Sourcing sesame oilcake meal from China

Sesame meal duty and attached controls

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 4 October 2026, heading 2306 covers solid residues left after extracting vegetable or microbial fats or oils, excluding headings 2304 and 2305. Sesame oilcake meal falls within the other oilcake line, 2306 90 90 00. The table shows product forms sharing that line, rather than separate tariff subdivisions.

The supplied record gives 0% duty for goods from China, with no anti-dumping or countervailing duty and no suspensions. It attaches organic import, waste import and waste export controls. Confirm importer location and certification requirements with your organic control body. For organic sesame meal from China, confirm inspection certificates and import eligibility with your customs broker and organic control body. The inspection certificate is issued by the exporter’s control body.

Confirm whether the material is classed as waste and whether waste shipment controls apply with your customs broker or the relevant environmental authority. For shipments subject to notification, waste cannot move until the relevant authorities consent. Confirm waste status and the applicable China-to-UK procedure with your broker; the export control also matters if goods are later exported. Confirm the commodity code using the seed, extraction process and composition. For the wider oilcake heading, see sunflower meal.

Specify extraction method and sesame content

State that the material is the residue of sesame oil extraction. Specify pressed cake or solvent-extracted meal, whether the seeds were hulled, any heat treatment, and whether the delivery is loose, ground or pelleted. Agree crude protein, residual oil, fibre, moisture, ash and particle size. Require disclosure of other seed meals or added binders.

For feed use, confirm importer registration, feed material naming, statutory declarations and undesirable substance limits with your local feed enforcement authority. Agree the contaminant testing brief with the laboratory, including aflatoxins and heavy metals, and obtain analysis tied to the shipment batch. Describe the intended animal use before approving the specification.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: Illustrative order, not a quote: 12 tonnes of sesame oilcake meal for animal feed under 2306 90 90 00, invoiced at £3,500 free on board, with £2,680 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £6,180. Duty at 0% is £0. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £6,180, so it is £1,236. 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. This assumes the goods are standard-rated for VAT. Most food for human consumption is zero-rated, and animal feed can be too, in which case no import VAT is due, so check the rate for your product in HMRC's VAT Notice 701/14.

Inspection checklist

Identity: compare sesame origin, extraction method, hull content and physical form with the contract; investigate unexpected husks, grit or mixed seed material.

Analysis: independently sample the lot and compare protein, moisture, residual oil, fibre and ash with the agreed specification; match contaminant results to the batch.

Condition: on arrival, check for heating, mould, insects, caking and rancid odour; retain affected samples separately from apparently sound material.

Documents and packaging: match batch references across bags, analysis reports and delivery documents; check bag integrity, net weight, feed declarations and any organic paperwork.

What goes wrong

A supplier’s sample may contain less hull or more residual oil than the shipment, changing protein, fibre and feeding value. Undisclosed blending can also change the composition. Agree independent sampling and retain loading samples for comparison with arrival samples. The quality inspection guide explains how to organise checks.

Damp meal can cake or develop mould during transport, while residual oil makes rancid odour a useful arrival check. Missing organic documents or unresolved waste status can disrupt clearance. Approve the batch analysis, packing method and broker’s document checklist before loading.

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.