Sourcing dried shrimp from China

12% to 18% on the supplied relevant lines

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 9 November 2026, heading 0306 includes dried crustaceans and specified cooked and smoked forms. The selected Crangon lines carry 18%; the selected other smoked-shrimp line carries 12%. No anti-dumping duty, countervailing duty or suspension is recorded for these lines. The smoked-dried rows apply only where the goods also meet the smoking, preparation and pack descriptions.

The supplied facts contain limited non-smoked dried-shrimp lines, so this table does not establish a code for ordinary dried warm-water shrimp. Specify scientific species, shell status, cooking, drying, smoking and any seasoning, then confirm the commodity code. For the wider heading, see frozen shrimp and crayfish.

These lines carry veterinary, illegal fishing and organic import controls. For Great Britain, check country and establishment approval, health documentation, advance notification through the import notification system and the designated border control post; confirm the Common Health Entry Document with your broker. Ask your broker to confirm whether wild-caught marine shrimp needs a validated catch certificate, whether farmed shrimp is outside that scheme and whether organic food from China needs a certificate of inspection for each consignment. Confirm Northern Ireland arrangements separately.

Specify drying, salt and rehydration

Specify scientific species, farmed or wild origin, whole shrimp or peeled meat, shell fragments permitted, size grade and broken-piece allowance. Record whether shrimp is cooked before drying, smoked or seasoned. Agree moisture, salt, colour, odour, texture after soaking and intended use as a cooking ingredient or ready-to-eat food.

Agree moisture-resistant packaging, seal quality, storage instructions and shelf-life evidence for the actual pack. Keep an approved sample and agree the soaking and draining method used to compare batches. Ask port health to confirm current China-specific restrictions and whether residue declarations are needed for the proposed dried product before ordering.

Ask the relevant food authority to confirm the English labelling, allergen information, storage instructions and UK business address needed on retail packs. Review sulphite treatment and the applicable allergen declaration against the supplier's formulation and laboratory results. All allergen information must be accurate. Check the proposed factory through factory verification.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: Illustrative hypothetical order: 2 tonnes of other dried Crangon crangon under 0306 95 19 90, invoiced at £16,000 free on board, with £1,500 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £17,500. Duty at 18% is £3,150. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £20,650, so it is £4,130. Import taxes total £7,280; a VAT-registered importer can usually reclaim the VAT, so the lasting cost is the £3,150 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 species, shell status, cooking and smoking descriptions, factory details and batch markings to the specification and shipping documents.

Dryness and condition: check moisture against the agreed specification; look for mould, insects, clumping, rancid odour, foreign matter and excessive broken shrimp.

Usable product: weigh pack contents, compare size and shell fragments, and assess salt, rehydration and texture using the agreed sample method.

Packs and records: inspect seals and moisture damage; compare labels, declared treatments and batch laboratory results before releasing stock. Use the inspection guide to organise checks.

What goes wrong

A supplier's description of dried shrimp can conceal a different species, cooking process or peeled form. A smoked-shrimp code may then be used for an unsmoked product. Resolve classification and import documentation before production, rather than treating an available tariff code as permission to import.

Uneven drying and leaking packs can leave shrimp damp or mouldy. Excess salt, broken pieces and shell fragments reduce usable product, while colour alone can hide differences between batches. Compare laboratory results and rehydration performance with the approved sample; keep suspect arrival batches separate while investigating.

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.