Fluting and testliner paper from China
Uncoated paper and paperboard in rolls or sheets of heading 4805 from China, including semi-chemical and recycled fluting, testliner, filter paper and felt paper, pays 0% UK duty with no anti-dumping duty. Box makers buy it on grammage, ring crush, CMT, SCT and burst values, and paper from virgin fibre falls under the UK Timber Regulations. Cambridge China Bridge sources containerboard.
Fluting medium, testliner and other uncoated paper in reels from China pay 0% UK duty. Ring crush, CMT and burst tests, timber due diligence, example.
Zero duty on fluting and liners
Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 26 September 2026, semi-chemical fluting (4805 11 00 00), straw fluting (4805 12 00 00), other fluting such as Wellenstoff (4805 19), testliner of 150 g/m² or less (4805 24 00 00) and over 150 g/m² (4805 25 00 00), sulphite wrapping paper, filter paper, felt paper and other paper of the heading carried 0% on goods from China, with no anti-dumping measure.
Kraftliner from virgin fibre is in heading 4804, and corrugated board already combined into sheets is in heading 4808, covered in our corrugated board guide. Confirm the commodity code from the fibre source and grade.
| Goods | Commodity code | Duty | Anti-dumping duty on China |
|---|---|---|---|
| Semi-chemical fluting paper | 4805 11 00 00 | 0% | None |
| Other fluting, Wellenstoff | 4805 19 10 00 | 0% | None |
| Testliner, 150 g/m² or less | 4805 24 00 00 | 0% | None |
| Testliner, over 150 g/m² | 4805 25 00 00 | 0% | None |
| Filter paper and paperboard | 4805 40 00 00 | 0% | None |
Strength tests and timber rules
Containerboard is specified by grammage by ISO 536 and by strength: ring crush by ISO 12192, the corrugating medium test by ISO 7263 for fluting, short-span compression by ISO 9895, bursting strength by ISO 2759, and water absorptiveness by the Cobb method of ISO 535, all after conditioning to ISO 187, with moisture by ISO 287.
Paper made from virgin pulp placed on the GB market is within the Timber and Timber Products (Placing on the Market) Regulations 2013, so the importer must do due diligence on the fibre source; see the [GOV.UK guidance on timber regulations](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/regulations-timber-and-flegt-licences). Ask the mill for its fibre mix and any FSC or PEFC chain of custody certificate.
Worked duty example
Take a hypothetical order of 60 tonnes of 140 g/m² testliner in reels, entered under 4805 24 00 00: £27,000 free on board plus £5,200 of freight and insurance gives a customs value of £32,200. Testliner carry no duty, so import VAT of 20% on £32,200, £6,440, is the only tax. A VAT-registered importer normally reclaims it, so the border adds no lasting cost. Step by step: UK import duty and VAT.
What goes wrong
Containerboard fails on strength, moisture and reels. Recycled grades come in below the ring crush or CMT value ordered, so boxes collapse in stacking; moisture varies across the reel so the corrugator warps the board; grammage drifts across the width; and reels are damaged at the edges, out of round or wound with splices that break on the machine.
Test grammage, ring crush, CMT or SCT, burst, Cobb and moisture on conditioned samples from several reels of each lot, check the moisture profile across the reel width, measure reel width, diameter and core size, count and flag splices, and inspect reel ends and wrapping before loading.
Cambridge China Bridge sources fluting, testliner and filter papers for corrugators, box makers and converters, including regular container programmes. See our container programmes.
Frequently asked questions
What is the UK import duty on testliner from China?
Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 26 September 2026, fluting, testliner and other paper of heading 4805 carried 0% from China.
Which tests matter for fluting?
Grammage, ring crush by ISO 12192, CMT by ISO 7263 and moisture, after conditioning to ISO 187.
Is kraftliner in the same heading?
No. Kraftliner from virgin fibre is in heading 4804.
Do the UK Timber Regulations apply to paper?
Paper from virgin pulp is in scope, so the importer must do due diligence on the fibre source.