Question 1

How long does shipping from China to the UK take?

Accepted Answer

It depends on the routing of your sailing. Via the Suez Canal, South China to Felixstowe, Southampton or London Gateway typically takes about four to five weeks port to port; on a service that still sails around the Cape of Good Hope, allow roughly five to six weeks, more if the UK is not its first European call. Carriers are moving services back to Suez one loop at a time, so two containers booked the same week with different carriers can arrive a fortnight apart, and a wave of returning ships can congest UK and North European terminals. For door to door, add trucking or rail inland and UK clearance. We confirm the routing and transit of your specific sailing when we book it.

Question 2

What import duty and VAT do I pay on goods from China to the UK?

Accepted Answer

Customs duty is set by the commodity code under the UK Global Tariff and charged on the customs value, which in the UK includes freight and insurance to the UK border. Import VAT is charged at the standard 20% on most goods, calculated on that value plus duty and delivery costs to the first UK destination. A VAT-registered importer can use postponed VAT accounting to declare and reclaim it on the same VAT return instead of paying it at the border. Some Chinese goods also carry anti-dumping duty — currently including certain excavators, ceramic tableware and kitchenware, bicycles, wire rod and other steel products — and steel imported once its quota is used up pays an out-of-quota tariff. These are heavy duties, not bans, and rates change, so the commodity code is checked before you order.

Question 3

Do I need an EORI number to import from China to the UK?

Accepted Answer

Yes. A business importing into Great Britain needs an EORI number that starts with GB, and your UK customs agent declares the goods using it. If you are VAT-registered, the same declaration is where postponed VAT accounting is selected, and that choice cannot be changed once the declaration is submitted. A business without a UK establishment needs a customs representative to make the declaration. Apply before the goods ship, because clearance cannot be completed without it.

Question 4

Do you ship DDP from China to the UK?

Accepted Answer

No. AGF does not offer DDP or "duties-included" shipping. DDP offers from China often clear the goods under the forwarder's or a third party's EORI, which leaves a VAT-registered buyer without the import VAT evidence in its own name that it needs to reclaim, and exposed if HMRC later challenges the declared value or origin. We clear under your own EORI, at true values, through our partner's UK customs agent, and tell you before you order what duty and VAT to expect.

Question 5

Do products from China need UKCA or CE marking in the UK?

Accepted Answer

It depends on the product's sector rules, but for most regulated goods Great Britain accepts CE marking alongside or instead of UKCA. Either way the marking must be backed by a valid declaration and, where the rules require one, a certificate from an approved or notified body — a test report from a Chinese lab is not the same thing. As the importer, your company's name and postal address must appear on the product, or on its packaging where it will not fit. General consumer safety in Great Britain is still governed by the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 while the government prepares a replacement under the Product Regulation and Metrology Act 2025. The UK has no forced-labour import ban, but companies with a turnover of £36 million or more must publish an annual modern slavery statement covering their supply chains.

Question 6

Who clears customs in the UK — do you have an office there?

Accepted Answer

AGF has no office in the UK. Our Foshan team runs the China side; in the UK a WCA partner agent coordinates arrival and delivery, and its customs agent clears the goods as your representative under your EORI number. AGF's Europe Representative also covers the UK. You deal with one point of contact for the whole shipment, and we tell you who is handling it at the UK end.

Shipping from China to the UK

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