What UK brands and importers need to know about bringing knitwear in from Turkey — why qualifying garments enter at 0% duty under the UK–Türkiye trade agreement, how the process runs in practice, and who is responsible for what. Written from the floor of a Gaziantep knitwear factory that ships to the UK.
Search for "import duty from Turkey to UK" and you will find a mix of pre-Brexit EU advice, forum half-answers and pages that quietly assume you are importing into Germany. This guide sorts it out for the UK specifically. We are a flat-knit manufacturer in Gaziantep shipping to UK brands, so we see the paperwork from the export side on every order: what the UK–Türkiye Free Trade Agreement actually covers, which documents your broker needs, where first-time importers get confused, and how the timeline runs from purchase order to goods-in at your UK warehouse.
An honest note before we start: we are a manufacturer, not a customs consultancy. Treat this as practical orientation for B2B buyers, not customs or legal advice — for binding answers on commodity codes, rates and procedures, use the official gov.uk guidance linked at the end of this page and your customs broker. Where rules can change, we say so rather than quoting figures that may go stale.
Since January 2021 the UK and Türkiye trade under a bilateral Free Trade Agreement that preserved preferential treatment for industrial goods — textiles and knitwear included. This is separate from the EU–Türkiye Customs Union, which no longer applies to Great Britain.
Knitwear that meets the agreement's rules of origin enters the UK duty-free, provided a valid preferential proof of origin is presented at import. Without it, the UK Global Tariff applies — typically around 8–12% for knitted garments, depending on the commodity code.
The duty preference does not remove import VAT. It is charged on import at the applicable UK rate, and VAT-registered businesses can normally recover it — or use postponed VAT accounting so it never leaves the bank account. A cash-flow item, not a cost, for most B2B importers.
Ocean freight from Mersin reaches Felixstowe, London Gateway or Southampton in roughly 10–14 days, with road/RoRo via Europe in around 3–5 days for urgent loads — against four to six weeks from East Asia. The duty advantage comes with a short supply chain attached.
When the UK left the EU, it also left the EU–Türkiye Customs Union. To keep trade flowing, the two governments signed a bilateral UK–Türkiye Free Trade Agreement, in force since 1 January 2021, which rolled over preferential treatment for trade in goods — with textiles and clothing fully in scope. For a UK knitwear buyer the practical effect is simple: garments that qualify as Turkish origin under the agreement's rules enter the UK at 0% duty instead of the UK Global Tariff rate for their commodity code.
The mechanism matters, because it is different from what EU importers use. An FTA works with rules of origin: the goods must be sufficiently produced in Turkey to count as Turkish origin, and that status must be evidenced with a preferential proof of origin — under this agreement, a movement certificate EUR.1 or, where the conditions allow, an origin declaration made out by the exporter on a commercial document. Textile origin rules are among the stricter ones, but for knitwear that is actually knitted in the exporting factory — as ours is, on our own machines in Gaziantep — the position is straightforward, and we prepare the proof of origin as standard with every UK shipment. The detail sits in our guides to the FTA itself and rules of origin and the EUR.1.
Two cautions worth writing down. First, the exact duty rate that would apply without preference depends on your product's commodity code — do not take a blog's word for it (including ours): look your code up on the gov.uk Online Trade Tariff and have your broker confirm the classification. Second, trade agreements get reviewed and updated over time, and the UK and Türkiye have been working towards a modernised agreement — always check the current gov.uk guidance rather than relying on a page written at a point in time.
One wider piece of context for buyers running a mixed portfolio: Bangladesh — the other major knitwear lane into the UK and EU — is scheduled to leave LDC status, which starts a clock on its EU duty-free access after a transition period. Our Bangladesh LDC graduation guide maps the verified timeline and scenarios, and the post-2029 duty calculator puts numbers on the exposure.
Most bad advice on this topic comes from mixing up the EU regime with the UK regime. These are the four mix-ups we see most often from first-time UK importers:
The A.TR movement certificate is the document of the EU–Türkiye Customs Union — it evidences free circulation, needs no origin rules, and is the standard route for Turkish garments entering Germany or the Netherlands. It has no role in UK imports. For the UK you need the FTA's preferential proof of origin instead: an EUR.1 or an origin declaration. A supplier who sends an A.TR with a UK shipment has not shipped to the UK recently.
The UK–Türkiye FTA has its own origin protocol, separate from EU arrangements. Goods that clear into the EU without any origin question (because the Customs Union does not ask one) still have to meet the UK agreement's textile origin rules to enter the UK duty-free. That is why "we ship to Europe all the time" is not, by itself, evidence that a factory can support your UK preference claim.
Great Britain now runs UK REACH, administered by the HSE, separately from EU REACH — broadly similar restricted-substance lists, diverging incrementally. Fibre-content labelling is likewise enforced under UK law rather than the EU regulation, and UKCA marking is not required for ordinary knitwear. Ask your supplier for documentation addressed to the UK framework, not just an EU file.
Before Brexit, EU goods arrived without an import VAT event at the border; now imports from the EU, Turkey and the Far East are all treated the same way. So import VAT is not a Turkey disadvantage — it applies whichever country you buy from, and VAT-registered businesses recover it in the normal way. Comparisons that count VAT against Turkey but not against Portugal are simply miscounting.
Here is how a knitwear order actually travels from a Gaziantep factory to a UK warehouse — what happens, in what order, and who does it:
You place the order against an approved pre-production sample. The order confirmation should fix more than style, quantity and price: agree the Incoterm (FOB or DDP — see CMT vs FOB vs DDP), the payment schedule, and that the shipment will include a preferential proof of origin for your UK duty claim. Put it in writing now; it is much harder to fix retrospectively.
Bulk production takes 45–60 days from approved sample at our factory — use that window. Apply for your GB EORI number on gov.uk if you do not have one, appoint a customs broker or freight forwarder with authority to declare on your behalf, and have the commodity code for your garments confirmed. First-time importers who do these three things during production clear customs without drama.
Before the goods leave, the manufacturer prepares the commercial invoice, packing list, proof of origin (EUR.1 or origin declaration) and the transport document — CMR for road, bill of lading for sea. Check that descriptions, values and piece counts are consistent across all of them; inconsistencies are the most common cause of customs queries at the UK end.
Ocean freight from Mersin reaches Felixstowe, London Gateway or Southampton in roughly 10–14 days; road/RoRo via Europe runs around 3–5 days for urgent or smaller loads. Routing, consolidation and seasonal planning are covered in our guide to shipping knitwear from Turkey to the UK.
Your broker lodges the import declaration with HMRC, presents the proof of origin and claims the preferential 0% rate. Import VAT is accounted for at this point — either paid and later recovered, or handled through postponed VAT accounting on your VAT return. A broker who regularly handles Turkey shipments treats all of this as routine; our guide to choosing a UK customs broker explains what to look for.
After release, the goods are delivered to your warehouse or 3PL. Check quantities and quality against the packing list and QC report, and archive the import paperwork — declarations and proofs of origin are business records HMRC can ask about later, so they belong in your bookkeeping, not in a courier envelope in a drawer.
"Duty-free" does not mean "charge-free" — this distinction keeps your landed-cost sheet honest:
| Charge | Import from Turkey (with proof of origin) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Customs duty | 0% where the FTA rules of origin are met | Without preference: UK Global Tariff for your commodity code — check the Online Trade Tariff |
| Import VAT | Applies at the current UK rate | Normally recoverable for VAT-registered businesses; postponed VAT accounting available |
| Brokerage & port charges | Your broker's and carrier's service fees | Negotiable; included in the price under DDP terms |
| Freight & insurance | Per shipment, by mode and volume | Part of the customs value on which import VAT is calculated |
How these lines add up to a real unit cost — with the duty saving made explicit — is worked through in our UK landed cost guide, and our pricing page shows how we quote so that each element stays visible rather than buried in a single number.
If you would rather not run the import side at all, we also quote DDP — goods delivered duty-paid to your UK address, with clearance organised on our side. The full ordering flow, from tech pack to delivery, is on our how to order page.
Not where the preference applies: under the UK–Türkiye Free Trade Agreement, knitwear that meets the rules of origin enters the UK at 0% duty when a valid proof of origin is presented at import. Without preference, the UK Global Tariff rate for your commodity code applies — typically around 8–12% for knitted garments. Rates and procedures can change, so confirm the current position for your product on the gov.uk Online Trade Tariff or with your customs broker.
No. The A.TR movement certificate belongs to the EU–Türkiye Customs Union and stopped being relevant for Great Britain when the UK left the EU. UK imports from Turkey run on a different legal basis — the bilateral UK–Türkiye FTA — which works with preferential proof of origin (a movement certificate EUR.1 or, where permitted, an origin declaration), not with A.TR. If a supplier offers you an A.TR for a UK shipment, that is a red flag on their UK experience.
Yes. Any business importing commercial goods into Great Britain needs a GB EORI number, which you apply for free of charge on gov.uk. Your customs broker or freight forwarder needs it to lodge the import declaration. If this is your first import, apply before the goods ship — it is quick, but you do not want a container waiting on an application.
Yes. The FTA preference removes customs duty, not import VAT — those are separate charges. Import VAT is charged at the applicable UK rate on the customs value of the goods plus certain costs, and VAT-registered businesses can normally recover it or use postponed VAT accounting to declare and reclaim it on the same VAT return. Confirm the treatment for your business with your accountant and the current gov.uk guidance.
Ocean freight from Mersin typically reaches Felixstowe, London Gateway or Southampton in roughly 10–14 days, and road/RoRo freight via Europe runs faster — around 3–5 days — for urgent loads. That is against roughly four to six weeks from East Asia, which is why UK brands use the Turkey lane for tighter seasons and smaller, more frequent reorders.
Under FOB terms, we hand over the goods with full export documentation — commercial invoice, packing list, proof of origin and transport document — and your freight forwarder or customs broker lodges the UK import declaration and claims the preference. Under DDP terms, clearance is organised on our side and the goods arrive duty-paid. Either way, a broker experienced with Turkey shipments makes the process routine.
Send your tech pack or a reference garment. We reply within one business day with feasibility, indicative pricing and a sample timeline — including the proof of origin and full export documentation for your UK duty claim. MOQ 250 pieces per colour, WHOLEGARMENT and Stoll flat-knit, made in-house in Gaziantep.
Official Sources