Milking and dairy equipment from China

0% duty

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 26 September 2026, milking machines and dairy machinery, heading 8434, carried 0% on goods from China on all three lines, including parts, with no anti-dumping measure.

Milk cooling tanks with their own refrigeration unit are usually classified as refrigerating equipment under 8418, and heat-treatment plant such as plate pasteurisers can fall under 8419, so confirm the commodity code for each item before you quote a landed price.

Machinery and food-contact rules

Each machine placed on the UK market must meet the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008, with a declaration of conformity, marking and instructions in English. Surfaces that touch milk must meet retained Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004 on food-contact materials, so ask for declarations for rubber liners, tubes and plastics, and food-grade stainless steel for vessels.

Milking installations are designed and tested to ISO 5707 for construction and performance and ISO 6690 for mechanical tests, and the hygiene design of dairy machinery is usually assessed against BS EN 1672-2.

Specifying equipment

Specify the species and herd or flock size, number of units, vacuum pump capacity and working vacuum, pulsation rate and ratio, liner and claw type, milk line diameter and layout, cleaning-in-place system, stainless steel grade for vessels, voltage and supply, and the spares kit of liners and rubber parts for the first year.

Worked duty example

Suppose, purely for illustration, you import a 12-unit milking parlour installation under 8434 10 00 00. At £42,000 free on board and £3,500 to ship and insure, the customs value is £45,500. With 0% duty on milking equipment, the only charge is import VAT: 20% of £45,500, or £9,100. VAT-registered businesses usually recover that in their next return. The method is set out in how UK import duty and VAT work.

Inspection checklist

Vacuum and pulsation: check the vacuum pump capacity, regulator stability and pulsation rate and ratio on sampled units against the specification, using the test methods of ISO 6690.

Food contact: check declarations of compliance with Regulation 1935/2004 for liners, tubes and plastics, check stainless steel grade certificates for vessels, and check welds and joints inside milk-contact parts are smooth and cleanable.

Function and documents: run a wet test with water and the cleaning system, check for leaks at every joint, and check the declaration of conformity, English manuals and spares list before shipment.

What goes wrong

Milking equipment fails on vacuum, rubber parts and hygiene. Vacuum is unstable or pulsation is off specification, which harms teats and milk quality, liners and tubes crack early or taint milk, internal welds trap residue that cleaning cannot reach, and fittings do not match UK parlours or spares.

Test vacuum and pulsation, collect food-contact declarations, and inspect milk-contact surfaces before shipment. See our quality inspection guide.

Cambridge China Bridge sources milking machines, portable milkers and small dairy equipment for UK farms, cheesemakers and dealers, checking the factory's test equipment before an order. See factory verification.