Duty and VAT on Kenyan flowers into the UK: 0%, 8%, a suspension, and 20%

The rate Kenya actually pays: 0%, under an agreement

Cut flowers of Kenyan origin enter Great Britain at 0% customs duty under the UK–Kenya Economic Partnership Agreement. That is a preference, and a preference is claimed, not assumed: it depends on proving that the flowers originate in Kenya, and the agreement accepts exactly two proofs — a movement certificate EUR.1, or an origin declaration made out by the exporter, which any exporter may use for a consignment up to EUR 6,000 and an approved exporter at any value. How the 0% is claimed, and why a Kenyan rose qualifies outright →

A commercial flower consignment ordinarily exceeds EUR 6,000, so in practice the choice is between a EUR.1 certificate and an exporter who holds approved-exporter status. Ask which.

The rate Kenya would otherwise pay: 8%

The UK Global Tariff rate for fresh cut roses without a preference is 8%. That is the figure a consignment meets if the proof of origin is missing, defective, or defeated in transit — and it is the figure competitors without an agreement pay. It is not Kenya's rate. It is the price of getting the paperwork wrong.

The suspension that sits on top: 0% for everyone, until 31 December 2026

Separately from the agreement, the UK has an autonomous tariff suspension on cut flowers that reduces the rate to 0% for all origins, and it expires on 31 December 2026. We verified this directly against the UK Integrated Online Tariff by moving the service's own date of trade: at 1 January 2027 the suspension is absent and Kenya still shows 0.00%.

Why two zeros matter. While the suspension runs, a Kenyan consignment without a valid proof of origin also pays 0% — so a defective EUR.1 costs nothing today, and the habit of not checking it costs nothing today. From 1 January 2027, unless the suspension is renewed, the same defect costs 8% of the customs value. Build the origin discipline now, while the mistake is free. The review calendar carries the date; this page will change when the Tariff does.

VAT: 20%, on more than the invoice

Import VAT on cut flowers into the UK is the standard rate, 20%. It is charged on the value for VAT, which for imports includes the customs value, any duty, and the costs of transport and insurance to the point of entry — so on an airfreighted consignment the VAT base is materially larger than the ex-Nairobi price. A VAT-registered importer recovers it in the normal way; it is a cash-flow line rather than a cost, but it is a cash-flow line calculated on the landed figure, not the farm-gate one.

Nothing on this site is a landed cost. Duty, VAT and the plant health check fee are three lines of a longer bill that includes the freight, which is contract- or spot-priced and not published. What the border charges beyond duty, structure by structure →

Bought through the Netherlands: the customs question this page leaves open

A large share of Kenyan flowers reach British buyers through the Dutch auction and importers. The plant health half of that route is settled — goods brought through the EU may be treated as an EU import where they entered free circulation and passed EU plant health checks. The customs half is not: whether a preference claimed on entry to the EU survives a sale in free circulation and a second movement to Great Britain is a question for a customs adviser, and this site does not answer it from silence in the protocol. The routing rule in full →

What to ask

• EUR.1 or approved exporter — and what is the authorisation number?
• Is the consignment declared with the preference claimed, or under the suspension? Today the duty is the same; from 2027 it may not be.
• Who is the importer of record for VAT, and on what value is it being declared?