Sourcing frozen whole hake from China

14% standard duty, with conditional processing relief

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 4 October 2026, the supplied frozen hake lines under heading 0303 carried 14% standard duty for goods from China, with no anti-dumping or countervailing measure recorded. Heading 0303 covers frozen fish excluding fillets and other fish meat of heading 0304. The table is limited to the hake lines supplied; see the wider frozen whole fish guide for other species.

Codes 0303 66 12 10 and 0303 66 19 91 show a 0.00 % autonomous suspension under authorised use. This is conditional relief for the specified use and processing, rather than an automatic rate for wholesale resale. No suspension is recorded for 0303 66 13 90. Ask your customs broker to confirm eligibility and customs supervision before budgeting for relief.

The lines attach veterinary, illegal fishing and organic import controls. For China shipments, ask the relevant port health authority and your customs broker to confirm plant approval, health certification, advance import notification, the appropriate border control post and any validated catch certificate needed for wild-caught hake. Organic consignments need a certificate of inspection. Confirm the commodity code using the scientific species, presentation and intended processing.

Specify the hake species, presentation and glaze

Write the scientific species into the purchase specification. Distinguish Argentine hake, southern hake and other hake rather than accepting a generic hake description. State whether the fish is intact, gutted or headed and gutted, together with the size grade, freezing method, agreed glaze, net fish weight, carton packing and intended use.

Ask where the fish was caught, the vessel's country of registration, and where it was processed or stored. Processing or storage in a different country from the vessel's registration requires additional documentation. Have the broker review that route before loading. Agree acceptance criteria for damaged fish, freezer burn and thawed flesh texture.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: Illustrative order: 2 tonnes of frozen whole southern hake under 0303 66 13 90, invoiced at £4,000 free on board, with £1,500 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £5,500. Duty at 14% is £770. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £6,270, so it is £1,254. Import taxes total £2,024; a VAT-registered importer can usually reclaim the VAT, so the lasting cost is the £770 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

Species and presentation: compare sampled fish with the scientific species, agreed preparation and size grade; check for mixed species, broken tails and belly damage.

Glaze and weight: deglaze samples from different cartons and compare the drained fish weight with the declared net weight. Ask Trading Standards to confirm how glaze should be treated in the net-weight declaration. Check size grading against the purchase specification.

Cold chain and condition: measure arrival core temperatures against the agreed storage specification, review the voyage temperature record, and look for thawing, refreezing, dehydration and damaged wrapping.

Plant, documents and labels: match establishment details and batch references across cartons and health paperwork; review the validated catch certificate and any processing or storage documents. Check the commercial name, production method and catch area on labels. See quality inspection explained.

What goes wrong

A generic hake description can hide a species substitution or the wrong tariff line. Excess glaze reduces the fish received; mixed size grades and thawing damage affect yield and texture. Paperwork can describe a different plant, batch or catch from the cartons. Check those matches before shipment, and do not build the landed-cost budget around processing relief until the broker has confirmed eligibility.

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.