Sourcing soft drawing pastels from China

2% duty on soft drawing pastels

Heading 9609 covers pencils, crayons, pencil leads, pastels, drawing charcoals and writing, drawing and tailors' chalks. Soft drawing pastels sit within the pastels and drawing charcoals line, 9609 90 10 00. The table shows product formats sharing that commodity line.

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 5 November 2026, soft drawing pastels from China carry 2% duty. The supplied tariff record lists no anti-dumping or countervailing measure, suspension or attached import control for this line. Import VAT is normally 20%; see UK import duty and VAT.

Confirm the commodity code against the actual contents, especially where pastels come with other art materials. The pencils, crayons and paint sets guide covers the wider heading and neighbouring art materials.

Specify colour, softness and intended use

Specify dry soft pastels, stick shape and dimensions, colour assortment, wrapper design and tray layout. Approve physical swatches on the paper your customer will use. Agree acceptable crumbling, powder release, blending and coverage against retained samples. Ask the factory for pigment and binder details for each colour.

Consumer pastels supplied in Great Britain must be safe under general product safety rules. Confirm with the relevant product safety authority whether sets designed or intended for children's play fall under the Toys (Safety) Regulations 2011, and which essential safety requirements, declaration of conformity and UKCA or CE marking arrangements apply. Establish the intended use before approving packaging.

For children's play sets, agree testing appropriate to the actual formulation and colours. The wider art-materials guide describes voluntary toy standards and heavy-metal migration testing. Arrange the scope through testing and certification, rather than accepting a report for an unrelated pastel range.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: 2,000 assorted soft drawing pastel sets, illustrative under 9609 90 10 00, invoiced at £25,000 free on board, with £2,000 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £27,000. Duty at 2% is £540. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £27,540, so it is £5,508. Import taxes total £6,048; a VAT-registered importer can usually reclaim the VAT, so the lasting cost is the £540 of duty. The import duty and VAT guide explains each step.

Inspection checklist

Colour: compare sampled sticks and drawn swatches with approved samples; check pale shades for contamination and confirm the assortment matches the pack.

Drawing performance: check coverage, blending, edge control, softness and powder release on the agreed paper. Compare different colours as well as different cartons.

Breakage and packing: open packs from different carton positions; check cracks, loose fragments, tray fit and cushioning. Trial the agreed transport handling before shipment.

Labels and evidence: compare wrappers, colour names, batch references and retail artwork with the approved version. For toy sets, check conformity documents and markings against the supplied product.

What goes wrong

A pastel can look correct in the tray but draw too hard, give weak coverage or crumble during use. Colour changes can appear when a factory substitutes pigments or binder. Loose trays let sticks strike each other, leaving broken ends and coloured dust across neighbouring shades.

Keep approved sticks and swatches, record defects by colour and carton, and agree corrective action before accepting replacements. Check arriving stock against the same samples used before shipment. Use the quality inspection guide to organise the checks.

Cambridge China Bridge sources these products for UK businesses, checking the factory and the documents before shipment. See factory verification. For own-brand ranges, see sourcing for brands.