Sourcing herring oil from China

Herring oil duty and import controls

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 4 October 2026, heading 1504 covers fish and marine-mammal fats, oils and fractions, refined or unrefined, but not chemically modified. Ordinary herring body oil under 1504 20 90 00 carries 0% duty from China; solid body-oil fractions carry 10%. The liver-oil row applies only to oil actually extracted from herring liver: it carries 2% within the stated vitamin content. Other fish-liver oil carries 0%.

The supplied tariff lines show no anti-dumping or countervailing duty and no suspension. They attach veterinary, organic-product, CITES and waste import controls. For food-grade fish oil, ask the relevant authority or your customs broker to confirm country and establishment eligibility, any arrival pre-notification, and whether health certification or commercial documents are needed for the applicable risk category. Confirm the applicable veterinary documents before shipping. The importer should ask their customs broker to confirm whether the organic, CITES and waste controls apply to the actual consignment.

Give your broker the fish species, body or liver source, processing method, physical form, intended use and immediate pack capacity to confirm the commodity code. Chemical modification and finished supplement capsules can change classification. See the wider fish oil guide for other species and product forms.

Specify the herring source and oil condition

Specify herring species, raw-material origin, body or liver source, and whether the oil is crude, refined or fractionated. State food, feed or technical use rather than accepting an unspecified fish-oil grade. For feed or technical oil, confirm country eligibility and the import route with APHA before ordering; production must be at an establishment approved to export to Great Britain.

Agree fatty-acid composition, peroxide value, anisidine value, total oxidation value, free fatty acids, antioxidants and storage conditions. For food-grade marine oil, confirm the applicable dioxin and PCB limits with the relevant food authority. Ask for a batch certificate of analysis and agree independent sampling. Specify sealed drums or bulk containers, oxygen protection and shelf life.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: Illustrative order: 20 tonnes of refined herring body oil for a food-ingredient distributor under 1504 20 90 00, invoiced at £50,000 free on board, with £4,000 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £54,000. Duty at 0% is £0. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £54,000, so it is £10,800. 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: match the herring species, body or liver source and batch identity across the specification, invoice, labels and analysis report.

Documents: check the producer's approval and the health certificate, commercial documents or animal by-product documents appropriate to the agreed use.

Oil condition: independently sample for fatty-acid composition, oxidation values and the agreed contaminant panel; compare arrival results with the pre-shipment sample.

Packing: check seals, leaks, container cleanliness, agreed nitrogen flushing and storage records. Use the quality inspection guide to organise the checks.

What goes wrong

A supplier quotes generic fish oil without documenting the herring source, or supplies a blend with a different fatty-acid profile. Heat, air exposure and poor seals can cause oxidation during storage and transport. Agree measurable acceptance criteria and retain a sealed reference sample.

A satisfactory oxidation result does not establish that food-grade oil meets contaminant limits. Paperwork can also fail when the declared use or producer does not match the shipment. Resolve the import route before paying for production, and compare the shipped batch with its own analysis report.

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.