Sourcing sheep and goats from China
Live sheep and goats from China cannot legally be imported into Great Britain: China is not authorised to export live ungulates there. Listed duties are 0% or 2% for pure-bred breeding animals, and £67.00 per 100kg for other animals. These rates do not confer import permission. Cambridge China Bridge checks whether a product can be imported before any order is placed.
Tariff rates and the import restriction
Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 18 November 2026, heading 0104 covers live sheep and goats. Pure-bred breeding sheep attract 0% duty and pure-bred breeding goats 2%. Other sheep, including lambs, and other goats attract £67.00 per 100kg. The supplied China tariff extract lists no anti-dumping or countervailing duties and no suspensions.
China is not authorised to export live ungulates to Great Britain. For permitted origins, sheep and goats must have the appropriate health certificate. The tariff attaches veterinary control, organic-product import control, CITES import and export controls, and an export restriction. Confirm the organic and CITES requirements for the precise animals with your customs broker; these controls do not provide permission to import Chinese livestock.
Distinguish sheep from goats, breeding animals from other stock, and lambs from other sheep. Ask for pedigree and age records before selecting a line, using finding your commodity code. The table describes tariff categories, not animals currently eligible for import from China.
| Goods | Commodity code | Duty | Anti-dumping or countervailing duty on China |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pure-bred breeding sheep | 0104 10 10 00 | 0% | None |
| Lambs up to a year old, other than pure-bred breeding animals | 0104 10 30 00 | £67.00 per 100 kg | None |
| Other live sheep | 0104 10 80 00 | £67.00 per 100 kg | None |
| Pure-bred breeding goats | 0104 20 10 00 | 2% | None |
| Other live goats | 0104 20 90 00 | £67.00 per 100 kg | None |
Specify breed, purpose and individual identity
Start with the destination and import eligibility before discussing an order. This guide's confirmed restriction concerns Great Britain. For an overseas destination or Northern Ireland, obtain destination-specific advice rather than assuming the same answer.
For supplier assessment, specify species, breed, sex, age, breeding or production purpose, and individual animal identities. Request pedigree records for animals offered as pure-bred breeding stock, plus veterinary history and photographs that can be matched to each animal. Agree how substitutions and discrepancies will be handled.
Worked duty example
Illustrative example, not a quote: Illustrative small breeding-goat consignment for tariff arithmetic only; imports from China to Great Britain are not authorised under 0104 20 10 00, invoiced at £2,019 free on board, with £1,715 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £3,734. Duty at 2% is £74.68. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £3,808.68, so it is £761.74. Import taxes total £836.42; a VAT-registered importer can usually reclaim the VAT, so the lasting cost is the £74.68 of duty. 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
Eligibility: stop a proposed China-to-Great-Britain shipment because China is not authorised to export live ungulates there.
Identity: match each animal's identification and appearance to the seller's individual records; investigate substitutions.
Breeding records: compare pedigree, parentage, sex and age with the agreed specification.
Arrival condition: for a lawful destination, arrange veterinary assessment of mobility, breathing, hydration and visible injuries, and record discrepancies against the dispatch records.
Working out your own order? Send us the product on WhatsApp and we reply the same working day: WhatsApp us
What goes wrong
A supplier may treat a tariff code or duty quotation as proof that shipment is possible. The country-approval restriction prevents this China-to-Great-Britain route regardless of the listed duty. Unmatched pedigree records or substituted animals also undermine a breeding-stock purchase.
Do not plan Great Britain as a staging point for onward slaughter or fattening exports. Exporting live sheep or goats for those purposes is prohibited on journeys from or through Great Britain to destinations outside the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man.
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.
Frequently asked questions
What is the UK import duty on live sheep and goats from China?
The supplied tariff lists 0% for pure-bred breeding sheep, 2% for pure-bred breeding goats, and £67.00 per 100kg for other sheep and goats. China-to-Great-Britain imports are not authorised.
Can I import breeding sheep from China into Great Britain?
No. Defra states that China is not authorised to export live ungulates to Great Britain. A pedigree record or a duty-free tariff line does not change that restriction.
Would describing the animals as organic allow import?
No. Organic status does not change China's lack of authorisation to export live ungulates to Great Britain. The tariff also attaches organic-product import control; confirm its application with your broker.
What should I check before buying pure-bred goats?
Check destination eligibility first, then match breed, pedigree, parentage, sex, age and individual identity to the contract. Arrange veterinary assessment for any shipment to a lawful destination.