Sourcing hospital infant bassinets from China

Zero duty on the relevant medical furniture line

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 30 September 2026, heading 9402 covers medical, surgical, dental and veterinary furniture and its parts, alongside specified chairs. Hospital infant bassinets classified as other medical furniture use 9402 90 00 00, carrying 0% duty from China. No anti-dumping or countervailing duty, tariff suspension or steel measure is shown. The table presents configurations sharing this commodity line, rather than separate tariff subdivisions.

The tariff attaches cat and dog fur import controls and a torture-and-repression import prohibition. Imports of cat and dog fur and products made from it are banned. For the torture-related control, the importer should confirm the requirement against the actual bassinet and tariff footnotes with their customs broker. The supplied record also lists cultural-object export licensing, torture-related export restrictions and cat and dog fur export controls.

Send photographs, basket and frame materials, adjustment details and intended use to your broker to confirm the commodity code. Do not select the code solely from a supplier's product name. The hospital beds guide covers the wider product family.

Specify the basket, mattress and trolley together

Approve a complete assembled sample with its intended mattress. Record basket material, internal dimensions, mattress fit and thickness, frame footprint, working height, castor arrangement and brake operation. For adjustable models, agree the permitted positions, locking mechanism and how staff return the basket to its intended resting position. Specify replacement baskets, mattresses and castors by part identity.

Agree the hospital's cleaning agents and cleaning method, then check the sample after repeated cleaning. Inspect basket clarity, cracking, seams and places where liquid collects. Obtain the manufacturer's stated intended use and confirm the model's device status: hospital use alone does not establish that it is a medical device.

For medical-device models, confirm the applicable UKCA or accepted CE conformity route and MHRA registration before placing them on the Great Britain market. A manufacturer outside the UK must appoint a UK responsible person. Ask for model-matched conformity documents, test evidence and English instructions, and use testing and certification support to settle the evidence before production.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: 50 hospital infant bassinets, illustrative only under 9402 90 00 00, invoiced at £30,000 free on board, with £5,000 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £35,000. Duty at 0% is £0. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £35,000, so it is £7,000. 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.

Inspection checklist

Basket and mattress: check the supplied mattress against the approved basket, inspect edges and contact surfaces, and reject cracks, sharp moulding flash or an insecure basket mounting.

Frame and movement: inspect welds and fasteners, push the assembled trolley over the intended floor surface, check castor tracking and brake holding, and test stability using the agreed load procedure.

Adjustment and cleaning: operate every height or inclination lock, check for slipping and accessible pinch points, and inspect surfaces after cleaning with the agreed agents.

Identity and packing: match labels, instructions, components and documents to the ordered model; inspect transparent baskets for transit damage and confirm that fittings are complete. Agree shipment checks through the inspection guide.

What goes wrong

A replacement mattress can fit differently from the sample, leaving unwanted gaps or changing the usable basket depth. A changed basket mould can also leave its mounting loose. Record the approved basket and mattress combination, and inspect them together rather than accepting separate component photographs.

Poorly secured castors, weak brake holding and slipping adjustment locks can make a trolley unsuitable for the ward. Transparent baskets can crack during transport or deteriorate under the hospital's cleaning agents. Check an assembled production sample and packing protection; compare the delivered model with the model identified in the conformity documents.

Cambridge China Bridge sources these products for UK businesses, checking the factory and the documents before shipment. See factory verification. For own-brand ranges, see sourcing for brands.