Sourcing squid liver oil from China

Duty and the squid liver oil import route

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 4 October 2026, heading 1504 covers fish and marine-mammal fats, oils and fractions, refined or unrefined but not chemically modified. The supplied liver-oil lines carry 2% where vitamin A does not exceed 2 500 International Units per gram, and 0% for other liver oils excluding halibut. No anti-dumping, countervailing duty or suspension is recorded on these lines.

For food use, ask the Animal and Plant Health Agency to confirm country and establishment approval, advance notification and whether health certification or commercial documents are required for the product's risk category. The tariff attaches veterinary, CITES, organic-product and waste import controls to the candidate lines. Confirm with your customs broker which controls and documents apply to the actual species, grade and shipment.

The table separates crude and refined purchasing forms within the same candidate codes; it does not establish squid-specific classification. Give the broker the species, source tissue, processing method, composition, vitamin A analysis and intended use. Confirm the commodity code before ordering. Our fish oil guide covers the wider heading.

Specify the squid source, grade and oil profile

Specify the squid species, liver or digestive-gland source, capture origin, extraction and refining process, and whether other oils are blended in. Agree food, feed or technical use explicitly. Set contractual acceptance criteria for fatty-acid composition, vitamin A, peroxide and anisidine values, free fatty acids, moisture, contaminants, antioxidants, storage conditions and shelf life.

For food use, check the supplier's oil against the authorised squid-oil entry and its permitted uses, composition limits and labelling conditions. The food register specifies the designation 'Squid oil' for foods containing the authorised ingredient. Confirm the applicable dioxin and PCB limits for marine oils for human consumption with the relevant authority, using our wider guide as a starting point.

For feed or technical use, check the separate animal by-product route and the producer's relevant establishment approval. China's safeguard rules prohibit animal-origin food and feed imports unless the product falls within the permitted list and meets any applicable conditions. Ask the Animal and Plant Health Agency to confirm the proposed squid liver oil route before committing to an order.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: Illustrative order: 20 tonnes of refined squid liver oil, subject to confirmed classification under 1504 10 10 00, invoiced at £50,000 free on board, with £4,000 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £54,000. Duty at 2% is £1,080. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £55,080, so it is £11,016. Import taxes total £12,096; a VAT-registered importer can usually reclaim the VAT, so the lasting cost is the £1,080 of duty. 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: match species, source tissue, refining description, blend declaration and batch identifiers to the purchase specification.

Analysis: check the batch certificate against independent tests for fatty-acid composition, vitamin A, oxidation, moisture, dioxins, PCBs and heavy metals.

Documents: match the producer, establishment approval, intended use and applicable health or commercial documents to the consignment.

Packing: inspect drum seals, leaks, corrosion, batch labels and storage records; take representative arrival samples using the agreed inspection process.

What goes wrong

Watch for oil sold under a squid liver description without traceable species or tissue records, undeclared blending, and batch certificates that describe a different shipment. An agreed fatty-acid profile and retained samples help distinguish a specification dispute from deterioration during transport.

Oxidation, leaking drums and contaminant results outside the agreed acceptance criteria can make an order unusable. Food authorisation and import permission are separate checks: a supplier's food-grade claim does not resolve either. Settle the intended use and documents before dispatch, then compare arrival results with the approved sample.

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.