Sourcing frozen clam meat from China

10% listed duty, but China is not authorised

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 30 September 2026, frozen clams, cockles and ark shells under 0307 72 90 00 carried 10% duty for goods from China, with no recorded anti-dumping or countervailing duty and no suspension. Heading 0307 covers molluscs, including those without shells. The supplied facts contain a single frozen-clam line; the table shows buying forms under that same code. Confirm the species and processing with the commodity code guide.

The tariff attaches veterinary, CITES import and export, illegal fishing and organic import controls. Veterinary clearance involves advance notification and a designated border control post; confirm any health-certification requirements with the relevant import authority. Wild-caught supplies generally need a validated catch certificate. CITES-listed specimens need the applicable permits; organic imports from China require a consignment inspection certificate. Ask your customs broker to confirm species-specific documents and any catch-certificate exemption. These controls do not establish permission to import Chinese clam meat.

Confirm with the relevant import authority whether the current authorised-country list permits Chinese frozen clam meat to enter Great Britain for human consumption. The exception for certain wild scallop adductor muscles does not cover clams. Include freezing and shell removal in the product description when requesting confirmation. Treat the worked order as an arithmetic illustration only. The frozen mussel meat guide provides wider heading context.

Specify the clam, meat yield and freezing form

Before requesting samples, establish whether the proposed origin is permitted. Record the scientific species name, harvest country and area, farmed or wild origin, and processing establishment. Specify raw shell-free meat, individually frozen or block frozen, size grade, permitted broken pieces, glaze, drained weight and pack format. Describe any cooking, seasoning or other treatment separately for classification.

Agree a deglazing and draining method, then compare the resulting meat weight and cooking yield with the approved sample. Specify removal of sand, grit and shell fragments, and agree acceptable colour, odour and texture. Record all ingredients and treatments. Confirm the net-weight labelling requirements for glazed frozen food with the relevant food authority.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: Illustrative only: 2 tonnes of frozen raw clam meat; this is not a permitted China-to-GB order under 0307 72 90 00, 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 10% is £1,750. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £19,250, so it is £3,850. Import taxes total £5,600; a VAT-registered importer can usually reclaim the VAT, so the lasting cost is the £1,750 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

Origin and documents: check country authorisation before shipment, then match the species, establishment, batch and carton marks to the certificates and packing list.

Weight and glaze: deglaze samples from different cartons, use the agreed draining method and compare meat weight, size grade and broken pieces with the specification.

Sand and shell: inspect thawed samples for grit, shell fragments and damaged meat; cook a sample to assess sand release, shrinkage and texture.

Frozen condition: review transport temperature records and inspect arriving packs for thawing, leakage, freezer burn and abnormal clumping. Quarantine suspect batches for assessment before distribution.

What goes wrong

The first failure is ordering Chinese clam meat because a tariff code and duty rate exist without confirming import eligibility with the relevant authority. Country authorisation is a separate gate. General fishery-product approval does not establish bivalve authorisation, and the scallop-muscle exception cannot be used for clam meat. Non-compliant imports may be returned or destroyed at the importer's expense.

For legally sourced alternatives, excessive glaze reduces usable meat, sand spoils the finished dish, shell fragments survive poor sorting and thawing damages texture. Check deglazed weight and cooked yield together, retain batch samples and investigate discrepancies before accepting repeat supplies.

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.