Grey board and laminated paperboard from China

0% duty

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 27 September 2026, heading 4807 covers composite paper and paperboard made by sticking flat layers of paper or paperboard together with an adhesive, not surface-coated or impregnated, whether or not internally reinforced, in rolls or sheets. Both lines, made from recovered paper whether or not covered with paper (4807 00 30 00), and other (4807 00 80 00), carried 0% on goods from China, with no anti-dumping measure.

Coated board is covered in our coated paper and board guide, single-ply kraft board in our kraft paper guide, and made-up boxes are heading 4819; confirm the commodity code.

Paper and paperboard of chapter 48 are within the scope of the UK Timber Regulations, except bamboo-based and recovered (waste and scrap) products. The business that first places the goods on the GB market, usually the importer, must carry out due diligence on the timber behind the paper, so ask the supplier for the pulp source, species and country of harvest, and any FSC or PEFC chain of custody certificate.

Food contact and packaging rules

Board that will touch food is a food contact material under retained Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004, and board made from recovered paper needs particular care over migration, so ask for test results for the intended use. Packaging made from it counts under packaging extended producer responsibility; see our packaging EPR guide.

Specifying board

Specify thickness and grammage with tolerance, sheet or roll size and grain direction, density, stiffness, moisture content, flatness, surface liner (grey, white or kraft), recycled content, and pallet wrapping and corner protection.

Worked duty example

Suppose, purely for illustration, you import 25 tonnes of laminated grey board sheets under 4807 00 30 00. At £14,000 free on board and £2,500 to ship and insure, the customs value is £16,500. With 0% duty on grey board, the only charge is import VAT: 20% of £16,500, or £3,300. VAT-registered businesses usually recover that in their next return. The method is set out in how UK import duty and VAT work.

Inspection checklist

Dimensions: measure thickness across sheets, sheet size and squareness, and check grain direction.

Flatness and moisture: check warp on stacked sheets and moisture content, and look for delamination at the edges.

Packing: check pallets are wrapped, strapped and corner-protected against crushing and damp.

What goes wrong

Grey board orders fail on warp, thickness and delamination. Sheets curl after moisture pick-up in transit, thickness varies across a pallet and upsets box-making machines, and layers split at the edges when cut.

Test flatness and moisture before loading and wrap pallets. See our quality inspection guide.

Cambridge China Bridge sources grey board and laminated paperboard for UK rigid box, book and game makers, checking the board mill first. See factory verification.