports whose lot identifiers do not match the bags.

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.