Importing Kenyan flowers into France: the Union's rules, a 10% VAT, and the SIVEP at Roissy
France is Kenya's tenth-largest flower destination by direct exports and, like Germany, a market most Kenyan roses reach through the Dutch auction. On duty and inspection it is the European Union. What is French is the VAT rate the tax administration's doctrine assigns to fresh cut flowers, the border service that performs the plant health check, and the list of airports at which a consignment from Nairobi can be presented. This page states those from the French instruments and marks the fee line as not read.
The regime, row by row
- Customs duty
- 0% under the EU–Kenya EPA, conditional on origin; 12% third-country rate The Union tariff applies in every member state. Claimed with proof of origin under the borrowed origin rules the EU page sets out. Source read 25 September 2026
- Value added tax, fresh cut flowers
- 10%, the reduced rate under article 278 bis 3° bis of the General Tax Code The tax administration's doctrine BOI-TVA-LIQ-30-10-35 (29 June 2022) applies the 10% rate to products of ornamental horticulture and floriculture that have undergone no transformation, and states that fresh or dried flowers, sold with or without foliage, qualify; bouquets qualify where no other decorative element is manipulated and the support serves only transport or protection. Source read 26 September 2026
- The 10% rate at importation
- Not read on this site The doctrine read states the rate for the products regardless of the buyer; the General Tax Code's provision on the rate applied at importation was not read, and we do not assume it. Source read 26 September 2026
- Phytosanitary certificate
- Required, with the Union's additional declaration for roses The Union requirement, applied at the French border. Kenyan roses carry the false codling moth statement. Source read 25 September 2026
- Pre-notification
- Through TRACES-NT The Ministry of Agriculture's page on where SPS border controls are performed directs importers to TRACES-NT for the formalities - the Union's CHED-PP. Source read 26 September 2026
- Who performs the check
- The SIVEP, the border inspection service of the Ministry of Agriculture, at a designated border control post Each entry on the French list carries the SIVEP's contact for that post - for Roissy, the pec93 SIVEP address. Source read 26 September 2026
- Where a Nairobi consignment can be checked
- Airports designated for plants and plant products on the list of 25 August 2026, including Roissy-Charles de Gaulle, Orly, Lyon-Saint Exupéry, Marseille-Marignane, Toulouse-Blagnac and Bordeaux-Mérignac The list of border control posts and control points designated for plants, plant products and other objects under Article 47(1)(c) of Regulation (EU) 2017/625. Roissy is coded FRCDG4, with the SIVEP in Cargo Zone 2 and published opening hours - weekdays 8.00 to 12.30 and 13.30 to 18.00, Saturdays 8.30 to 13.00, Sundays and holidays 9.00 to 12.30 and 13.15 to 16.45. Source read 26 September 2026
- Inspection frequency, Kenyan flowers
- The Union table - roses 25%, carnations 5%, gypsophila 3%, unlisted genera 100% Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2389 applies in every member state; France publishes no rate of its own. Source read 26 September 2026
- Official-control fee
- Not read on this site The Union sets minimum fees per check; the French charge for phytosanitary import controls was not among the pages read. Source read 26 September 2026
- Plant passport after clearance
- None for cut flowers Cut flowers are not on the Union's plant passport list, so a consignment cleared at Roissy or at Schiphol moves within France without one. Source read 25 September 2026
- Kenya's exports to France, 2024
- USD 8.5 million, direct UN Comtrade via WITS, HS 060310, exporter-reported - the tenth-largest destination. Flowers reaching France through the Dutch auction are counted as exports to the Netherlands. Source read 26 September 2026
These are published requirements, not a landed cost and not a quotation.
What this page is, and what it is not
This is a statement of the tax administration's published doctrine, the Ministry of Agriculture's list of designated border control posts and its guidance on border formalities, with the date each was read, on top of the Union instruments held on the European Union page. It is not legal advice and not a quotation. Two lines a buyer will meet — the confirmation that the 10% rate is the one charged at importation, and the SIVEP's fee — are not on this page because their French sources were not read.
Duty is the Union's, and so is the inspection
France applies the Union customs tariff and the Union plant health regime without a French layer on either. Kenyan cut flowers enter at 0% under the EU–Kenya Economic Partnership Agreement when origin is proved, or at 12% without it; Kenyan roses are opened at 25%, carnations at 5%, gypsophila at 3% and any genus not in the Union's table at 100%; roses carry the false codling moth statement. The duty and the origin rules → The inspection table, origin by origin → The false codling moth requirement →
VAT: 10% on fresh cut flowers, by the tax administration's own doctrine
The General Tax Code taxes products of ornamental horticulture and floriculture that have undergone no transformation at the reduced rate of 10%, and the tax administration's doctrine states in terms that fresh or dried flowers, sold with or without foliage, qualify. "No transformation" means the state in which the product is generally obtained at the agricultural stage; a bouquet still qualifies provided no other decorative element is manipulated and any support serves only to transport or protect it. The doctrine states that the rate applies to operations on the products whatever the status of the buyer. What it does not state, on the page read, is the rate applied at the moment of importation, which sits in another provision of the Code this site has not read; the row above says so. How VAT differs across the Union's gateways →
The SIVEP, and where it checks
Plant health checks at the French border are performed by the SIVEP — the sanitary and phytosanitary border inspection service of the Ministry of Agriculture — at designated border control posts, with the formalities filed through TRACES-NT. The Ministry publishes the list of posts and control points designated for plants, plant products and other objects under Article 47(1)(c) of the official controls regulation; the list read was dated 25 August 2026. Airports designated for plants and plant products include Roissy-Charles de Gaulle, Orly, Lyon-Saint Exupéry, Marseille-Marignane, Toulouse-Blagnac and Bordeaux-Mérignac, each with its own SIVEP contact.
Roissy, in detail, because it is where Nairobi freight lands. The post is coded FRCDG4 in TRACES, the SIVEP sits in Cargo Zone 2 at Tremblay-en-France, and the list publishes its opening hours: weekdays 8.00 to 12.30 and 13.30 to 18.00, Saturdays 8.30 to 13.00, Sundays and public holidays 9.00 to 12.30 and 13.15 to 16.45. A consignment landing outside those hours waits for them. The fee the SIVEP charges for the check was not among the pages read, and this site states none. The Union's minimum fees, and how the Netherlands charges by the minute →
After clearance
No plant passport travels with cut flowers inside the Union, so a consignment released at Roissy or at Schiphol moves to a French wholesaler with no further plant health document. Why none is needed →
The lane
Kenya's direct exports to France were USD 8.5 million in 2024 on the UN Comtrade series, the tenth-largest destination. As with Germany, the larger flow is indirect through the Dutch auction and Rungis, and on that route the French border is the second border. Where Kenya's flowers go → Germany, the other member-state gateway on this site →
The CHED-PP and the Union's prior-notification rule, which every member state applies →
What to ask
- Direct into Roissy, or via the Netherlands? The Union rules are the same; the post, the service and the VAT stage differ.
- Who files the CHED-PP in TRACES-NT, and does the flight land inside the SIVEP's published hours?
- What does the SIVEP charge for the check? This site has not read it.
- Which additional declaration does the certificate carry? For roses, the false codling moth statement, whichever member state is the point of entry.
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 from a source we have read, and we would rather say so than fill the gap.
- The VAT rate applied at importation The doctrine read sets the 10% rate on the products; the General Tax Code's import provision was not read, and Légifrance sat behind a bot-check page this site does not go through.
- The SIVEP's fee for a phytosanitary import check The Union sets minimum fees; the French charge was not among the pages read.
- Which French airport receives most Kenyan flowers flown direct The list says where a consignment may be checked, not where airlines land it.
Considering France?
Tell us the flower, stem length, head size, quantity, frequency and the airport - French or Dutch - and we will come back to you.
Questions buyers ask
What VAT applies to fresh cut flowers in France?
10%, the reduced rate, under article 278 bis 3° bis of the General Tax Code as the tax administration's doctrine states it: fresh or dried flowers sold with or without foliage, untransformed, including bouquets where no other decorative element is manipulated. Whether that rate is the one charged at importation is a provision this site has not read.
Who inspects Kenyan flowers arriving at Roissy?
The SIVEP, the Ministry of Agriculture's border inspection service, at the designated post coded FRCDG4 in Cargo Zone 2, within the opening hours the Ministry's list publishes. The formalities are filed through TRACES-NT.
Is the inspection rate different in France?
No. The rate is the Union's — 25% for Kenyan roses, 5% for carnations, 3% for gypsophila, 100% for unlisted genera — in every member state. What differs is the service performing it and what it charges.
Last verified 26 September 2026
Sources
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BOFiP — BOI-TVA-LIQ-30-10-35, TVA, liquidation, taux réduits, produits de la sylviculture, de l'horticulture et de la floriculture (29 June 2022)
What we read
The 10% rate under article 278 bis 3° bis CGI on products of ornamental horticulture and floriculture that have undergone no transformation; fresh or dried flowers with or without foliage qualify; bouquets qualify where no other decorative element is manipulated and the support serves only transport or protection; the rate applies whatever the status of the buyer. Read in French.
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Ministère de l'Agriculture — Où sont effectués les contrôles SPS aux frontières ?
What we read
The categories of border control, the airports designated for plants and wood, the TRACES-NT guidance and the downloadable lists. Read in French.
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Ministère de l'Agriculture — Liste des postes de contrôle frontaliers et des points de contrôle désignés pour le contrôle des végétaux, produits végétaux et autres objets (25 August 2026)
What we read
PDF. Designations under Article 47(1)(c) of Regulation (EU) 2017/625 with TRACES codes, transport type, categories (P plants, PP plant products, PP (WP) wood, OO other objects) and SIVEP contacts; Roissy FRCDG4 with Cargo Zone 2 address and opening hours; Orly FRORY4; Lyon-Saint Exupéry FRLIO4; Marseille-Marignane FRMRS4; Toulouse-Blagnac FRTLS4; Bordeaux-Mérignac FRBOD4. Read in French with layout-mode text extraction.
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Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2389 — consolidated text of 15 June 2026
What we read
Annex I - Kenya Rosa 25%, Dianthus 5%, Gypsophila 3%; Article 4(2) - 100% for genera not listed. Applies in every member state.
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WITS (World Bank) — Kenya exports of 060310 Fresh cut flowers and buds, 2024, by partner
What we read
France USD 8.5 million, exporter-reported, tenth-largest destination, as read for the destinations page.