Sourcing fresh tomatoes from China

Flat 14% duty on fresh or chilled tomatoes

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 17 November 2026, heading 0702 covers fresh or chilled tomatoes. Every supplied commodity line carries 14% duty for goods from China. The data lists no anti-dumping or countervailing duties and no suspensions. The subdivisions distinguish smaller whole tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and tomatoes in trusses.

The tariff attaches HMI conformity certification, a Certificate of Conformity, organic import controls and a Unit price measure. Direct imports subject to the specific marketing standard need a certificate of conformity. Organic consignments from China need a Great Britain certificate of inspection. Ask your customs broker to confirm the Unit price requirement and how the attached conformity measures apply to your declaration.

The border guidance here concerns direct imports to Great Britain. Ask your broker to confirm the plant-health risk category and any phytosanitary paperwork before dispatch. Give them the tomato type, greatest diameter, truss presentation and packing details, then confirm the commodity code.

Specify ripeness, trusses and packing

Specify the variety, cherry or other type, diameter range, loose or truss presentation, quality class and colour at dispatch and arrival. Agree acceptable firmness, split skins, bruising and detached fruit against sample photographs. Set a minimum remaining selling life at delivery rather than accepting the supplier's shelf-life claim without checking the transport plan.

Tomatoes are covered by the specific marketing standard, which includes quality and labelling rules. Direct imports from China to Great Britain need conformity certification and advance notification through the official import system. Settle the paperwork with the importer and broker before loading.

Agree ventilated packaging, pack weight, stacking strength, pre-cooling and a transport temperature suited to the variety and maturity. Confirm the applicable GB pesticide residue limits with the relevant food safety authority. Ask for lot-linked residue reports and review them through testing and certification. For organic orders, check the exporter's control body and export country against the non-UK organic registers.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: Illustrative order only: 5 tonnes of whole cherry tomatoes under 0702 00 10 07, invoiced at £4,500 free on board, with £2,500 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £7,000. Duty at 14% is £980. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £7,980, so it is £1,596. Import taxes total £2,576; a VAT-registered importer can usually reclaim the VAT, so the lasting cost is the £980 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

Fruit condition: check firmness, colour consistency, split skins, bruising, decay and leakage across sampled cartons. For trusses, check stalk condition and detached fruit.

Packing: check actual net weights, ventilation, crushed cartons and movement inside packs against the agreed specification.

Records: match carton lot codes to residue reports and shipment documents; review temperature records and remaining selling life on arrival.

Conformity: check that the certificate describes the shipment and review labels against the applicable marketing standard. Include these checks in the inspection brief.

What goes wrong

Tomatoes packed too ripe arrive soft or leaking; uneven maturity leaves mixed selling life within the same carton. Poor ventilation, condensation and crushed packs can accompany decay. Loose fruit sold as trusses creates a separate acceptance dispute. Record the agreed arrival condition and rejection criteria before ordering.

Missing conformity paperwork can disrupt clearance while the tomatoes continue to ripen. Organic wording also needs the organic import documents behind it. Resolve document mismatches before dispatch, and photograph fruit condition and packing damage as soon as the shipment arrives.

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.