Sourcing wooden and bamboo kitchenware from China

Products and search terms

bamboo cutting boards, wooden cutting boards, bamboo chopping boards, wooden chopping boards

Zero duty

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 25 September 2026, bamboo bread and chopping boards, chopsticks and other bamboo tableware, tropical wood and other wood tableware and kitchenware carried 0% duty on goods from China, with no anti-dumping measure. For steamers, see our bamboo steamer sourcing guide.

Plastic-bound bamboo fibre products are classified as plastics; confirm the commodity code from the material.

Food contact

Wood and bamboo that touch food must not transfer substances in harmful amounts under the retained food contact framework. Oils, lacquers and glues are where problems arise, so ask for the finish and adhesive specifications and a migration test on samples; see food contact materials. For cork products, see our guide to cork sheets and stoppers. For pewter tableware, see our guide to pewter and tin articles.

Bamboo and melamine

Cups, plates and bowls made of bamboo fibre in melamine resin look like bamboo but are plastic. The Food Standards Agency asked retailers and businesses to stop selling these bamboo plastic composites and advises consumers not to use them for storing or serving food, because formaldehyde and melamine can leak into food, especially when hot or acidic. It says products made solely from bamboo are safe, so buy solid bamboo or wood instead.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: 5,000 bamboo chopping boards under 4419 11 00 00, invoiced at £9,000 free on board, with £1,200 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £10,200. Duty at 0% is £0. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £10,200, so it is £2,040. 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

Finish and food contact: the maker's declaration naming the oil, wax or lacquer and the adhesive, a migration test on finished items by an accredited laboratory covering formaldehyde where laminated bamboo is glued with urea or melamine resins and heavy metals where a coloured lacquer is used, a wipe test for colour transfer, and an odour check after soaking in warm water.

Construction: sampled boards put through agreed soak-and-dry cycles and then checked for opening glue lines, flatness of boards checked on a flat surface, spoon and spatula handles flexed by hand, surfaces and edges checked for splinters by running a cloth over them, and any dishwasher-safe claim tested before it is printed.

Labelling and packing: the glass-and-fork symbol or the words 'for food contact' where the use is not obvious, under Article 15 of Regulation 1935/2004, care instructions such as hand wash and re-oil, moisture readings recorded for each lot, any wooden crates marked to ISPM 15, and cartons sampled to ISO 2859-1 for mould spots and insect holes.

What goes wrong

Bamboo and wood kitchenware fails on splits, mould and finish. Boards laminated from strips with too little glue or wet timber delaminate and split after a few washes, and boards shipped above the agreed moisture content grow mould in the container. Mineral oil or lacquer finishes that are not food grade, or that are applied too thickly, leave a sticky surface, and handles on spoons and spatulas crack where the grain runs across them.

Specify moisture content and measure it with a meter on a sample of each lot, soak and dry sample boards to check glue lines, ask for the finish and adhesive specifications with a migration test, and at inspection check for mould spots, cracks, splinters, grain direction on handles and desiccant in each carton.

Moisture and inspection

Mould in transit is the common failure. Specify moisture content, food-safe mould treatment and desiccant, and at inspection check for cracks, splinters and mould.

Cambridge China Bridge sources wooden and bamboo kitchenware, with finishes, food contact and moisture control settled before the order. See how our sourcing service works.