Sourcing furskins and fur articles from China

0% or 2% by species and form

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 27 September 2026, heading 4302 covers tanned or dressed furskins, and heading 4303 articles of apparel, clothing accessories and other articles of furskin. Whole tanned skins of mink, beaver, muskrat, fox, rabbit or hare, and Astrakhan, Broadtail, Caracul, Persian and similar lamb carried 0% on goods from China, as did heads, tails, paws and other pieces not assembled. Other whole skins, including other lamb and sheepskins, carried 2%, as did assembled plates and 'dropped' skins, and every line of 4303. No line carried an anti-dumping measure.

Sheepskins for making garments under 4302 19 80 00 have a 0% suspension until 31 December 2026. Raw furskins are heading 4301, and artificial fur is 4304 (see our faux fur guide); garments that are only trimmed with fur may be classified as the garment, so confirm the commodity code.

Seal, cat and dog fur, CITES and labelling

Seal products may not be placed on the market except under the narrow exceptions of retained Regulation (EC) No 1007/2009, and the Cat and Dog Fur (Control of Import, Export and Placing on the Market) Regulations 2008 ban importing, exporting and selling cat or dog fur or products containing it. Some fur species are listed under CITES, controlled by retained Council Regulation (EC) No 338/97, so check the species; common farmed species such as mink and rabbit are not listed.

Textile products with fur trim or other non-textile parts of animal origin must be labelled 'Contains non-textile parts of animal origin' under Article 12 of retained Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011, and the species should be stated accurately in sales descriptions.

Specifying fur

Specify the species (by Latin name) and farming origin, skin grade and size, colour and dyeing, tanning method, hair length and density, leather softness, allowed defects, restricted chemicals such as chromium(VI) and formaldehyde, and for garments the pattern, lining and labels.

Worked duty example

Take a hypothetical order of 300 rabbit fur scarves, entered under 4303 10 90 00: £9,000 free on board plus £500 of freight and insurance gives a customs value of £9,500. The 2% duty on fur scarves comes to £190, and import VAT is 20% of £9,690, which is £1,938. If you are VAT-registered you normally reclaim the £1,938, leaving £190 as the real cost at the border. Step by step: UK import duty and VAT.

Inspection checklist

Species: have samples identified by hair microscopy or DNA testing, and check the documents name the species and origin.

Quality: check hair loss by a pull test, leather softness and tearing, odour, dye rub-off and matching of colour across skins or plates.

Chemicals and labels: test for chromium(VI), formaldehyde and restricted dyes, and check the animal-origin label and species wording on every item.

What goes wrong

Fur orders fail on species, shedding and labelling. Cheaper species are substituted or real fur is sold as faux, skins shed or smell from poor dressing, dyes rub off, and products arrive without the animal-origin label, which leads to trading standards action.

Test species independently, pull-test samples, and approve labels before shipment. See our quality inspection guide.

Cambridge China Bridge sources fur trims and fur accessories for UK fashion brands, checking species, dressing and labelling first. See factory verification.