Importing Kenyan flowers into Kazakhstan: the Eurasian tariff, a developing-country preference, and 34 named pests
Kazakhstan was the third-largest destination Kenya declared for cut flowers in 2024, having been outside the top eight in 2021. It is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, so the customs tariff, the tariff preference Kenya can claim and the plant health requirements are set once, by the Eurasian Economic Commission, for all its members. Kazakhstan adds its own import VAT and its own law on how quarantine control is carried out at its borders. Every instrument on this page was read in Russian on 26 September 2026, from the Commission's own portals and Kazakhstan's official legal database.
The regime, row by row
- Customs duty, fresh cut flowers
- 5% of customs value, but not less than EUR 0.30 per kg Common Customs Tariff of the Eurasian Economic Union, heading 0603, as published by the Commission in its chapter 6 file dated 25 April 2022, still the file it lists for chapter 6 on 26 September 2026. The same rate is printed for roses, carnations, orchids, chrysanthemums, lilies, gladioli, ranunculus and other fresh cut flowers. Source read 26 September 2026
- Preferential rate for Kenyan origin
- 75% of the tariff rate Kenya is on the Union's list of developing countries that use its system of tariff preferences, in the version of 28 January 2026. Chapter 06 is in Part I of the list of preferential goods for developing countries, in the version of 8 March 2026. Article 36(2) of the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union sets the rate for such goods at 75% of the Common Customs Tariff rate. Source read 26 September 2026
- Proof of Kenyan origin
- A certificate of origin on Form A, or an origin declaration for a consignment up to the equivalent of EUR 5,000 Rules of origin for developing and least-developed countries, Commission Council Decision No. 60 of 14 June 2018 as amended on 14 May 2024, points 28 to 34. A Form A certificate can be used for 12 months from issue. The Commission's list of authorised bodies, dated 14 August 2026, names the Kenya Revenue Authority's Customs Services Department for Kenya. Source read 26 September 2026
- Routing through a hub
- Any route keeps the preference if the flowers stay under customs control in transit countries Point 67 of the same rules - in transit the goods must stay under customs control, must not be traded or consumed, and may undergo only operations that preserve them and transhipment. Point 69 lists the transport documents accepted as proof, such as a document showing the transit and identifying the goods. Source read 26 September 2026
- Value added tax on importation
- 16% Tax Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan of 18 July 2025 No. 214-VIII, Article 503(1) - the rate applies to taxable turnover and taxable imports unless the article provides otherwise. The Code applies from 1 January 2026 under Article 848. The Code contains no rate or exemption naming cut flowers. Source read 26 September 2026
- Phytosanitary certificate
- Required - fresh cut flowers are high phytosanitary risk Fresh cut flowers, codes 0603 11 000 0 to 0603 19 700 0, are in Section I, high phytosanitary risk, of the Union's list of regulated products under Customs Union Commission Decision No. 318 of 18 June 2010. Point 6 of the Union's quarantine requirements makes a certificate from the exporting country's plant protection service a condition of import for such products. Source read 26 September 2026
- Pests the flowers must be free of
- 34 named pests, the same list for every genus Point 39 of the Union's quarantine requirements, Commission Council Decision No. 157 of 30 November 2016, as amended in 2018 and 2022. The count is ours, from the amended text. Source read 26 September 2026
- Chrysanthemums, in addition
- Free from chrysanthemum ray blight and chrysanthemum white rust Table 5, row 2, of the same requirements, as replaced in 2019 - cut chrysanthemums of Chrysanthemum and Dendranthema, code 0603 14 000 0, must be free from Didymella ligulicola and Puccinia horiana. Source read 26 September 2026
- Additional declaration
- Not called for by the cut-flower table as read Point 8 of the requirements, as amended in 2019, requires a free-area statement in the additional declaration only where the requirements provide for one. Table 5 for cut flowers states freedom from named pests and no free-area condition. Source read 26 September 2026
- Labelling
- Every package marked with the product, the country of origin and the exporting country Point 40 of the requirements. Source read 26 September 2026
- Where a consignment may enter
- Only through a phytosanitary control post Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan on plant quarantine of 11 February 1999 No. 344, Article 13(2). Customs documents are completed only after the quarantine control; at the place of destination the original paper certificate is withdrawn by the inspector, and an electronic certificate is cancelled in the state digital system. Source read 26 September 2026
- Kazakh charges for quarantine control
- Not established The law and the Union texts read set no fee. Any charge for the control, and who levies it, was not found in the sources read. Source read 26 September 2026
- Which airport posts handle plants
- Not established The law requires entry through a phytosanitary control post. The list of posts, and whether a given airport has one for plant products, was not read. 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
It is the Union's rulebook and Kazakhstan's own procedure, set side by side. The tariff, the preference, the rules of origin and the plant health requirements are acts of the Eurasian Economic Commission and bind every member of the Union. The import VAT and the way quarantine control runs at the border are Kazakh law. Each row above names the instrument it comes from. It is not a guide to the rest of the Union; the other members apply the same Union acts through their own authorities, and this site has read only Kazakhstan's.
The lane in three numbers
| Year | Kenya's declared exports to Kazakhstan |
|---|---|
| 2022 | USD 19.6m |
| 2023 | USD 39.9m |
| 2024 | USD 46.4m, third among Kenya's destinations |
Source: UN Comtrade via WITS, Kenya's exports of 060310, fresh cut flowers and buds, exporter-declared, read 26 September 2026.
In 2024 Kenya declared 8.1 million kilograms to Kazakhstan at an average of USD 5.75 per kilogram, well above the USD 3.64 declared on the Dutch and British lanes. The average covers every genus, grade and length and is not a price. The series does not say what drove the growth, and this site does not supply a reason. Every destination, year by year →
The duty: 5% with a floor, and a quarter off for Kenyan origin
The Union's tariff charges 5% of customs value on fresh cut flowers, but not less than EUR 0.30 per kilogram. The floor matters for a light, high-value product only when 5% of the value comes to less than 30 euro cents a kilogram; which of the two applies is a calculation on each consignment's declared value and weight.
Kenya is a developing-country user of the Union's system of tariff preferences, and live plants and cut flowers are on its list of preferential goods. The Treaty on the Union sets the rate for such goods at 75% of the tariff rate. Least-developed countries pay nothing under the same system; Kenya is on the developing-country list, not that one. The texts read state the proportion; they do not spell out how customs applies it to the per-kilogram floor, and this page does not work it out for them.
To claim it, the flowers must originate in Kenya and the importer must prove it. Plant products grown or harvested in the beneficiary country count as wholly obtained there. The proof is a Form A certificate, which the Commission's list says Kenya's revenue authority issues, or, for a consignment up to the equivalent of EUR 5,000, an origin declaration by the producer, seller or shipper written in English or French. A route through a hub keeps the preference if the flowers stay under customs control there, are not traded, and are only preserved and transhipped. What proof of origin means on the other lanes →
Import VAT: 16%
Kazakhstan's Tax Code of 2025, which applies from 1 January 2026, sets value added tax at 16% on taxable imports. No rate or exemption in the Code names cut flowers. The Code leaves the amounts and procedure for customs payments on imports to the Union's and Kazakhstan's customs law, which this page does not reproduce.
Plant health: one Union rulebook
Fresh cut flowers are on the Union's list of high phytosanitary risk products, so every consignment needs a phytosanitary certificate from KEPHIS. The Union's quarantine requirements then set what the flowers must be free of, in a single list that applies to every genus. It names 34 pests on our count, among them western flower thrips, Thrips palmi, the leaf miners Liriomyza huidobrensis, L. trifolii and L. sativae, Nemorimyza maculosa, the cotton leafworm Spodoptera littoralis, fall armyworm, African armyworm, Bemisia tabaci, chrysanthemum white rust and carnation wilt caused by Phialophora cinerescens. The list grew in 2018 and 2022, and it is read here in the text as amended.
Chrysanthemums carry two named diseases on top. Cut chrysanthemums must be free from chrysanthemum ray blight and chrysanthemum white rust. Until 2019 the table required every cut flower to come from zones free of four diseases, these two among them; the 2019 revision replaced that with freedom requirements, genus by genus.
The additional declaration field is a different matter from the European lanes. The Union requires a free-area statement there only where its requirements call for one, and the cut-flower table calls for none. How each destination treats that field →
Three further rules apply to cut flowers specifically. Every package must be marked with the product, the country of origin and the exporting country. Cut flowers may not be imported for storage and sorting in greenhouses or other enterprises growing crops under cover. And a lot in which a listed pest is found is returned or destroyed, while a part of the consignment found free may be used as intended.
Kazakhstan's own procedure at the border
Kazakhstan's plant quarantine law lets regulated products enter only through a phytosanitary control post. Customs documents are completed only after the quarantine control, and at the place of destination only after a second control there. The original paper certificate is withdrawn by the inspector at destination; an electronic one is cancelled in the state digital system. Inside Kazakhstan the consignment travels in covered or insulated, sealed containers or vehicles, including refrigerated trucks. The law prohibits importing high-risk products without a certificate from the exporting country's plant protection service. It also requires a supplier, when contracting, to obtain the authority's information on the quarantine measures that apply. The law is published by the Committee of State Inspection in the Agro-Industrial Complex of the Ministry of Agriculture. Reading a Kenyan phytosanitary certificate →
What to ask
- Is the Form A certificate, or the origin declaration, in the documents before the flowers fly? The preference depends on it.
- Does the routing keep the flowers under customs control at the hub? A transit that involves a sale or a repack loses the preference.
- Which control post will the consignment enter through, and what does the control cost? Neither is on this page yet.
- Is every carton labelled with the product, Kenya as origin, and the exporting country? It is a Union requirement, and it is checked.
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 the sources read, so none is answered here.
- How the 75% preference applies to the EUR 0.30 per kilogram floor The Treaty sets the preferential rate as 75% of the tariff rate, and the tariff rate has two parts. The texts read do not state how the reduction is applied to the floor. That is a question for the customs declarant on a real consignment.
- What Kazakhstan charges for quarantine control of an imported consignment The law and the Union texts read set no fee. Until a published charge is read, the border cost on this lane is incomplete.
- Which phytosanitary control posts serve the airports that receive Kenyan flowers Entry is only through a control post. The list of posts, and their hours, was not read.
Considering Kazakhstan?
Tell us the flower, stem length, head size, quantity, frequency and the destination airport, and we will come back to you.
Questions buyers ask
What duty do Kenyan roses pay into Kazakhstan?
The Union's tariff rate is 5% of customs value, but not less than EUR 0.30 per kilogram, and flowers of Kenyan origin qualify for 75% of that rate under the Union's system of preferences for developing countries. The preference needs proof of origin: a Form A certificate, or an origin declaration for a consignment up to the equivalent of EUR 5,000.
Do Kenyan flowers need a phytosanitary certificate for Kazakhstan?
Yes. Fresh cut flowers are on the Union's list of high phytosanitary risk products, and Kazakhstan's law prohibits importing such products without a certificate from the exporting country's plant protection service. The original is withdrawn at destination.
Can the flowers fly via a hub and keep the preference?
Yes, if they stay under customs control in the transit country, are not sold there, and undergo nothing but preservation and transhipment. The Union's origin rules accept a transport document showing the transit as proof.
Last verified 26 September 2026
Sources
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Eurasian Economic Commission — Common Customs Tariff of the EAEU, chapter 6 (ru.06_2022_25.04.2022)
What we read
Heading 0603, fresh - 0603 11 000 0 roses, 0603 12 000 0 carnations, 0603 13 000 0 orchids, 0603 14 000 0 chrysanthemums, 0603 15 000 0 lilies, 0603 19 100 0 gladioli, 0603 19 200 0 ranunculus, 0603 19 700 0 other - each 5, but not less than 0.3 euro per kg. The Commission's tariff page lists this file for chapter 6 on 26 September 2026. Read in Russian.
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Eurasian Economic Commission — Tariff preferences for developing and least-developed countries (page and documents)
What we read
Links the list of user countries (Customs Union Commission Decision No. 130 of 27 November 2009 in the version of Council Decision No. 8 of 28 January 2026 - Republic of Kenya in the developing-country list), the list of preferential goods (Council Decision No. 8 of 13 January 2017, as at 8 March 2026 - group 06 in Part I, developing countries), the Treaty extract (Article 36(2) - 75 per cent of the tariff rate; 36(3) - zero for least-developed countries), and the list of authorised bodies of 14 August 2026 (Kenya - Kenya Revenue Authority, Customs Services Department). Read in Russian.
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Eurasian Economic Commission — Rules for determining the origin of goods from developing and least-developed countries (Council Decision No. 60 of 14 June 2018, as amended 14 May 2024)
What we read
Point 5(2) - plant products grown or harvested in the user country are wholly obtained; point 29 - a certificate is used for 12 months from issue; point 32 - a consignment whose customs value is at most the equivalent of 5,000 euro may be covered by an origin declaration; point 34 - the declaration is made by the producer, seller or shipper, in English or French; points 67 and 69 - transit through third countries under customs control, and the documents accepted as proof. Read in Russian.
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Adilet (official legal database of Kazakhstan) — Tax Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan of 18 July 2025 No. 214-VIII
What we read
Article 503(1) - value added tax at 16 per cent on taxable turnover and taxable imports unless the article provides otherwise; the reduced rates in 503(2) and (3) cover medicines, medical devices and services, and periodicals. Article 848 - the Code applies from 1 January 2026. A search of the text found no mention of cut flowers. Read in Russian.
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EAEU legal portal — Commission Council Decision No. 157 of 30 November 2016, Unified quarantine phytosanitary requirements
What we read
Original text, read from the Russian Word annexes - point 6 (certificate for high-risk products), point 8 (additional declaration), section VI points 39 to 42 and Table 5 (cut flowers). In force 1 July 2017.
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EAEU legal portal — Commission Council Decision No. 24 of 30 March 2018, amending the Unified quarantine phytosanitary requirements
What we read
Item 7, point 39 - Amauromyza replaced by Nemorimyza, Phialophora cinerescens and Aleurocanthus woglumi added, Liriomyza langei removed. In force 2 May 2018. Read in Russian.
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EAEU legal portal — Commission Council Decision No. 31 of 29 March 2019, amending the Unified quarantine phytosanitary requirements
What we read
Items 1 and 2 - points 6 and 8 reworded (the additional declaration only where the requirements provide for the entry); item 15 - point 42 reworded; item 16 - Table 5 replaced (row 1 all fresh cut flowers, point 39 pests; row 2 chrysanthemums, Didymella ligulicola and Puccinia horiana; rows 3 and 4 pelargonium and camellia). In force 5 June 2019. Read in Russian.
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EAEU legal portal — Commission Council Decision No. 109 of 15 July 2022, amending the Unified quarantine phytosanitary requirements
What we read
Item 6 - point 39 gains Spodoptera exempta, Diabrotica speciosa and Strauzia longipennis. Read in the Belarusian and Armenian Word texts published on the portal, which agree; the Russian text is published as a PDF only. In force 3 September 2022.
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ConsultantPlus — Decision No. 157 in the version of 8 July 2025 (consolidated text, used as a cross-check)
What we read
Commercial consolidation. Used only to confirm that points 6, 8, 39, 42 and Table 5 carry no amendment after those read on the official portal. The 34 pests are counted from this consolidated point 39, which matches the official original and amendments.
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EAEU legal portal — Commission Council Decision No. 154 of 21 December 2016, amending the list of regulated products (Decision No. 318)
What we read
Amends, in Section I (high phytosanitary risk) of the list, the position for fresh cut flowers 0603 11 000 0 to 0603 19 700 0. Read in Russian from the Word annex. In force 2 April 2017.
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Adilet — Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan on plant quarantine of 11 February 1999 No. 344
What we read
Article 13(1) - the supplier obtains the authority's information on quarantine measures when contracting; 13(2) - entry only through phytosanitary control posts, customs documents after quarantine control, second control at destination, sealed covered or insulated transport, original paper certificate withdrawn and electronic certificate cancelled at destination; 13(2-1)(1) - no import of high-risk products without the exporting country's certificate; Article 12-1 - no import permit for cut flowers among the permits listed. Read in Russian.
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GOV.KZ — Committee of State Inspection in the Agro-Industrial Complex, Ministry of Agriculture - Law on plant quarantine
What we read
Cited for the body that publishes the law on the government portal.
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WITS (World Bank) — Kenya exports of 060310 Fresh cut flowers and buds to all partners, 2024
What we read
Kazakhstan USD 46.4m, 8.1m kg, third partner; Netherlands and United Kingdom each USD 3.64 per kg. As tabulated on the destinations page.
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WITS (World Bank) — Kenya exports of 060310 to all partners, 2023
What we read
Kazakhstan USD 39.9m.
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WITS (World Bank) — Kenya exports of 060310 to all partners, 2022
What we read
Kazakhstan USD 19.6m.