Sourcing frozen fish collars from China

Duty depends on species and the actual collar cut

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 30 September 2026, heading 0304 covers fish fillets and other fish meat, fresh, chilled or frozen. This guide concerns plain frozen fish collars for human consumption. The table gives candidate fish-meat lines, not a confirmed classification for every bone-in collar. The selected whitefish lines carry 6% duty from China and Atlantic salmon carries 8%. No anti-dumping, countervailing duty or suspension is recorded for these selected lines.

The selected lines carry veterinary and organic import controls; the whitefish lines also carry illegal fishing controls. For Great Britain, confirm country and plant approval, applicable health certification, advance notification and designated border control post arrangements with your broker. Health certificates must be completed and signed by an authorised certifying officer. For wild-caught fish processed in China, confirm validated catch certificates and any endorsed Chinese processing statement linking the collars to foreign-flagged catches. Ask port health about China-specific restrictions, particularly for farmed fish.

For organic collars, confirm the certificate of inspection requirements with your broker; the exporter’s control body issues the certificate. The salmon line also lists CITES export control: the UK Trade Tariff attaches this control, so ask your broker to confirm its relevance to the proposed trade. Confirm the commodity code using species, cut photographs, retained bones and intended processing. The table assumes fish meat matching the underlying line. For the wider heading, see frozen fish belly strips.

Specify the collar cut and edible yield

State the commercial and scientific species names, wild or farmed source, and whether the product is a whole collar, split collar or meat removed from the collar. Supply photographs showing the cut boundaries. Agree how much shoulder meat, belly meat, skin, fin and bone remains, together with piece size and whether portions are individually frozen or frozen together.

Record glaze, added water and other ingredients. Agree a deglazing and thawing method, then compare edible yield and cooked texture with a retained sample. Trial the collars using the intended cooking method. Compare meat recovered after cooking as well as deglazed weight, because a heavy collar can contain more bone rather than more usable fish.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: Illustrative order: 2 tonnes of frozen Atlantic cod collar meat, subject to classification under 0304 95 25 90, 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 6% is £1,050. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £18,550, so it is £3,710. Import taxes total £4,760; a VAT-registered importer can usually reclaim the VAT, so the lasting cost is the £1,050 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

Cut and bones: compare thawed collars with the agreed photographs. Check cut boundaries, attached fins, exposed bone edges, loose bone fragments and the amount of meat left around the collar.

Weight and glaze: weigh sampled collars after removing packaging and glaze, then record thaw loss and usable cooked yield. Solid foods packed in an ice glaze must show drained net weight.

Condition and cold chain: review transport temperature records and check arrival temperature against the agreed specification. Look for freezer burn, damaged packs, thawing, visible parasites and unusual odour.

Identity and documents: match species, batch references and processor details across cartons and applicable health and catch documents. Keep samples linked to their cartons. Arrange sampling through the quality inspection guide.

What goes wrong

A supplier’s collar description can cover very different cuts. Extra fin, bone or attached belly changes portion size and edible yield. Excess glaze can make packs look substantial while delivering less fish. Uneven cuts also cook differently. Record acceptance against photographs, a retained sample and the agreed weighing and cooking methods.

Do not choose a fish-meat code solely from the sales name “collar”. Resolve the actual cut classification before shipment. Separately reconcile health paperwork, applicable catch documents and carton batches. Check the proposed processor through factory verification, and retain arrival photographs, weight results and temperature records.

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.