Sourcing plastic salad bowls from China

Duty and food-contact import controls

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 29 September 2026, heading 3924 covers plastic tableware, kitchenware, other household articles and hygienic or toilet articles. This guide concerns reusable plastic salad bowls. The table repeats the ordinary kitchenware line for different bowl types; these are product examples rather than separate tariff subdivisions.

The relevant bowl lines carry 6% duty for goods from China, with no listed anti-dumping or countervailing duty and no suspension. The tariff attaches a declaration-of-compliance entry restriction to ordinary plastic kitchenware. For polyamide or melamine kitchenware from China, ask your customs broker and the competent authority to confirm the applicable consignment declaration and laboratory report requirements, any advance-notification deadline and whether entry through a designated border control post is required. Confirm documents and routing with your customs broker.

Give your broker the composition of the bowl, lid and food-contact parts, photographs and intended use before confirming the commodity code. For the wider bowl range, see stainless steel mixing bowls.

Specify the resin, rim and salad use

Specify the resin, colourants, fillers and any recycled content for the bowl and lid. Agree usable capacity, external dimensions, wall thickness, rim stiffness, base stability and nesting. State whether bowls are for individual portions or shared serving, and whether lids are intended to resist leakage during transport.

Confirm applicable food-contact safety and suitability requirements with the relevant authority. Substances used in food-contact plastics have to be authorised for use. Ask for the compliance declaration and supporting reports matching the finished bowl, colour and lid. Define contact with oily dressings and acidic ingredients, holding time, refrigeration and repeated washing. Assess dishwasher or microwave claims through testing and certification.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: Illustrative order: 2,000 reusable polypropylene salad bowls under 3924 10 00 90, invoiced at £7,000 free on board, with £600 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £7,600. Duty at 6% is £456. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £8,056, so it is £1,611.20. Import taxes total £2,067.20; a VAT-registered importer can usually reclaim the VAT, so the lasting cost is the £456 of duty. The import duty and VAT guide explains each step.

Inspection checklist

Materials and documents: match delivered bowls and lids to the approved resin, colour, sample and food-contact paperwork.

Rim and base: check sharp flash, cracks, uneven walls, rocking bases and rim flex when lifting a filled bowl.

Use and cleaning: check staining, persistent odour, scratching and distortion after the agreed salad-contact and washing trials; test lid fit and any agreed leakage claim.

Packing: check that nested bowls separate without damage, lids match and cartons protect exposed rims. Arrange shipment checks using the quality inspection guide.

What goes wrong

Thin rims can flex when a bowl is carried full, while warped bases make serving bowls rock on a counter. Clear bowls can arrive scratched from nesting, and tightly packed bowls can jam together. Lids may fit the sample but lift off production bowls after washing. Check production samples under the agreed use conditions.

A report for another resin, colour or lid does not establish the performance of the supplied bowl. Keep the approved sample, specification and document references together. Review material changes before shipment, and arrange controlled-kitchenware documents before booking the route.

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.