Sourcing ethanolamines and amino acids from China

Rates by substance

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 26 September 2026, diethanolamine carried a flat 6% on goods from China; lysine, monosodium glutamate and glycine of 95% purity or more carried 0%; and monoethanolamine and the residual lines carried 0% for listed pharmaceutical substances under additional code 2500 and 6% for others. Suspensions take three lines to 0%: triethanolamine until 31 December 2026, anthranilic acid until 31 December 2028, and from 5 August 2026 monoethanolamine (CAS 141-43-5) of 99% purity or more until 31 December 2028, which does not cover mixtures or goods from Russia or Belarus. None had an anti-dumping measure.

Give the broker the CAS number; the heterocyclics guide explains the additional codes.

Drug precursors and controlled drugs

Anthranilic acid is listed in subcategory 2B of Annex I to the retained drug precursors regulation, so its trade falls under the Home Office precursor regime. Heading 2922 also contains controlled drugs such as methadone and tilidine, which section 3 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 prohibits importing without a licence. For hormone and steroid purchases, see our hormones and steroids sourcing guide.

REACH, food and feed

Importing a substance into Great Britain at one tonne or more a year generally needs UK REACH registration unless an exemption applies. Ethanolamines used in cosmetics are subject to the cosmetics ingredient annexes, so check the end use. MSG, lysine and glycine for food or feed need food or feed grade specifications and certificates of analysis.

Worked duty example

Take a hypothetical order of 20 tonnes of diethanolamine in drums, entered under 2922 12 00 00: £30,000 free on board plus £2,500 of freight and insurance gives a customs value of £32,500. The 6% duty on diethanolamine comes to £1,950, and import VAT is 20% of £34,450, which is £6,890. If you are VAT-registered you normally reclaim the £6,890, leaving £1,950 as the real cost at the border. The same order of triethanolamine would pay no duty while its suspension lasts, and import VAT of £6,500. Step by step: UK import duty and VAT.

Inspection checklist

Assay and impurities: assay and related amines by gas chromatography against the specification, so diethanolamine in triethanolamine and monoethanolamine in diethanolamine are measured, water by the Karl Fischer method of ISO 760, and colour on the platinum-cobalt scale by ISO 6271, each on the batch shipped rather than a typical sheet.

Food and feed grades: MSG, glycine and lysine for food checked against the specification for that additive on the Food Standards Agency register of regulated products, feed lysine checked against its authorisation on the GB register of feed additives, with heavy metals, loss on drying and microbiology tested by an accredited laboratory on the first lot. For food acid ingredients, see sourcing citric acid and food acids.

Packing and handling: drums or IBCs UN-marked for the corrosive class where the amine is dangerous goods, closures and gaskets checked for leaks, and heated ISO tanks or drum heating agreed for diethanolamine and triethanolamine, which set solid in a cold warehouse; hygroscopic amino acids packed in lined bags with batch labels matching the certificate.

What goes wrong

Amines and amino acids fail on purity, colour and packing. Triethanolamine with more diethanolamine or water than the specification changes how it performs in cosmetics and cement additives, amines darken with age and heat, and hygroscopic grades such as lysine and glycine cake in damp containers. Food and feed grades are sometimes supplied with technical-grade paperwork, and drums with the wrong closures leak corrosive liquid.

Ask for a certificate of analysis per batch covering assay, related amines, water and colour, test the first shipment in a UK laboratory, confirm the grade and its food, feed or cosmetic documents match the end use, and check drum type, closures, UN markings and labels before shipment.

Documents and shipping

Ask for the safety data sheet, a certificate of analysis per batch and the dangerous goods classification, since ethanolamines are corrosive. Test the first batch in a UK laboratory.

Cambridge China Bridge sources ethanolamines, amino acids and amino compounds, with precursor, REACH and grade questions settled before the order. See how our sourcing service works.