Importing Kenyan flowers into Japan: duty-free on every line, and a certificate on every consignment
Japan is where the tariff asks nothing of a Kenyan flower and the plant quarantine asks something of every consignment. The customs schedule lists cut flowers free in every column; the Plant Protection Act requires a certificate issued by the exporting government and an inspection at the port before release, with disinfection, destruction or return if a quarantine pest is found. This page states both from the instruments, records what the Plant Protection Station's own database says about roses from Kenya, and is candid about the lines it has not read.
The regime, row by row
- Customs duty, all fresh cut flowers
- Free Japan Customs tariff schedule effective 8 August 2026 - 0603.11 roses, 0603.12 carnations, 0603.14 chrysanthemums and 0603.19 other all show Free in the General, Temporary, WTO, GSP, LDC and every EPA column. No preference is needed and none changes the figure. Source read 26 September 2026
- Consumption tax on importation
- 10%, on the customs value plus duty Japan Customs states that consumption tax is imposed at 10% (standard) or 8% (reduced) on, in general, all goods imported into Japan, on the customs value plus customs duty payable. The National Tax Agency states that the reduced rate applies only to food and drink (excluding alcohol and dining out) and to subscription newspapers issued at least twice a week, so cut flowers take the standard rate. Source read 26 September 2026
- Import permit
- None - Japan states it does not operate an import permit system The Plant Protection Station's notice records that Japan's plant quarantine system does not adopt an import permit system, and that it has written to other countries' plant protection organisations to say so. Source read 26 September 2026
- Phytosanitary certificate
- Required, issued by the exporting country's government, on every consignment The import inspection checks whether an inspection certificate issued by a government agency of the exporting country, stating that quarantine pests are not attached, is attached. Cut flowers are expressly within the scope of import plant quarantine. Source read 26 September 2026
- Roses, gypsophila, carnations, chrysanthemums, alstroemeria and hypericum from Kenya
- Importable on ordinary inspection - no prohibition, no additional declaration, no post-entry quarantine The Plant Protection Station's import conditions database, queried for Kenya on 26 September 2026 for the genera Rosa, Gypsophila, Dianthus, Chrysanthemum, Alstroemeria and Hypericum, fresh stems and leaves (the category that includes cut flowers) - for each, one entry under goods importable on ordinary inspection, none under prohibited goods, none requiring quarantine measures in the exporting country, none requiring isolation cultivation. Source read 26 September 2026
- Other genera from Kenya
- Verify in the database, genus by genus The database is queried by plant and part. Six genera were read; every other genus in a box needs its own query before it ships. Source read 26 September 2026
- Notification and inspection
- The importer notifies the Plant Protection Station without delay and the consignment is inspected by a plant protection officer A person who has imported goods subject to plant quarantine must notify the Plant Protection Station without delay and undergo inspection. Release follows a pass. Source read 26 September 2026
- Failed inspection
- Disinfection, destruction or return ordered Where a quarantine pest is found the officer orders disinfection, destruction or return; after disinfection is completed the goods may be imported. Who bears the cost is not stated on the pages we read. Source read 26 September 2026
- Inspection fee
- Not stated on the pages read We have not found a published fee for import plant inspection and publish none. Source read 26 September 2026
- Kenya's exports to Japan, 2024
- USD 7.4 million UN Comtrade via WITS, HS 060310, exporter-reported. Japan is within Kenya's eleven largest cut-flower export destinations. 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 published tariff and the plant quarantine rules, with the date each was read, plus one query of the Plant Protection Station's conditions database. It is not legal advice, not a customs ruling and not a quotation. The database entry for the genus and part being shipped, on the day, is the authority; this page records what it said for roses on the day we asked.
The duty position, which is the simplest on this site
Japan's customs tariff, in the schedule effective 8 August 2026, shows every fresh cut-flower line under heading 0603 as Free — roses, carnations, chrysanthemums and the residual line alike — and shows Free in every column, from the general rate through the WTO, GSP and LDC columns to each economic partnership agreement. Kenyan origin therefore neither helps nor hinders on duty, and no certificate of origin is needed to claim a rate that is zero for everyone. What the customs entry does carry is Japan's consumption tax - 10% standard or 8% reduced, on the customs value plus duty, by Japan Customs' own summary - and the reduced rate is confined by the National Tax Agency to food and drink and subscription newspapers, so cut flowers take the 10% standard rate.
Plant quarantine: a certificate and an inspection, every time
Cut flowers are within the scope of Japan's import plant quarantine, listed alongside vegetables, fruit, timber and grain among plants for consumption. A person who has imported such goods must notify the Plant Protection Station without delay and undergo inspection by a plant protection officer. The inspection establishes whether a certificate issued by a government agency of the exporting country — the phytosanitary certificate — is attached, stating that quarantine pests are not attached to the goods, and whether the goods are free of prohibited items and quarantine pests. A pass releases the consignment. Where a quarantine pest is found, the officer orders disinfection, destruction or return; once disinfection is complete the goods may enter. Which party bears the cost of those measures is not stated on the pages we read, and we do not infer it.
No import permit. Japan's plant quarantine does not operate an import permit system, and the Plant Protection Station has said so in writing to other countries' plant protection organisations, because some had been asking exporters for a Japanese permit before issuing certificates. A Kenyan exporter asked for one is being asked for something that does not exist. The certificate, field by field →
What the database says about Kenya's six main flowers
The Plant Protection Station publishes an import conditions database, searchable by exporting country, plant and plant part. Queried on 26 September 2026 for Kenya, the genus Rosa and the part "fresh stems and leaves" — the category the database defines as including cut flowers and cut foliage — it returned one entry under goods importable on ordinary inspection, and none under prohibited goods, none requiring quarantine measures in the exporting country with an addition to the certificate, and none requiring isolation cultivation in Japan. The database's own explanation of that category is that such plants can be imported subject to conditions including a phytosanitary certificate issued by the exporting government, entry through a permitted port, and passing the Plant Protection Station's inspection.
Queried for Kenya alone, with no plant specified, the same database lists several hundred items under prohibited goods and several hundred requiring measures in the exporting country. Those lists are by plant, and we have not read them for the other genera Kenya exports. Any genus outside those six needs its own query before it ships. Each flower's page states what is known of its rules elsewhere →
The lane
Kenya's exports to Japan were USD 7.4 million in 2024 on the UN Comtrade series, within its eleven largest destinations and a long way behind the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The flight is long; the border, on the instruments read, is not the obstacle. Where Kenya's flowers go →
What to ask
- Has the database been queried for every genus in the box, with the part set to fresh stems and leaves? Print the result with its date.
- Which port will the consignment enter, and is it a permitted point of entry for plants?
- Who notifies the Plant Protection Station on arrival, and who bears a disinfection or return if one is ordered?
- What consumption tax and clearance costs does the broker expect? This site has not read them.
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 database entries for genera beyond the six read The database is queried by plant and part. Roses, gypsophila, carnations, chrysanthemums, alstroemeria and hypericum were read; the country-only query shows that many plants from Kenya carry conditions, and which other flowers are among them is not something we will guess.
- The inspection fee, and who pays for disinfection or return Fees and the cost of measures are not on the pages read.
- Which ports are permitted points of entry for cut flowers The database refers to limits on where plants may be imported; the list itself was not among what we read.
Considering Japan?
Tell us the flower, stem length, head size, quantity, frequency and destination airport, and we will come back to you. If you have already queried the Plant Protection Station's database for the genus, say so on the form.
Questions buyers ask
Is there duty on Kenyan flowers into Japan?
No. The Japan Customs schedule effective 8 August 2026 shows every fresh cut-flower line under 0603 as Free in every column. No preference is needed to reach zero.
Does Japan require an import permit for cut flowers?
No. The Plant Protection Station states that Japan's plant quarantine does not operate an import permit system. What it requires is a phytosanitary certificate issued by the exporting country's government and an inspection at the port.
Can Kenyan roses, carnations, gypsophila, chrysanthemums, alstroemeria and hypericum be imported into Japan?
Yes, on ordinary inspection, according to the Plant Protection Station's database on 26 September 2026 — no prohibition, no additional declaration, no isolation cultivation, for each of the six genera. Other genera need their own query.
Last verified 26 September 2026
Sources
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Japan Customs — Customs Tariff Schedules of Japan, effective 8 August 2026, Chapter 6
What we read
Heading 06.03 - 0603.11 roses, 0603.12 carnations, 0603.14 chrysanthemums, 0603.19 other - Free in the General, Temporary, WTO, GSP, LDC and every EPA column.
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Plant Protection Station (MAFF) — Import plant quarantine
What we read
Cut flowers named among plants for consumption within the scope of import plant quarantine. Read in Japanese.
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Plant Protection Station (MAFF) — Import inspection
What we read
The importer's duty to notify the Plant Protection Station without delay and undergo inspection; the check for a certificate issued by a government agency of the exporting country; pass and release; disinfection, destruction or return where a quarantine pest is found. Read in Japanese.
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Plant Protection Station (MAFF) — Notice that Japan does not operate an import permit system
What we read
Japan's plant quarantine does not adopt an import permit system; letter sent to other countries' plant protection organisations. Read in Japanese.
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Plant Protection Station (MAFF) — Import conditions database
What we read
Queried in a browser on 26 September 2026 - Kenya, Rosa, fresh stems and leaves - one entry importable on ordinary inspection, none prohibited, none requiring exporting-country measures, none requiring isolation cultivation; the same result for Gypsophila, Dianthus, Chrysanthemum, Alstroemeria and Hypericum from Kenya, fresh stems and leaves. Country-only query for Kenya - 431 prohibited items and 815 requiring exporting-country measures, by plant, not read.
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WITS (World Bank) — Kenya exports of 060310 Fresh cut flowers and buds, 2024, by partner
What we read
Japan USD 7.4 million, exporter-reported, as read for the destinations page.
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Japan Customs — Outline of tariff and duty rates system
What we read
Consumption tax at 10% (standard) or 8% (reduced) on, in general, all goods imported into Japan, on the customs value plus customs duty payable; preferential rates for designated developing countries under the Temporary Tariff Measures Law.
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National Tax Agency (Japan) — Consumption tax, basic knowledge
What we read
Standard rate 10% and reduced rate 8% from 1 October 2019; the reduced rate applies to food and drink excluding alcoholic drink and dining out, and to newspapers issued twice a week or more by subscription, and to nothing else.