Sourcing dried coffee cherry husks from China

Duty on dried coffee cherry husks

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 9 November 2026, heading 0901 covers coffee, coffee husks and skins, and coffee substitutes containing coffee. Dried coffee cherry husks fall within the husks and skins line, 0901 90 10 00, carrying 0% duty for goods from China. The supplied tariff record shows no anti-dumping or countervailing duty and no suspension for this line.

The tariff attaches an organic products import control. Confirm organic inspection certificate requirements with your organic control body or customs broker; the certificate is issued by the exporter's control body in the country of export. Businesses trading organic products must be certified by an approved UK organic control body. Confirm the certificate arrangements with that body and your customs broker before shipping.

The table includes coffee bean comparisons within the wider heading; those bean codes do not describe dried cherry husks. See our coffee beans guide for the wider product family. Confirm the actual material, processing and intended use through finding your commodity code.

Specify the cherry husk and its intended use

Describe the material as dried coffee cherry husks, with the coffee species, growing origin, harvest lot and separation process. Ask the processor to identify exactly which parts of the fruit are supplied. Agree the drying method, moisture acceptance criteria, piece size, dust and foreign matter limits, storage conditions and sealed packing. Keep an approved sample for comparison.

For brewing or another food use, check novel food status before committing to an order. Novel foods need authorisation before sale in Great Britain. Ask for evidence covering the exact ingredient and proposed use rather than accepting a supplier's general claim that it is edible. Agree batch testing for microbiology, pesticide residues and contaminants with your laboratory; use testing and certification support to define the checks.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: Illustrative order: 2 tonnes of dried coffee cherry husks under 0901 90 10 00, invoiced at £24,000 free on board, with £1,800 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £25,800. Duty at 0% is £0. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £25,800, so it is £5,160. 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: compare the shipment with the approved sample and confirm the fruit parts, species, origin and batch identification against the specification.

Drying: measure moisture against the agreed limit and inspect for damp clumps, visible mould, insects and musty or fermented odours.

Cleanliness: check for stones, stalks, stray beans and excessive dust; match the laboratory sample and reports to the shipment lot.

Packing: inspect liners and seals for damage, moisture ingress and absorbed odours. Check lot markings and, where sold as organic, the inspection certificate. Plan these checks through our quality inspection guide.

What goes wrong

A sample of clean, evenly dried husks can conceal a bulk lot with dusty fragments, foreign matter or uneven drying. Bags can arrive damp or absorb warehouse and container odours. Put measurable acceptance criteria in the purchase specification and retain shipment samples so that disagreements concern the actual lot.

A duty-free tariff line does not establish permission to sell the material as food. Resolve novel food status before buying stock for brewing, and check organic paperwork before dispatch. Do not accept a coffee bean test report as evidence for a separate husk batch.

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.