Hypericum from Kenya: the berry filler that takes the rose dose
Hypericum is bought for its berries rather than its flowers, packed as a filler beside roses, and treated by the rules as its own genus. Two of those rules are worth a page. The European Union opens every consignment of it while Great Britain opens one in twenty. And Australia's devitalisation guide puts it in the same row as roses — three times the dose it asks of carnations. This page states what is established about the flower and marks what is not.
Specification, and which framework each row comes from
| Dimension | Value or convention | Framework |
|---|---|---|
| Presence in Kenyan production | Grown as a berry filler; named in several growers' published ranges Verify before shipment Company and trade sources record hypericum among the products of named Kenyan growers, including around Naivasha. No volume or share is published. | Kenyan origin Company and trade sources read 22 Sep 2026 |
| Stem length and stems per bunch | Not established Not established We have read no Kenyan hypericum listing stating a length or bunch count and publish none. | Kenyan origin |
| Kenyan grade | No published national grading standard Not established KEPHIS checks that a consignment is properly graded by size, colour and shape, and publishes no grade scale. | Kenyan origin KEPHIS read 25 Sep 2026 |
| VBN product specification | Not read by this site Not established We have not read a VBN product specification for Hypericum and publish none. | VBN auction framework VBN |
| EU identity and physical checks | 100% of consignments Hypericum is not among the genera listed in Annex I of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2389, so the basic rate of Article 4(2) applies. | Destination requirement European Commission read 26 Sep 2026 |
| Great Britain identity and physical checks | 5% of consignments Not named in Defra's table; the rate for genera not specified, from any third country. Documentary check on every consignment. | Destination requirement Defra read 25 Sep 2026 |
| False codling moth requirement | Not in scope The EU and GB special requirement applies to cut flowers of Rosa from the African continent. No equivalent for Hypericum. | Destination requirement European Commission; Defra read 26 Sep 2026 |
| Australian devitalisation dose | 5.4 g/L glyphosate active ingredient (1.5%), 20-minute immersion Verify before shipment The same row as Rosa, Viburnum and Viola in the department's guide - three times the carnation dose. The certificate must state concentration, duration and method. Verify in BICON before each shipment. | Destination requirement DAFF read 25 Sep 2026 |
| Japan plant quarantine | Importable on ordinary inspection - government-issued certificate and port inspection The Plant Protection Station's import conditions database, queried for Kenya, genus Hypericum, fresh stems and leaves, on 26 September 2026 - no prohibition, no additional declaration, no isolation cultivation. | Destination requirement Plant Protection Station (MAFF) read 26 Sep 2026 |
| Norway certificate and duty | Not certificate-bearing under annex 5A as read; tariff line not read Norwegian plant health regulation annex 5A and the Norwegian customs tariff, read 26 September 2026. | Destination requirement Mattilsynet; Tolletaten read 26 Sep 2026 |
| Tariff line | HS 0603.19, other fresh cut flowers Shared with gypsophila, alstroemeria and every genus not named in 0603.11 to 0603.15. In the US tariff the line is 0603.19.01 at 6.4%, free under AGOA. | Destination requirement UK Integrated Online Tariff; USITC read 25 Sep 2026 |
Each row states the framework it belongs to. A convention used at auction is not a Kenyan national standard, and neither is a destination country's legal requirement. Specifications are not a quotation.
The dose is the distinguishing fact
Australia's devitalisation guide puts hypericum in the rose row: 5.4 g/L of glyphosate active ingredient, a 1.5% solution, for 20 minutes. Carnations and chrysanthemums take a third of that. A mixed box of roses and hypericum is therefore one dose, which is the easy case; a box of hypericum and carnations is two, and which of the two the exporter applies — separate dips, or the higher rate to everything — is a question to settle before the first shipment. The dip, the doses by genus and the certificate wording →
Opened every time into the Union, one time in twenty into Britain
As with alstroemeria, the two European inspection tables reach opposite figures for the same reason: hypericum is listed in neither. The Union applies its 100% basic rate to an unlisted genus; Great Britain gives an unlisted genus a residual 5%. A Kenyan hypericum consignment into the Netherlands is always a physically inspected consignment, and KCB charges the inspector's time by the minute; into Great Britain the fee is £7.64 per consignment whether opened or not. Both tables → The EU fee structure →
The rose requirement does not follow it into the box. The false codling moth statement applies to cut flowers of Rosa; hypericum packed beside roses carries the destination's ordinary certificate requirements for its own genus. Why only roses are in scope →
Where it is grown, and how much — company statements only
Hypericum appears in the published ranges of several Kenyan growers, including operations around Naivasha, and trade sources list it among the Rift Valley's products alongside roses, gypsophila and lilies. Those are company and trade-source statements; no statistic separates hypericum from the rest of the 0603.19 line, and we publish no volume, share or hectarage. In the one government dataset we have found that counts stems by genus and origin — the United States' import reports — Kenyan hypericum appears in the hundreds of stems against Ecuador's tens of thousands, which says something about the American lane and nothing about Kenya's real markets. The industry in numbers, and what nobody publishes →
The tariff line
Hypericum falls in 0603.19, other fresh cut flowers, with the whole filler range. The line enters the United Kingdom and the European Union at 0% under the respective agreements, and the United States at 6.4% or free under AGOA. The codes →
Two more lanes, on their own pages
Japan admits this genus from Kenya on ordinary inspection, duty-free, on a government-issued certificate. Norway has its own certificate list and a tariff that changes with the calendar. Japan → Norway →
What to specify
- Berry colour and stem length, and stems per bunch — no convention is established, so state all three.
- Whether it ships with roses or with carnations, because the Australian dose follows the genus.
- The destination, for the inspection rate.
- Quantity and frequency — the box is the unit a quotation is built from.
Questions buyers ask
What dose does Australia require for hypericum?
5.4 g/L of glyphosate active ingredient, a 1.5% solution, for 20 minutes — the rose dose, three times what carnations and chrysanthemums take. The certificate must state the concentration, duration and method, and the department's own instruction is to verify the condition in BICON before each shipment.
Is Kenyan hypericum inspected like Kenyan roses?
No, and differently on each lane. Into the European Union every consignment is opened, because the genus is not in the frequency table and the basic rate is 100%; into Great Britain one in twenty, the residual rate for an unlisted genus. Roses are at 25% on both.
Does the false codling moth statement cover hypericum packed with roses?
No. The requirement is written for cut flowers of Rosa. Hypericum in the same box carries whatever the destination requires for its own genus, and nothing on this site suggests that includes the rose statement.
What we have not been able to establish
Each of these is a real question a buyer may put to us. None has an answer we can evidence, and we would rather say so than fill the gap.
- Observed Kenyan lengths and bunch counts for hypericum No Kenyan listing stating them was among the sources we read. We will not borrow a convention from another origin.
- A VBN product specification for Hypericum We have read the VBN framework for roses and not for this genus.
- How much hypericum Kenya grows, and where Company ranges name it; no statistic measures it. We will not assign it a share or a region beyond what growers state about themselves.
- Any genus-specific requirement outside the two annexes read Neither the Union's Annex VII nor Great Britain's Annex 7 Part A, both read on 26 September 2026, names cut flowers of this genus. That is what the lists say; whether KEPHIS applies anything genus-specific on its own certificate is a question for KEPHIS.
Sourcing hypericum?
Tell us the berry colour, the stem length and stems per bunch, the quantity, the frequency and the destination airport, and we will come back to you.
Last verified 26 September 2026
Sources
-
Kenyan flower product register — compiled grower and trader listings
What we read
Hypericum recorded as an established berry filler in the published ranges of named Kenyan growers; the Rift Valley register lists it among the flowers grown around Naivasha. Company statements, not verified, not a supplier list.
-
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry — Cut flower devitalisation treatment guide
What we read
Hypericum in the same row as Rosa, Viburnum and Viola - 5.4 g/L glyphosate active ingredient (1.5%), 20-minute immersion; certificate to state concentration, duration and method; verify in BICON.
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Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2389 — consolidated text of 15 June 2026
What we read
Article 4(2) - 100% basic rate; Annex I read in full - Hypericum is not listed.
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Defra, UK Plant Health Information Portal — Frequency of plant health import inspections across GB
What we read
Table dated 15 June 2026. Genera not specified 5% identity and physical from any third country; documentary 100%. Hypericum is not named.
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Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 — Annex VII, point 62 (false codling moth, cut flowers of Rosa)
What we read
Cited for scope - the requirement is written for cut flowers of Rosa and does not extend to Hypericum.
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KEPHIS — Phytosanitary Services
What we read
The exit-point standard that a consignment is properly graded by size, colour and shape; no national grade scale is published.
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USITC Harmonized Tariff Schedule — heading 0603, cut flowers
What we read
0603.19.01, other fresh cut flowers including hypericum, at 6.4%; Free under AGOA in the special column.
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USDA Agricultural Marketing Service — ornamental crops import reports, stems by commodity and origin
What we read
Sample report data showing Kenyan hypericum at 200 stems against Ecuador's 71,837 in the period sampled. Cited only as a stem-level observation on the United States lane, not as a measure of Kenyan production.
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Retained Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072, Annex 7 Part A entry 39, as it applies in Great Britain
What we read
Read for the absence - no entry in Part A names cut flowers of this genus; the cut-flower entries are 39 (Chrysanthemum, Dianthus, Gypsophila, Solidago), 41 (Orchidaceae) and 94 (Rosa). Legislation.gov.uk text as it stood at 25 September 2026, all known changes applied.
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Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 — Annex VII, read for the absence of an entry for this genus
What we read
Consolidated text of 6 July 2026. A search of Annex VII found no entry naming this genus; the cut-flower entries are point 28 (Chrysanthemum, Dianthus, Gypsophila, Solidago), point 29 (Orchidaceae) and the Rosa entries. Read in a browser.