Sourcing printed Eid greeting cards from China

Duty on printed Eid greeting cards

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 4 October 2026, heading 4909 covers printed cards bearing personal greetings, whether illustrated or supplied with envelopes or trimmings. Printed Eid greeting cards fall within this description. The table shows formats sharing the single commodity line supplied, rather than separate tariff classifications.

Goods from China under 4909 00 00 00 carry 0% duty. The supplied record lists no anti-dumping or countervailing measure and no suspension. It attaches a DCMS Export Licence control, with a document waiver for goods produced less than 50 years ago. Official guidance states that cultural-interest imports into Great Britain have no licensing requirement. Ask your customs broker to confirm how the attached control applies to your shipment.

Confirm the finished product's commodity code, especially if adding sound modules or lights. For the wider heading, see greeting cards and postcards. Keep duty separate from import VAT when comparing costs; see UK import duty and VAT.

Specify the Eid wording, board and finish

State whether the range is for Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha or both. Approve the exact greeting, Arabic letter connections, reading direction and any translation with a competent reader. Supply final artwork rather than asking the printer to retype calligraphy. Agree the front, inside and back designs, including whether the inside is blank for handwriting.

Specify folded dimensions, board weight, grain direction, coating, foil colour, embossing and envelope paper. Approve a physical proof on the production stock, including the writing surface. For assorted packs, agree the design mix and envelope allocation. Confirm your rights to use the artwork with a qualified intellectual-property adviser; sleeves and envelopes also bring packaging producer responsibility questions.

Businesses must not sell consumer products they know, or should have known, are unsafe. Consider loose glitter, detachable decorations and sharp cut edges when choosing finishes. Keep this specification for paper cards; sound or light versions need a separate review of the battery and electrical questions described in the wider guide.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: Illustrative order: 20,000 printed Eid greeting cards with envelopes under 4909 00 00 00, invoiced at £6,000 free on board, with £800 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £6,800. Duty at 0% is £0. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £6,800, so it is £1,360. With no duty, the only import tax is the VAT, which a VAT-registered importer can usually reclaim. The import duty and VAT guide explains each step.

Inspection checklist

Artwork: compare front and inside text with the approved files, checking Arabic joins, reading direction, spelling and the intended Eid greeting.

Print and finish: compare colour with the physical proof; rub foil and glitter, check fine calligraphy for filled gaps, and inspect folds for cracked ink or coating.

Card and envelope: measure against the agreed specification, check that cards stand as intended, test handwriting on the inside and insert finished cards into their envelopes.

Packs and cartons: check the agreed design mix, card and envelope counts, barcodes, crushed corners and moisture damage during quality inspection.

What goes wrong

Arabic lettering can become disconnected or reversed when fonts are substituted or artwork is retyped. A generic greeting may also be replaced with wording for the wrong festival. Approve the final print file and a physical proof, then compare production samples with both.

Foil can fill the small spaces in calligraphy, dark printed areas can crack along the fold, and coated interiors may resist handwriting. Tight envelopes can scuff raised decoration. Approve the card, finish and envelope together, and check each design in an assorted pack rather than only the outer packaging.

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.