UK Import Requirements for Manufacturers in 2026: VAT, EORI, UKCA and Customs Explained Simply

An overseas manufacturer needs six things in place to import and sell goods in the UK legally: a GB EORI number, a UK VAT registration, correct commodity codes, product conformity marking (CE or UKCA), a UK responsible person where the product category requires one, and a customs declaration route. None of them require a UK company, and most cost little or nothing to obtain. This guide explains each one in plain language, in the order you should tackle them.

What registrations does an overseas manufacturer need to sell in the UK?

Six. The table below is the complete checklist for a typical consumer-goods manufacturer importing stock into Great Britain in 2026.

#	Requirement	Who issues it	Cost	Typical time
1	GB EORI number	HMRC	Free	Minutes to 5 working days
2	UK VAT registration	HMRC	Free (agents charge £150 to £500)	4 to 8 weeks for non-established businesses
3	Commodity codes for each product	Self-classified via the UK trade tariff	Free	Hours
4	CE or UKCA conformity marking	Manufacturer self-declares or via an approved/notified body	£0 (self-declared) to £2,000+ (tested)	Days to months by category
5	UK responsible person / authorised representative	A UK-based business you appoint	£200 to £1,500/year	1 to 2 weeks
6	Customs declaration capability	A customs broker or freight forwarder acting as your agent	£30 to £80 per declaration	Per shipment

Everything else people mention (trademarks, insurance, barcodes, marketplace accounts) matters commercially, but these six are the legal gate.

What is a GB EORI number and how do you get one?

A GB EORI (Economic Operators Registration and Identification) number is your customs identity in the UK. Every import declaration into Great Britain must carry one, so without it your freight cannot clear the border. It is a 12-character reference starting with GB.

You apply free at gov.uk/eori. Businesses with a UK VAT number usually receive one immediately; overseas businesses without one typically wait up to five working days. An EU EORI does not work for Great Britain: post-Brexit, GB and EU EORI numbers are separate systems, and if you also ship into Northern Ireland you may need an XI EORI as well. Apply for the EORI at the same time as your VAT registration, since the two are linked in HMRC’s systems and your import VAT records flow through the EORI.

When does an overseas manufacturer need UK VAT registration?

If you hold stock in the UK or sell goods already located in the UK, you must register regardless of turnover. The widely quoted £90,000 threshold applies only to UK-established businesses. A non-established taxable person has a nil threshold, so the obligation starts with the first UK-held sale.

Two marketplace rules change who actually pays the VAT over to HMRC:

1. For goods located in the UK and sold by an overseas seller to a UK consumer through a marketplace (Amazon, eBay, TikTok Shop and others), the marketplace is liable for the VAT. It charges the buyer and remits to HMRC.
2. For goods imported in consignments of £135 or less and sold via a marketplace, the marketplace again collects the VAT at the point of sale, and no import VAT is due at the border.

You still need your own registration to import stock, to use postponed VAT accounting (declaring and recovering import VAT on the same return rather than paying cash at the border), and to sell through your own website or B2B. Register at gov.uk/register-for-vat. HMRC’s guidance for overseas marketplace sellers is at gov.uk.

Do you need UKCA marking, or is CE still accepted in the UK?

For most consumer products, CE marking remains valid in Great Britain indefinitely. The UK government legislated in 2024 to continue recognising EU requirements, including the CE mark, across 21 product regulations covering the bulk of general consumer goods: electricals, toys, machinery, radio equipment, PPE and more. There is currently no deadline for this recognition to end, and CE marking for construction products is now also accepted.

Practical rules for 2026:

• If your product already carries a valid CE mark, you can sell it in Great Britain without new testing or a UKCA mark.
• UKCA remains a valid alternative, and some UK retailers contractually prefer it, but it is optional for most categories.
• Northern Ireland follows EU rules under the Windsor Framework, so CE (not UKCA alone) is required there. A CE mark therefore covers the whole UK plus the EU, which is why most international manufacturers standardise on CE.
• Exceptions with their own regimes and deadlines: medical devices (CE accepted until 2028 or 2030 depending on class, with a consultation on indefinite recognition underway), marine equipment, and a handful of other specialist categories.

The authoritative guidance is at gov.uk. The mark itself is only half the job: you must also hold a technical file and a UK Declaration of Conformity, and be able to produce both if a market surveillance authority or a marketplace asks.

How do commodity codes and import duty work?

Every product you import must be classified with a 10-digit commodity code, which determines the duty rate and any restrictions. You look codes up free in the UK Integrated Online Tariff at gov.uk/trade-tariff.

Three things overseas manufacturers regularly get wrong:

1. Copying the exporter’s code. EU and UK codes match at 6 digits but can differ beyond that, and the duty rate attaches to the full code.
2. Ignoring trade agreements. Goods that qualify as originating under a UK trade agreement (for example UK-EU TCA, UK-Japan, and others) can enter at 0% duty with proof of origin. Goods merely shipped from those countries do not automatically qualify.
3. Undervaluing. Duty and import VAT are calculated on the customs value, which includes the goods, freight and insurance. Understating it is the fastest route to an HMRC audit.

Typical duty on consumer hard goods runs 0% to 6%, with textiles and some categories higher. Model duty per SKU before you price for the UK, not after.

Who can act as your UK representative?

Any UK-established business you formally appoint can act as your responsible person, and for many overseas manufacturers this is the piece that unlocks everything else. UK product safety rules require certain products sold in Great Britain to have a UK-based economic operator responsible for compliance: holding the technical documentation, cooperating with authorities, and being named as a contact. Marketplaces increasingly enforce this, requesting responsible-person details before listings go live.

Your options: a UK subsidiary (expensive to run for this alone), your UK importer or distributor (only works if you have one), a paid compliance service (£200 to £1,500 per year), or a market-entry operator that bundles the responsible-person role with the rest of the launch. AZgen acts as the UK operating layer for the manufacturer brands it manages, covering compliance, listings and logistics as one system; how that model works is on our how we work page, and the wider setup is covered in our Amazon UK guide for non-UK manufacturers.

FAQ

Do I need a UK company to import into the UK? No. An overseas entity can hold a GB EORI and a UK VAT registration. You will usually need a customs agent to act as your declarant, and for some product categories a UK responsible person.

Is CE marking still legal in the UK in 2026? Yes, for most product categories the UK recognises CE marking indefinitely. Northern Ireland requires CE. UKCA is a valid optional alternative in Great Britain.

How long does UK VAT registration take for a foreign company? Plan for 4 to 8 weeks. Apply before you book freight, since your goods cannot use postponed VAT accounting without an active registration linked to your EORI.

Who pays the VAT on my marketplace sales? The marketplace collects and remits VAT on UK B2C sales by overseas sellers with UK-held stock, and on imported consignments of £135 or less. You account for VAT on everything else through your own returns.

What does all of this cost in total? For a typical consumer-goods brand: EORI free, VAT registration free (or a few hundred pounds with an agent), responsible person £200 to £1,500 per year, customs declarations £30 to £80 per shipment, plus any product testing your category requires. The registrations are cheap; the discipline is in doing them in the right order.