How to Import Organic Japanese Tea to UK (2026 Updated)

Updated July 2026: This guide has been revised to reflect the United Kingdom (UK/GB)’s current import regulations – including the post-Brexit DEFRA organic regime and the Great Britain Certificate of Inspection (GB COI) that replaced EU TRACES, the standing UK-Japan organic equivalence that lets JAS-certified tea be sold as ‘organic’, the 0% duty on Japanese-origin tea under the UK-Japan CEPA, tea’s continued zero-rating for VAT, and the removal of all post-Fukushima radiation controls on Japanese food on 29 June 2022.

Tea became a huge success as soon as it stepped foot into Great Britain. No doubt, coffee was on a high roll when the tea market entered the Kingdom. But the British didn’t take much time to adjust to the new market, and, now, there isn’t even a single day when the British don’t drink coffee. It has become their ritual to have an “afternoon tea”, no matter what. Seeing the booming success of the tea market and the huge demand for it, it is about time that the United Kingdom should introduce organic Japanese tea to its people. But, how can you import it to the United Kingdom?

Brief History of Japanese Tea

Because of its exotic taste and flavor, Japanese tea was largely exported to various countries in the world, especially the United States. The main reason behind this massive success was the unique process of manufacturing Japanese tea. The tea farming families used to steam the leaves to preserve their natural and herbaceous flavor. There were only twenty varieties of Japanese tea present at that time and this made each cup quite specialized and rich in flavor.

However, when coffee started to make its mark along with Chinese green tea, the spell of Japanese tea broke. Also, there was a decrease in the production of Japanese tea because a lot of tea-farming families started moving into the cities instead of working out in the fields. Nevertheless, its production kick-started again in Japan when people started consuming it more than ever.

Japanese Tea Today

Today, Japanese tea is one of the most consumed beverages in the entire region. About 70% of the Japanese drink Japanese tea on a daily basis while over 88% consume this drink more than once a week. The color, flavor, and beauty of Japanese tea make it worth your while, no matter how many times you drink it. So, if you want to import Japanese tea to Great Britain, this may be the perfect time to do so.

How to import Organic Japanese to the UK?

To import goods into the United Kingdom, you’ll have to follow certain laws and regulations to sell or use those goods in the country. Since Great Britain left the EU, it no longer follows the EU’s organic rules; it now runs its own organic regime, in force since 1 January 2021, which applies to its imports and exports. The authority responsible for that regime is DEFRA – the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs. Northern Ireland is the exception: under the Windsor Framework it still follows EU organic and SPS rules.

Organic Control Bodies

However, to import goods into the country, you need to register yourself as an importer. To do this, you can contact one of the GB-approved organic control bodies and get yourself registered. Japan is a recognised country on Great Britain’s organic register for plant products, which include green tea, so their organic standards are treated as equivalent to Great Britain’s own. That means JAS-certified organic Japanese tea can be sold as ‘organic’ in Great Britain without any UK re-certification. The equivalence has applied since 2021 and remains in place, so it is straightforward to import organic Japanese tea from Japan.

The next thing you need is a Great Britain Certificate of Inspection (GB COI) for each consignment. This is a paper or PDF certificate that the Japanese exporter fills in and their organic certifier endorses (signs) before the goods leave Japan. Great Britain uses this standalone GB COI, not the EU’s TRACES NT system that applied before Brexit. The GB COI is required on every consignment of organic product from Japan, even samples that are not for sale. You present it to the Port Health Authority or the Border Control Post when the goods arrive.

You need to tell the Port Health Authority beforehand via their pre-notification system regarding your imports. This may incur some costs but it solely depends upon the number of goods you’re importing. Once your import is valid and good to go, the PHA will stamp it, and it will further go for customs clearance. Your customs declaration is filed through the Customs Declaration Service (CDS), which replaced the old CHIEF system for imports on 31 March 2023, and you need a GB EORI number (one starting with “GB”) to import; usually a freight forwarder or customs agent files the CDS declaration for you. When your goods arrive at their destination, all the information will be checked by customs. Also, the endorsed GB COI you provided will be matched against your consignment details and certifier’s endorsement. If you’ve provided the correct information and it matches, you can freely use and sell your imported goods in the United Kingdom.

Import Duty Rate in the UK

Type and value of goods	Import Duty Rate
Any goods under £135	No charge
Gifts worth £135-£630	2.5% (or lower for some goods)
Gifts above £630 and any other goods above £135	The tax depends on the quantity. Please see How can you calculate import duty tax in the UK? section for more detail.

If you’re liable to pay the import duty tax, the Royal Mail or your courier will contact you. They will also let you know the method of how you can pay this import duty tax. Usually, three weeks are provided to pay the tax, if you don’t pay it in the required time, your parcel will be sent back. Now, as for organic Japanese tea imported from Japan, the tax position is better than for many goods. Tea is zero-rated for VAT, so the import VAT is nil, and there is no excise duty on tea. Japanese-origin tea also qualifies for 0% customs duty under the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) when the exporter provides a ‘statement on origin’ on the invoice (needed for consignments over £1,000). Without a valid origin claim, retail-packed green tea in immediate packings of 3 kg (about 6.6 lb) or less carries the UK Global Tariff’s 2% standard rate, while bulk green tea over 3 kg is 0% regardless. Where duty does apply, its value is calculated on the total value of the goods, including the import duty.

Company Registration Number in the UK

Acquiring a Company Registration Number in the United Kingdom is extremely essential when it comes to paying taxes and filing annual accounts. A Company Registration Number (CRN) is a number that consists of 8 numbers or 6 numbers with 2 letters. CRN is issued by Companies House and it will be stated on your Certificate of Incorporation. You can’t choose CRN on your own instead, it will be generated by the computers. It will depend upon the type of company you want to set up along with your country of incorporation.

• If you want to set up a company in England and Wales, you’ll get an 8-digit CRN.
• If you want to set up a company in Scotland, you’ll get a 6-digit CRN with the prefix “SC”.
• Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) will get a 6-digit CRN with the prefix “OC”.
• Scottish LLPs will get a 6-digit CRN with the prefix “SO”.

Your Company Registration Number is classified as Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) which makes it easier for the Companies House to exchange your company data with the government bodies, non-governmental agencies, and the general public.

Once you get your business number, you can never change it. Even if you change the name of the company, the number of shareholders involved, or the business activities altogether, your company registration will remain the same.

FAQs

What are the approved UK organic control bodies from where you register yourself as an importer?

• Organic Farmers and Growers CIC (GB-ORG-02)
• Organic Food Federation (GB-ORG-04)
• Soil Association Certification Ltd. (GB-ORG-05)
• Biodynamic Association Certification (GB-ORG-06)
• Irish Organic Association (GB-ORG-07)
• Organic Trust CLG (GB-ORG-09)
• Quality Welsh Food Certification Ltd. (GB-ORG-13)
• OF&G (Scotland) Ltd. (GB-ORG-17)

What happens if your import gets rejected by PHA?

The PHA will examine your products on their arrival. If they are not up to the organic standards of the United Kingdom, they will get rejected and you won’t be able to sell those in the country. The products will remain under customs control unless you:

• the COI is corrected
• the products are re-exported
• remove all the labels stating that the product is organic

How do you get a Great Britain Certificate of Inspection (GB COI)?

You get a GB COI for your consignment in a few steps.

1. The Japanese exporter completes the Great Britain Certificate of Inspection for the consignment.
2. The exporter’s organic certifier in Japan checks and endorses (signs) it before the goods leave Japan.
3. The endorsed certificate travels with the shipment as a paper or PDF document.
4. You pre-notify the Port Health Authority or the Border Control Post before the goods arrive.
5. On arrival, the COI is checked against your consignment, and once it matches your goods are released.

How can you calculate import duty tax in the UK?

Say, you’re importing a large number of tea from Japan to the United Kingdom. The cost of goods comes out to be £15,000 with £7,000 insurance costs.

Now, your shipment is more than £135, and they can’t be considered gifts. So, you’re liable to pay the import duty tax. To calculate the import duty, you need to know about the commodity code and apply the import duty rate for that specific code called HS Code.

HS codes for green tea are 0902 10 (immediate packings of 3 kg / about 6.6 lb or less, i.e. retail packs) and 0902 20 (packings that exceed 3 kg, i.e. bulk).

Under the UK Global Tariff the standard third-country rate is 2% for retail packs under 0902 10 and 0% for bulk under 0902 20. However, Japanese-origin tea qualifies for 0% under the UK-Japan CEPA when the exporter provides a statement on origin, so in practice Japanese green tea enters at 0% duty. (Rates change, so check the latest figure on the UK Integrated Online Tariff before each shipment.) The rate that applies is charged on the total value of your goods.

For tea, the total value of your goods is £22,000 (£15,000 + £7,000) – the cost of goods and the insurance charges. If you had no origin claim and the tea was in retail packs of 3 kg or less, the 2% standard rate would apply: 0.02 x 22,000 = £440, giving £22,440 in total. In practice, though, Japanese-origin tea qualifies for 0% duty under the UK-Japan CEPA once the exporter provides a statement on origin, so the duty here is £0 and you pay just the £22,000 value of the goods. Note that if you are importing a non-tea item, as Japan is a non-European country, the import would also include VAT that is 20% of the total value of goods for a non-food item; however, tea is food and it is reduced to 0%.

When can you use your Company Registration Number?

Generally, you need to provide your Company Registration Number in these situations:

• Change the name of your company
• Change your registered office or SAIL address
• Add or remove a company secretary or director
• Change the details of secretaries and directors
• File annual Confirmation Statements
• File annual accounts
• Register for business taxes
• Pay Corporation Tax
• File Company Tax Returns
• File Resolution Copies
• Increase share capital
• Issue share certificates
• Issue dividend vouchers
• Change your Accounting Reference Date (ARD)

Do you need radiation or Fukushima testing certificates to import Japanese tea?

No. The United Kingdom removed all of its post-Fukushima radiation import controls on food and feed from Japan on 29 June 2022. Since then, no radiation testing certificate or radionuclide declaration is needed for Japanese tea entering Great Britain, and none is required on the label. The standard customs and organic paperwork is all that applies.

Can JAS-certified organic tea be sold as “organic” in Great Britain?

Yes. The UK and Japan have a standing organic equivalence agreement, and Japan is a recognised country on Great Britain’s organic register for plant products, which include green tea. That means JAS-certified organic Japanese tea can be imported and marketed as “organic” in Great Britain without any UK re-certification, as long as it is certified by a Japan-based control body listed on the GB register and each consignment arrives with a valid GB Certificate of Inspection. Plant products such as tea have been covered since 2021, and the scope later widened to alcoholic drinks and, from 1 April 2026, animal products.

Does Japanese tea need a health or phytosanitary certificate at the GB border?

No. Under the Border Target Operating Model, dried tea is treated as a low-risk processed plant product. It is not on Great Britain’s high-risk food and feed list, so it needs no export health certificate or phytosanitary certificate and is not subject to routine sanitary and phytosanitary checks at the border. A normal customs entry through CDS, together with the organic GB Certificate of Inspection, is what you need. Consignments can still be picked for random or risk-based inspection.

Conclusion

Drinking tea is engrossed in the culture of the British. From morning till night, they keep the kettle on for a brew. It is not a surprise that the United Kingdom is one of the major tea consumers in the entire world. Thus, if you’re thinking of starting your own tea market in the country, this can prove to be the right time. The British want only two things in their tea – flavor and quality – and this is exactly what organic Japanese tea provides. So, start importing organic Japanese tea and leave everyone awestruck. However, before importing this product, go through all the import rules and regulations of the United Kingdom.

Need Assistance on Japanese Tea Importation?

This shipping and importation of Japanese tea in your country have been a long-standing service that we offer. Therefore, if you are interested in Japanese Tea importation either as a business or you simply want to have a taste of quality, authentic Japanese tea, you may contact us through this website, and we are more than happy to assist you. Click here to contact Green Tea Merchant.

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