Sourcing medicines from China: licences first

Zero duty, controlled trade

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 25 September 2026, other medicaments put up in measured doses or for retail sale carried 0% duty on goods from China, with no anti-dumping measure. The same code carries import controls, including the Home Office controlled drugs control and restrictions on entry into free circulation, so the customs entry is the least of the work. For medicines without measured doses or retail packaging, see our bulk medicaments sourcing guide.

Active substances and intermediates are covered in the pharmaceutical intermediates guide; medical devices in the medical and PPE guide. For biological products, see our guide to vaccines and antisera. For ibuprofen tablets, see our ibuprofen tablet sourcing guide. For aciclovir tablets, see our aciclovir tablet sourcing guide.

Marketing authorisation

Regulation 46 of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 generally prohibits selling or supplying, or offering to sell or supply, an unauthorised medicinal product, and requires sale or supply in accordance with a UK marketing authorisation, a certificate of registration or a traditional herbal registration, subject to statutory exemptions. A medicine made in China normally needs the authorisation before it can be sold, although unlicensed specials may be supplied under the applicable exemption for individual patients.

Whether a product is a medicine depends on its function and its claims, so a supplement or cosmetic that claims to treat a condition can become one; settle the claims before the packaging is printed.

Import licences

Regulation 17 requires a manufacturer's licence of the appropriate type to import a medicinal product into Great Britain from a country other than Northern Ireland or an approved country for import. For medicines from China, that means the importer holds the licence, or the goods come in through a licensed importer, with a qualified person certifying the batches under that licence. For the reverse trade route, see our guide to exporting UK finished medicines to China.

The manufacturing site must also be inspected and meet good manufacturing practice for the product's authorisation, so the Chinese manufacturer's GMP status and inspection history are part of the supplier choice.

Worked duty example

Take a hypothetical order of 500,000 blister packs of an authorised generic tablet, entered under 3004 90 00 00: £80,000 free on board plus £4,000 of freight and insurance gives a customs value of £84,000. Packaged medicines carry no duty, so import VAT of 20% on £84,000, £16,800, is the only tax. A VAT-registered importer normally reclaims it, so the border adds no lasting cost. Import VAT applies at the standard rate on this entry; medicines are zero-rated only when dispensed on prescription later in the chain. Step by step: UK import duty and VAT.

Inspection checklist

Batch testing: check each batch's certificate of analysis against the specification in the authorisation, and have the importer's laboratory repeat identity, assay and dissolution, for example by the dissolution method of Ph. Eur. 2.9.3 for tablets, before the Qualified Person certifies release.

Packs and leaflets: compare cartons, blister foils and patient leaflets line by line with the approved text, check batch numbers and expiry dates are legible and match the batch records, and check the medicine name in Braille on the carton.

Shipment conditions: read the temperature logger from every consignment against the storage conditions on the label, and check seals, pallet integrity and quantities against the dispatch documents before the goods enter the licensed warehouse.

What goes wrong

Medicine imports fail on GMP, documents and the pack. The manufacturing site has not been inspected for the authorisation, or an audit finds data integrity gaps in batch records, stability data does not cover the UK storage conditions on the label, and a nitrosamine risk assessment is missing when the MHRA asks for one. Cartons and leaflets differ from the approved text, dissolution or assay drifts between batches, and temperature excursions in transit go unrecorded.

Qualify the site with a GMP audit and check its inspection history, review executed batch records and certificates of analysis for each batch, confirm stability data and the nitrosamine assessment are in the authorisation dossier, proofread packs and leaflets against the approved text, keep temperature loggers in every shipment, and route every batch through the importer's Qualified Person before release.

How we work in this category

Pharmaceutical sourcing is run inside the buyer's licence and quality system: supplier qualification, audits, technical agreements and batch documentation. The sourcing work is identifying and qualifying manufacturers, arranging audits and samples, and coordinating documentation and logistics. For product-specific sourcing, see amoxicillin capsules from China. For doxycycline, see our doxycycline capsule sourcing guide. For inhalers, see our salbutamol inhaler sourcing guide.

Cambridge China Bridge supports licensed pharmaceutical businesses in finding and qualifying Chinese manufacturers, arranging audits and managing the documents and shipments within the buyer's licence. See how our sourcing service works.

For the active substance itself, see our paracetamol and amide chemicals guide.