Sourcing PET packaging bottles from China

6% duty on PET bottles and plastic closures

Heading 3923 covers plastic articles for conveying or packing goods and plastic closures. Empty PET packaging bottles fall within the bottle family, divided by whether capacity exceeds two litres. This guide concerns bottles and their matching closures; see the wider packaging guide for other packaging.

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 3 October 2026, both bottle capacity bands and the plastic closure lines shown carried 6% duty for goods from China. The supplied tariff data lists no anti-dumping or countervailing duty, suspension or attached import control on these selected lines.

Confirm the commodity code against the bottle's capacity and the closure supplied. Check bottles and separately supplied closures individually rather than treating every component as a bottle. Use UK import duty and VAT when preparing the landed-cost calculation.

Specify the bottle, closure and filling process

Specify PET resin, virgin or recycled content, colour, bottle weight, usable fill capacity and brimful capacity. Agree neck dimensions, thread profile, sealing surface, cap material, liner and tamper evidence. Include the label panel, bottle height and base shape so samples can run through your filling, capping and labelling equipment.

Tell the factory what the bottle will contain, the filling temperature, storage conditions and whether the contents are carbonated. Trial the exact bottle and closure together with your product. Ask for migration test reports matched to the intended food and contact conditions, rather than accepting a generic resin certificate.

For food use, packaging must be suitable and you must have a declaration of compliance for plastic packaging. See food-contact materials. Check whether Plastic Packaging Tax applies and obtain evidence for any recycled-content claim; see plastic packaging tax. Recycled plastic should only be used where other regulations and food safety standards permit it. Assess your packaging producer responsibilities through packaging EPR.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: 4,000 empty PET packaging bottles with matched caps, illustrative only under 3923 30 10 00, invoiced at £4,000 free on board, with £1,200 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £5,200. Duty at 6% is £312. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £5,512, so it is £1,102.40. Import taxes total £1,414.40; a VAT-registered importer can usually reclaim the VAT, so the lasting cost is the £312 of duty. The import duty and VAT guide explains each step.

Inspection checklist

Bottle dimensions: compare capacity, weight, neck, thread and label panel with the approved drawing and sample; check that bases sit flat.

Closure and seal: fit production caps, check application and removal behaviour, inspect tamper bands and test leakage with the intended contents.

Appearance and cleanliness: check for haze, black specks, uneven walls, dents, odour and contamination inside bottles; inspect protective bags and cartons.

Documents and packing: match bottle and cap batches to the agreed specifications and food-contact paperwork where applicable; check carton counts and transit damage. See quality inspection.

What goes wrong

A cap may screw on but fail to seal because the neck finish or liner differs from the approved sample. Thin areas can buckle during capping or transport. A bottle selected without filling trials may distort during hot filling, while a changed base or label panel can disrupt the buyer's production line.

Recycled resin can alter colour and clarity, and a report for a different resin or bottle does not establish that your ordered specification has been checked. Approve production-material samples, retain a reference bottle and closure, and agree how changes to resin, moulds or caps will be reviewed before shipment.

Cambridge China Bridge sources these products for UK businesses, checking the factory and the documents before shipment. See factory verification.