Importing Kenyan flowers into the United States: 6.8%, AGOA to 2028, and the inspection rule in 7 CFR 319.74
The United States is the destination on which Kenyan origin buys parity rather than advantage: the duty preference under AGOA puts Kenyan roses level with Colombian and Ecuadorian ones, and the flight is longer. This page states the tariff lines and the preference's expiry, the federal rule that governs how cut flowers are inspected and what happens to a consignment that fails, and where the commodity-specific conditions live. It is candid that the lane is small, and about what it has not read.
The regime, row by row
- Customs duty, roses
- 6.8% general rate; Free under AGOA HTS 0603.11.00. Roses carry the highest general rate of any fresh cut flower, so the preference is worth most on the product Kenya leads in. Source read 23 September 2026
- Customs duty, other fresh cut flowers
- 6.4% general rate; Free under AGOA HTS 0603.12.70 carnations, 0603.14.00 chrysanthemums, 0603.19.01 other fresh cut flowers including gypsophila, hypericum and statice. Source read 23 September 2026
- AGOA duty-free treatment
- Through 31 December 2028, as enacted The sunset has moved twice in twelve months, and official pages lagged the enacted date. Any figure about it should carry a date; this one is read from the enrolled bill text. Source read 23 September 2026
- Inspection
- At the port of first arrival, every consignment made available to an inspector 7 CFR 319.74-2(a). The consignment remains at the port of first arrival until released, or authorised for further movement, by an inspector. Source read 26 September 2026
- Import permit, commercial cut flowers
- None imposed by the cut-flower subpart 7 CFR 319.74 provides for a controlled import permit only for experimental, therapeutic or developmental purposes. Whether an APHIS condition for a particular genus and origin adds a requirement is a question for the ACIR entry. Source read 26 September 2026
- Phytosanitary certificate
- Required by the subpart only for chrysanthemum white rust hosts from listed regions - Kenya is not listed 7 CFR 319.74-2(d). The subpart imposes no general certificate requirement on cut flowers. The commodity-specific ACIR entry for the genus and origin governs and was not reproduced here - see the open questions. Source read 26 September 2026
- Failed consignment
- Emergency action notification, PPQ Form 523, at the importer's expense Destruction, shipment out of the United States, movement to an authorised site, treatment or cleaning as the inspector prescribes, within the time on the form; if not done, APHIS arranges destruction and bills the importer. Neither APHIS nor the inspector is responsible for adverse effects of treatment on the flowers. Source read 26 September 2026
- Fumigation for leaf miners
- Methyl bromide, where agromyzids are found on inspection 7 CFR 319.74-2(c), under 7 CFR part 305. Exceptions for Canada and Mexico, and for Colombian and Dominican chrysanthemums carrying only Liriomyza trifolii - none for Kenya. Source read 26 September 2026
- Refusal of entry
- The entire lot, where the inspector judges it cannot be cleaned or treated, or where it contains soil 7 CFR 319.74-2(f). Source read 26 September 2026
- Costs
- APHIS bears the inspector during regular hours at the usual place of duty; the importer bears everything else 7 CFR 319.74-4 - all additional costs of inspection, treatment, movement, storage or destruction ordered by an inspector, including labour, chemicals and packing materials. Source read 26 September 2026
- Kenya's share of the lane
- Small - Kenya supplies a fraction of one per cent of US cut-flower imports Colombia and Ecuador supply the great majority. The figure and its source are on the origins comparison page. Source read 23 September 2026
- Commodity-specific conditions
- In ACIR, by genus and origin APHIS states that import requirements vary by commodity and country of origin and are found in its ACIR database. Searching it for Kenya returned entries including one for Rosa and rose bouquets from certain countries free of Asian and citrus longhorned beetle, and one for alstroemeria from European, Asian, African and Australian countries. We could not open the documents and reproduce none of their conditions. 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 federal cut-flower regulation, with dates. It is not legal advice, not a customs ruling and not a quotation. The commodity-specific import conditions for a genus from Kenya are published in APHIS's Agricultural Commodity Import Requirements database, ACIR, which this page describes but could not read in full; the ACIR entry for the genus and origin, on the day of shipment, is the authority. Nothing here replaces that step.
The duty position, and the date on it
Fresh cut roses enter the United States at a general rate of 6.8%, and most other fresh cut flowers at 6.4%. Under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, Kenyan cut flowers enter free. AGOA's duty-free treatment runs through 31 December 2028 under enacted law — a date that has moved twice within twelve months, and which official pages were slow to reflect after enactment. A buyer planning United States supply from Kenya beyond 2028 is planning on a preference that expires unless renewed. The tariff lines, and why AGOA is worth most on roses →
What the preference does not do. Colombia holds a free-trade agreement and a short flight to Miami; Ecuador sits beside it. Kenyan origin gives parity on duty and a longer flight. Kenya against the origins it is measured against →
The inspection rule: 7 CFR 319.74
Subpart P of the foreign quarantine notices governs cut flowers. Its definition of a cut flower — the severed portion of a plant, including the inflorescence, in a fresh state and not for planting — expressly excludes dried, bleached, dyed or chemically treated material, and filler or greenery frequently packed with fresh cut flowers. A tinted gypsophila stem, on that definition, is not a cut flower under this subpart, and which rule then governs it is a question for the broker.
Every consignment is made available to an inspector at the port of first arrival, and stays there until released. That is the rule for all cut flowers from all origins. The subpart publishes no frequency table of the kind Great Britain and the European Union publish; the phrase is "made available to an inspector", and how often the inspector opens a Kenyan box is not a published figure.
What the inspector may order, and who pays. Where imported cut flowers are found infested with injurious plant pests or infected with disease, the inspector issues an emergency action notification on PPQ Form 523, and the importer must, within the time specified and at its own expense, destroy the flowers, ship them out of the United States, move them to an authorised site, or apply the treatment or cleaning prescribed. If the importer does not, APHIS arranges destruction and the importer bears the cost. Neither the Department nor the inspector may be held responsible for adverse effects of treatment on the flowers. Where the inspector judges a lot too infested to clean or treat, or finds soil or other prohibited contaminants, the entire lot may be refused entry. APHIS bears only the cost of an inspector during regular hours at the usual place of duty; every additional cost of inspection, treatment, movement, storage or destruction is the importer's. What every border does with a failed consignment →
Leaf miners. Cut flowers from any country found on inspection to be infested with agromyzids must be fumigated with methyl bromide at the time of importation. The subpart's exceptions are for Canada and Mexico, and for chrysanthemums from Colombia or the Dominican Republic carrying only Liriomyza trifolii; none applies to Kenya. Irradiation is permitted as an alternative where it is an approved treatment for the pest, with the regulation itself noting that some cut flowers may be damaged by it.
Chrysanthemum white rust. The subpart lists the host species and the regions in which the disease is considered to exist, and requires flowers of those species from those regions to come from production sites registered with the exporting country's plant protection organisation, with a certificate declaring the site and consignment free of Puccinia horiana. Kenya is not among the listed regions in the text as it stood on 24 September 2026, so the registered-site condition does not attach to Kenyan chrysanthemums on the face of the regulation. The ACIR entry is where any further condition would appear. Chrysanthemums, and why the European lanes open every consignment →
Where the commodity conditions live: ACIR
APHIS states that import requirements vary by the specific commodity and country of origin and are found in its ACIR database, and that import and transit permits for plants and agricultural products are applied for through APHIS eFile. Searching ACIR's "plants and plant products not for propagation" category with Kenya as the country returned, among others, an entry for Rosa and rose bouquets from certain countries free of Asian and citrus longhorned beetle, and an entry for alstroemeria and alstroemeria bouquets from countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. We could not open those documents in the session in which we read the database, and we reproduce none of their conditions. A buyer or broker with an ACIR login reads the entry for the genus; that reading, dated, is the requirement.
The lane, honestly
Kenya supplies a fraction of one per cent of United States cut-flower imports, and the United States sits outside Kenya's eleven largest export destinations by value. The distance, the transit time and Latin America's proximity to Miami explain that, not any rule on this page. In the one government dataset we have found that counts imported stems by genus and origin, Kenyan gypsophila and hypericum appear in the hundreds of stems against Ecuador's hundreds of thousands. Where Kenya's flowers actually go → If your decision turns on freight cost and transit time, this is not the origin to start from; if it turns on a variety, a length or a programme Latin America does not supply, the rules above are what it meets.
What to ask
- Is the ACIR entry for the genus and origin in hand, and dated? That is the requirement; this page is the frame around it.
- Who is the importer of record, and therefore who receives a PPQ Form 523 and pays for what it orders?
- Will the AGOA claim be made, and by whom? The preference is claimed on entry, not applied automatically.
- Is any stem in the box dyed or tinted? It falls outside the subpart's definition, and the broker needs to know before the entry is filed.
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 conditions in the ACIR entries for Rosa, alstroemeria and other genera from Kenya The database's search returned the entries; the documents did not open for us. They may add a certificate, a declaration or a treatment to what the subpart requires, and only the entry itself says so.
- How often a Kenyan consignment is actually opened The regulation requires every consignment to be made available to an inspector and publishes no frequency. We will not infer one from another market.
- The customs-clearance, terminal and state-tax lines on a landed cost We have read the tariff and the plant health regulation and nothing else. There is no federal VAT; what applies at state level to a wholesale flower importer is not something we have read.
- Whether AGOA is renewed beyond 31 December 2028 It is a legislative decision. The preference has been extended before, and its sunset has moved twice in twelve months; the date here is the enacted one on the day we read it.
Considering the United States?
Tell us the flower, stem length, head size, quantity, frequency and destination airport, and we will come back to you. If you already hold the ACIR entry for the genus, say so on the form.
Questions buyers ask
Is there duty on Kenyan flowers into the United States?
Not while AGOA applies. The general rates are 6.8% on roses and 6.4% on most other fresh cut flowers; Kenyan cut flowers enter free under AGOA, which runs through 31 December 2028 under enacted law. The preference is claimed on entry.
Do Kenyan cut flowers need an import permit or a phytosanitary certificate for the United States?
The cut-flower subpart imposes neither on ordinary commercial consignments — its permit is for experimental purposes and its certificate requirement is for chrysanthemum white rust hosts from listed regions, which do not include Kenya. Whether the ACIR entry for a particular genus from Kenya adds a condition is exactly what we could not read, and it is the document to obtain before shipping.
What happens if a consignment is found infested?
The inspector issues an emergency action notification, PPQ Form 523, and the importer pays. Destruction, re-export, movement to an authorised site, treatment or cleaning, within the time on the form and at the importer's expense; if it is not done, APHIS arranges destruction and bills the importer. Agromyzid infestation means methyl bromide fumigation.
Last verified 26 September 2026
Sources
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eCFR — 7 CFR Part 319, Subpart P, Cut Flowers (§§ 319.74-1 to 319.74-4)
What we read
Displayed as up to date as of 24 September 2026. Definition of cut flower and its exclusions; inspection at the port of first arrival; emergency action notification on PPQ Form 523 and the importer's obligations and costs; fumigation for agromyzids with methyl bromide and its exceptions; chrysanthemum white rust hosts, regions and conditions; irradiation; refusal of entry; controlled import permits for experimental purposes; costs and charges.
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USDA APHIS — How to import plants and plant products
What we read
Import requirements vary by commodity and country of origin and are found in the ACIR database, which includes cut flowers and greenery; permits are applied for through APHIS eFile; some commodities require phytosanitary treatment before entry.
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USDA APHIS — Agricultural Commodity Import Requirements (ACIR)
What we read
Searched in a browser under Plants and Plant Products Not for Propagation with Kenya as the country. Entries returned included Rosa (Rose), Rose Bouquets (Cut Flowers) from Certain Countries free of ALB/CLB into All Ports, and Alstroemeria (Cut Flowers) and Alstroemeria Bouquets from Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia Countries into All Ports. The documents could not be opened in the session; their conditions are not reproduced.
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USITC Harmonized Tariff Schedule — heading 0603, cut flowers
What we read
General rates by subheading - roses 0603.11.00 at 6.8%, carnations 0603.12.70, chrysanthemums 0603.14.00 and other fresh cut flowers 0603.19.01 at 6.4% - with the AGOA designation in the special column against each.
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African Growth and Opportunity Act — extension of duty-free treatment to 31 December 2028
What we read
The amending public law striking 2026 and inserting 2028 in 19 U.S.C. 2466b, read from the enrolled bill text because official summary pages lagged the enactment.
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USDA Specialty Crops Market News — ornamental crops import reports, stems by commodity and origin
What we read
Sample report data showing Kenyan gypsophila and hypericum in the hundreds of stems against Ecuador's hundreds of thousands in the period sampled. Cited as a stem-level observation on this lane only.