Importing dried ginger from India into the UK comes down to a few repeatable steps and a short spec sheet. This page puts both in one place.
| Step | What to confirm | Who usually owns it |
|---|---|---|
| Business set-up | EORI number and food business registration with the local authority | Importer |
| Classification | HS 0910 11 or 0910 12, then the full UK commodity code on the Trade Tariff | Importer or customs agent |
| Specification | Form, cut, colour, moisture limit, foreign matter, sulphite status, pack type | Importer and supplier together |
| Documents | Commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading and any agreed certificates | Supplier and forwarder |
| Border and delivery | Customs declaration, Port Health and Food Standards Agency checks, haulage to warehouse | Agent and importer |
Who buys spices on the India-UK route
Learn more ›How chapter 09 is organised
Learn more ›Choosing FOB, CIF or similar terms
Learn more ›The ground-ginger side of the same trade
Learn more ›Judging a lot before you commit
Learn more ›What shipment records actually show
Learn more ›A first dried ginger purchase from India feels complicated mostly because several small jobs land on the same desk in the same week: registering the business, picking a product form, classifying the goods, writing a specification and booking a route. None of them is hard in isolation. This guide takes them in the order a new UK importer actually meets them, and the table above is a one-page version you can adapt for your own files.
It is written for three kinds of reader. The first is a small food business or wholesaler that has so far bought ginger from a UK distributor and now wants to go to source. The second is a start-up importer building a spice range from scratch. The third is a buyer inside a larger company who has been handed the task of finding an Indian ginger supplier and has never done a direct import before.
If you already import other spices, much of this will be familiar, and the useful parts are the ginger-specific ones: the choice of form, the sulphite question and the way moisture drives almost every later problem. If you are completely new, read the set-up section first and do not skip it, because the registrations take time and cannot be rushed once a container is already sailing.
To lodge customs declarations in your own name you need an EORI number, which is a free registration with HMRC. A GB-prefixed number is the usual one for trading into Great Britain, and you should read GOV.UK on how Northern Ireland movements are treated. If you will not declare yourself, a customs agent or freight forwarder can do it on your behalf, but they will still ask for your EORI and for a plain description of the goods.
You also need to be known to the authorities as a food business. Registration with your local authority is normally needed before you begin trading in food, and it is sensible to do it early because the process is not instant. Then settle one internal question: who carries responsibility for labelling and safety once the ginger leaves your hands? A business that repacks into retail jars has different duties from one that passes sealed sacks to a manufacturer, and the answer shapes the specification you write later.
Dried ginger is traded in a few recognisable forms. Whole unpeeled rhizomes are the simplest to produce and are usually cleaned and milled by the customer. Peeled or split ginger has had the outer skin scraped away, which gives a paler, cleaner look and a less fibrous bite, at the cost of more labour. Sliced ginger is cut into discs or strips and suits teas, infusions and some cooking. Ground ginger is milled from any of these and arrives ready to use.
Work backwards from your own customer. A cheap unpeeled lot can turn expensive once you pay to clean and mill it, while a handsome peeled lot is wasted on a buyer who only wants a coarse grind for a sauce base. Decide what the end use is, then ask suppliers for the form that fits it rather than choosing whichever is quoted lowest. For a longer look at judging individual lots, see our page on evaluating dried ginger lots.
Spices sit in chapter 09 of the Harmonised System. Inside heading 0910, ginger is split between 0910 11 for ginger that is neither crushed nor ground and 0910 12 for crushed or ground ginger. The UK extends those six digits to a longer commodity code that you must confirm on the UK Trade Tariff, because the final digits drive your declaration, any duty and the VAT calculation. Our HS codes for spices page explains how the chapter is laid out.
Duty depends on the code and on whichever trade arrangements apply on the day of import. A trade agreement between the UK and India has been in the news, but whether its terms apply to your particular shipment is a question for the current Trade Tariff and GOV.UK, not for an old article. Save a screenshot or reference of the lookup you used when you declared; it is genuinely useful if the declaration is queried later.
A purchase order for ginger should leave very little to interpretation. Describe the form, the cut or size and the colour in plain words, and attach a sealed reference sample so both sides can point at the same material. Set a maximum moisture level and a maximum for foreign matter such as stalks, stones and dust, and say how each will be tested. If the ginger has been bleached, require a written sulphite declaration, because sulphites have labelling consequences in the UK.
Then add your expectations on microbiology and pesticide residues, and say who pays for retesting if a lot fails. Close with the pack type, the net weight and whether liners are required. A specification built this way turns a later dispute from a matter of opinion into a matter of measurement, which is the strongest protection a small importer can give itself.
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The path from a first message to goods on your dock usually follows the same sequence. You send an enquiry with your specification and target quantity. The supplier replies with a quote that names the Incoterm and loading port. You ask for a sample from the actual lot and test it against your spec. You agree terms in writing, arrange or confirm inspection, and the supplier books the container. Documents travel ahead of the vessel, your agent prepares the declaration, and the goods clear and move to your warehouse.
Treat each stage as a gate rather than a formality. Do not move to the next one until the previous one is closed in writing. Many first-time importers lose money by letting a sample approval slide into a purchase order without a signed spec, or by agreeing a delivery basis verbally and discovering at the port that nobody budgeted for clearance. Settle the delivery basis early using our Incoterms explained guide.
Indian ginger typically sails from Nhava Sheva near Mumbai, Mundra in Gujarat, Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu or Kochi in Kerala, depending on where the lot was processed and packed. On the UK side, containers commonly arrive at Felixstowe, Southampton, London Gateway or Liverpool. Your forwarder will tell you which service suits your volume; treat any transit time as an expectation to plan around, not a promise.
At the border you need a customs declaration supported by the commercial invoice, packing list and bill of lading, plus any certificates you agreed with the supplier. Food imports are subject to Port Health and Food Standards Agency rules, and some foods from some origins fall under enhanced controls, so check whether ginger from your chosen origin is affected. Ethylene oxide is not permitted in food in Great Britain, so ask your supplier directly how the lot has been treated and obtain the answer in writing.
A new importer and a new supplier have the same worry in opposite directions: the buyer fears paying and receiving poor goods, the seller fears shipping and not being paid. Common middle grounds include a documentary arrangement where payment is tied to presentation of shipping documents, or a split where part is paid at order and the balance against documents. Which one suits you depends on your relationship and your bank, so ask your bank what it can offer rather than copying a friend.
Whatever you choose, write it down, confirm the name on the receiving bank account matches the seller you verified, and avoid large payments to anyone you have not checked. Our guide to verifying a supplier before paying covers the checks in more detail.
Buying on price alone is the first. The second is approving a sample that was hand-picked and not drawn from the real lot. The third is leaving moisture out of the contract, because moisture decides shelf life, caking and mould risk. The fourth is forgetting that sulphite use and ethylene oxide are both labelling or compliance matters in the UK. The fifth is assuming the supplier’s certificate covers your product when its scope actually lists something else.
A final mistake is treating the first order as a full-scale commitment. Start with a modest trial lot, inspect what arrives, and only then scale. If the supplier resists a trial, that is itself information.
Shipment records are one of the more reliable ways to see who genuinely exports ginger rather than who merely claims to. By looking at exporters named against ginger codes, you can see how often a company ships, to which countries and in what form. Kerala, around Cochin, and the Assam and wider North-East region are both well known as origins, and each tends to be associated with a somewhat different ginger character, so ask any supplier which one they source from.
Whatever you find, verify before you pay, and compare any quote against what the records suggest is normal for that form. You can also browse UK spice importers to see how other buyers on this corridor appear, and read about import data to understand what each record contains.
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An EORI is needed to make customs declarations as an importer. A customs agent can sometimes declare for you, but confirm the current requirements on GOV.UK.
Ginger falls under 0910 11 when it is neither crushed nor ground and 0910 12 when crushed or ground. Check the full UK commodity code on the Trade Tariff before you declare.
It depends on the commodity code and the trade arrangements in force on the import date. Check the UK Trade Tariff and GOV.UK rather than relying on older figures.
Common Indian ports include Nhava Sheva, Mundra, Tuticorin and Kochi. UK arrivals often include Felixstowe, Southampton, London Gateway and Liverpool.
Choose by end use. Whole is usually re-milled, peeled or split gives a cleaner look, sliced suits infusions and ground is ready to use. Ask your customer what they need first.
Registration with your local authority is normally required before trading in food. Check with your council and the Food Standards Agency for the current process.
Most new importers start with a smaller trial lot where the supplier allows it, inspect the result and then scale up. Ask each supplier about minimum order size.
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