Sourcing groundnut oil from China

0% across the heading

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 17 November 2026, heading 1508 covers groundnut oil and its fractions, whether refined or not, but not chemically modified. Every supplied line carries 0% duty for goods from China. No anti-dumping or countervailing duty, or suspension, is recorded. The lines distinguish crude from other oil and separate technical or industrial uses excluding food manufacture.

The tariff attaches organic import controls to the other-use lines and waste import and export controls to every line. Organic food from China entering Great Britain needs a consignment certificate of inspection and checks against the non-UK organic registers. For waste oil, confirm the applicable shipment procedure with your customs broker; under notification controls, shipments to England can start only after the relevant authorities consent.

Give your broker the refining process, composition and intended use before choosing a line. Chemically modified oil falls outside this heading. Use our commodity-code guide to prepare the classification enquiry.

Specify refining, flavour and oil purity

Specify crude or refined oil, extraction and refining processes, intended food or industrial use, and whether you want a peanut flavour or a neutral oil. Agree colour, acid value, peroxide value, moisture and insoluble impurities, with a batch certificate of analysis and an approved sample. Ask for composition testing to check for substitution with cheaper oils.

For edible oil, agree shelf life, storage conditions and sealed bottle, drum or bulk packing. Both refined and unrefined peanut oil must be labelled with reference to peanut. For organic orders into Great Britain, check the exporter’s control body and country against the organic registers and arrange the consignment certificate before dispatch.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: Illustrative order: 10 tonnes of refined edible groundnut oil under 1508 90 90 00, invoiced at £30,000 free on board, with £2,500 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £32,500. Duty at 0% is £0. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £32,500, so it is £6,500. With no duty, the only import tax is the VAT, which a VAT-registered importer can usually reclaim. 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

Identity: compare the batch analysis and composition test with the agreed groundnut oil specification.

Condition: check colour, odour, acid value and peroxide value against the approved sample and agreed limits.

Packing: inspect seals, leaks and container cleanliness; compare batch references with the analysis certificate.

Labels and documents: check the peanut declaration on edible oil and the organic certificate where applicable. Arrange independent inspection before loading.

What goes wrong

A neutral refined sample is replaced by stronger-flavoured oil, cheaper oils are blended in, or the shipment arrives with oxidation or leaking closures. Keep a retained sample from the approved batch and compare arrival samples before releasing the oil for use.

Refining does not remove the peanut labelling requirement. Organic paperwork can also fail when it does not match the consignment. Check the factory’s batch records, refining process and packing arrangements through factory verification.

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.