Sourcing frozen vegetables from China

Duty at 14% for most lines

Read from the UK Trade Tariff and rechecked on 27 September 2026, 21 of the 26 lines of heading 0710 carried 14% duty on goods from China, including frozen potatoes, peas, green beans, spinach, sweet peppers, mushrooms, headed broccoli, drumsticks, okra, bamboo shoots, garlic and mixtures of vegetables. Chilli and other peppers of the genus Capsicum or Pimenta other than sweet peppers (0710 80 59) carried 6%, and frozen sweetcorn 4% plus £7.80 per 100 kg of drained net weight. None had an anti-dumping measure.

Suspensions change several lines that matter for Chinese supply: frozen bamboo shoots not put up for retail sale (0710 80 95 50) are 0% until 31 December 2028, individually quick frozen (IQF) garlic under 0710 80 95 80 is 0% until 31 December 2026, and wood ear mushrooms (Auricularia polytricha) for making prepared meals and small sweetcorn cobs for food manufacturing are 0% under authorised use until 31 December 2028. A specified variety of thin pea pods is also suspended. Suspensions are claimed on the declaration; retail packs of bamboo shoots and other garlic products pay the full rate.

Chips and other prepared potato products are in chapter 20, not 0710; confirm the commodity code. For fresh or chilled brassicas, see our brassicas sourcing guide. For dried pulses, see our dried beans and pulses guide. For dried mushrooms, see our dried shiitake sourcing guide.

Residues and food law

Pesticide residues must not exceed the GB maximum residue levels set under the retained residues regulation, so ask for a residue test from an accredited laboratory for each lot. The importer must register as a food business, and labels need the name, ingredients unless a single-ingredient exemption applies, allergens where present, net weight, storage instructions and a UK address in English.

Cold chain

Agree reefer containers set at -18°C or colder, temperature loggers and pre-cooling, and check the factory's freezing and storage capacity. Glazing or ice content must be declared and weighed correctly.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: 20 tonnes of frozen peas under 0710 21 00 00, invoiced at £18,000 free on board, with £3,500 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £21,500 and duty at 14% is £3,010. Frozen vegetables sold as food are generally zero-rated for VAT under VAT Notice 701/14, so in that case no import VAT is added, but check the liability for the exact product. The same value of frozen chilli peppers under 0710 80 59 20 would pay 6%, or £1,290. 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

Temperature and weight: core temperature of -18°C or colder checked on cartons from different positions in the container on arrival, and net weight checked after removing glaze and ice against the declared quantity under the Weights and Measures (Packaged Goods) Regulations 2006 average system for packs sold by weight.

Safety tests: pesticide residues against GB maximum residue levels, Listeria monocytogenes and other microbiological criteria under retained Regulation 2073/2005, and foreign matter screening, each reported by an accredited lab for the lot codes shipped.

Quality grading: a thawed sample from each lot checked for cut size, colour, clumping, blemished or broken pieces and extraneous vegetable matter per kilogram against written limits, with cartons sampled to ISO 2859-1 and the lot code matched to the test report.

What goes wrong

Frozen vegetables fail through the cold chain and the line. Clumps of fused pieces show the product thawed and refroze; freezer burn and colour loss show poor packing or long storage. Excess ice glaze inflates the declared weight. Foreign bodies such as stones, stems and plastic come from weak sorting.

At inspection, check core temperature on arrival, thaw a sample to measure net weight against the pack weight, count defects and foreign matter per kilo against an agreed limit, and check cut size and colour. Match the lot code on cartons to the residue test report.

Inspection

At inspection, check core temperature, cut size, foreign matter, clumping and pack weights.

Cambridge China Bridge sources frozen vegetables, with residue testing, cold chain and labels settled before the order. See how our sourcing service works.

Related guides: Sourcing frozen chips and sweetcorn from China and Sweet potatoes, taro and yams from China.