Sourcing feathers and down from China

Zero duty with a veterinary control

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 26 September 2026, raw feathers and down of a kind used for stuffing (0505 10 10 00), washed and processed feathers and down (0505 10 90 00) and other feathers and bird skins (0505 90 00 00) carried 0% duty on goods from China, with no anti-dumping measure. All three carry a veterinary control.

Feathers and down that are not for human consumption are animal by-products under retained Regulation (EC) No 1069/2009. Untreated feathers and down cannot be imported; those washed and treated in a way the rules recognise need the applicable documents, so ask your broker what the consignment needs before it ships. Filled duvets, pillows and sleeping bags are covered in our bedding guide. For bones and horn-cores, see our bones and horn-cores sourcing guide.

IIN ABP/22B sets the conditions for treated feathers and down. They must come from an establishment approved to export to Great Britain, have been treated with steam for 30 minutes or by another listed method, and travel with a commercial document signed by the exporter within 2 weeks of dispatch that gives the plant's approval number, the treatment and a statement that the birds and area were free of notifiable avian disease. Commercial imports must be pre-notified. Untreated feathers and down cannot be imported, while decorative feathers for private use are exempt, so check your supplier's approval before ordering. For other animal materials, see sourcing bones and horn-cores.

Standards, labelling and welfare

The feather and down industry tests to a family of BS EN methods: composition by BS EN 12131, cleanliness by the oxygen number of BS EN 1162 and the turbidity of BS EN 1884, and hygiene requirements in BS EN 12935. A duvet sold as down-filled should state the composition under BS EN 12934, so the down content you buy has to support the claim on the finished label.

Many UK retailers require down certified to the Responsible Down Standard or an equivalent, which audits the farms against live-plucking and force-feeding. Ask for the certificate and transaction certificates for each lot if your customers need the claim.

Worked duty example

An invented example rather than a quote: 5 tonnes of washed white duck down, 90% down content, commodity code 0505 10 90 00, bought for £150,000 free on board, with £3,000 of freight and insurance, so £153,000 is the value customs works from. No duty is due on processed down; import VAT at 20% of £153,000 is £30,600. If you are VAT-registered, that VAT is normally reclaimable. Duvets and pillows filled with the down are in heading 9404 instead. See calculating UK import duty and VAT for the method.

What goes wrong

Down lots fail on content, cleanliness and smell. The down cluster content is lower than invoiced because feathers or fibre have been blended in; fill power is below the grade; poorly washed down carries dust, oil and bacteria and smells when it gets damp; and down from a lot without welfare certification is mixed into a certified shipment.

Test composition, fill power, oxygen number, turbidity and fat and moisture content on samples drawn from several bales at an accredited laboratory, compare them with the contract and the pre-shipment sample, check the welfare and transaction certificates against the bale marks, and inspect bales for damp and damage before loading. Check bales for damp and match their marks to lot records before shipping down from China to the UK.

Cambridge China Bridge sources duck and goose down and feathers for bedding and outerwear makers, including a second source when an existing supplier's quality slips. See our second-supplier service.