Updated July 2026: This guide has been revised to reflect Vietnam’s current import rules — including the product self-declaration still required under Decree 15/2018/ND-CP (the stricter Decree 46/2026 was suspended in April 2026), the 40% MFN duty on green tea that drops to 0% for Japan-origin tea shipped with a valid VJEPA, AJCEP or CPTPP Certificate of Origin, the VAT rate temporarily cut to 8% through 31 December 2026, and the Vietnamese-language label that must be in place before customs clearance.

There isn’t even a single place in Vietnam where you won’t find a hot cup of tea. From weddings to ritual ceremonies, tea will appear because that’s how much Vietnamese love it. You will always find someone at “quán cóc” – the make-shift shops present on the roadsides of the Vietnam streets. At night, you will find large groups of people in tea houses enjoying their favorite cup of tea. As you can see, tea is quite renowned in Vietnam, so it won’t hurt to give Vietnamese something new. Organic Japanese tea will leave every Vietnamese spellbound. All you have to do is start importing organic Japanese tea to Vietnam.

Why should you import Japanese tea?

Japanese tea has been with us since the 8^th century, and since then, it has won the hearts of millions of people. Its spectacular taste, the freshness of the leaves, and the mighty quality leave everyone amazed, and that is why we emphasize importing Japanese tea to Vietnam. The people of Vietnam won’t cater to the tea that has an ordinary taste. They need something different. They need something that can satisfy their palates, and this is something that Japanese tea can do.

Japanese tea is one of the most consumed beverages globally because it has the perfect balance of color, taste, richness, quality, and flavor. Therefore, if you want to kick-start your own tea house in Vietnam, it’s time that you should start importing organic Japanese tea to Vietnam. But, how can you do that?

How to Import Organic Japanese Tea to Vietnam?

If you want to set up your own business in Vietnam, you may need to import various products to the country. Similarly, if you want to start your tea house, you’ll need to get it imported. Now, to do this, you’ll need to follow specific rules and regulations demonstrated by the government of Vietnam.

Registration, license permit, and legal entity requirements

In Vietnam, there is no obligation on any company to have a separate import license in order to engage with the import activities in Vietnam. However, the businessmen will need to form a trading company to import and distribute goods in the country. Establishing a trading company in Vietnam is inexpensive, and no minimum capital contribution will be required. It will take about three months to establish a trading company in Vietnam. However, if you want to sell imported products in Vietnam, you will need to get a trading license. The Department of Planning and Investment issues this license, and you acquire this in one to three months.

If you don’t want to set up a legal entity, and just want to try the products, you can get an importer of record (IOR). With the help of IOR, you won’t have to acquire any kind of import license, and you can start importing your products immediately. Importer of the record is usually acquired when someone wants to test the market before fully diving into it. But with this IOR, you can import only a few times.

Customs Procedures

When you import organic Japanese tea to Vietnam, the customs authorities will inspect and verify the product before it is allowed to be entered and distributed into the country. The customs authority check:

• The quality of the product
• Product specifications
• Product quantity
• The volume of the goods

If the imported goods are not up to the standards and regulations provided by the Vietnamese government, the entry of those goods in Vietnam will be forbidden. However, if they meet those standards and regulations, you can freely distribute or sell the products in the country.

The custom standards of Vietnam are set under Law No. 54/2014/QH13, which remains the governing customs law. Clearance itself runs electronically through the VNACCS/VCIS system operated by the General Department of Vietnam Customs, so your customs broker files the import declaration online rather than on paper.

Packaged tea also counts as processed food, so before it reaches retail you (or your Vietnamese importer) file a Product Self-Declaration — tự công bố sản phẩm — with the provincial food-safety authority. That declaration is backed by a food-safety test report from an accredited laboratory, issued within the previous 12 months, and there is no separate pre-market registration for ordinary tea. This route runs under Decree 15/2018/ND-CP. A replacement, Decree 46/2026/ND-CP, would have swapped it for a stricter conformity declaration, but it was suspended in April 2026 by Resolution 15/2026/NQ-CP, so Decree 15 still governs as of July 2026 — with a tightening clearly queued.

Customs or Import Duty Tax in Vietnam

Vietnam imposes taxes on all the products that are being imported into the country. The taxes include general duty tax, value-added tax, and for some goods, special consumption tax. In Vietnam, the import duty and all the other taxes are calculated on the entire shipping value. This completed shipping value includes the cost of imported products, cost of insurance, and cost of freight.

The duty and sales tax in Vietnam is:

Note here that the VAT rate is applied on all the products being imported to Vietnam as there is no threshold present. VAT will be applicable irrespective of the value or quantity of imports.

For Japanese green tea it helps to pin down the current figures. Green tea falls under HS heading 0902 — 0902.10 for tea in immediate packings of 3 kg (6.6 lb) or less, and 0902.20 for other green tea. The MFN import duty on green tea is 40%, and the ordinary rate charged when no valid Certificate of Origin is presented is 60%. Japan-origin green tea, though, qualifies for a 0% preferential rate under the Vietnam–Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (VJEPA), AJCEP and the CPTPP, as long as the rules of origin are met and a valid Certificate of Origin is presented — Form VJ for VJEPA, Form AJ for AJCEP, or a CPTPP certificate. With that paperwork the duty line drops from 40% to 0%. On VAT, the standard rate is 10%, but a temporary reduction brings retail-packaged tea to 8% from 1 July 2025 through 31 December 2026 under Resolution 204/2025/QH15 and Decree 174/2025/ND-CP.

Company Registration in Vietnam

There are two kinds of legal entities present in Vietnam. These are:

• Limited Liability Company (LLC)
• Joint-stock Company (JSC)

LLC doesn’t contain any shareholders, but it can have 1-50 members who represent the ownership of the company. On the other hand, JSC must have a minimum of 3 shareholders. Your company will get registered under any of these two entities.

In order to register your company in Vietnam, you need to have an Investment Registration Certificate (IRC), which will be issued by the Department of Planning and Investment. You will acquire this certificate after a month. The next certificate that you’ll need will be the Business Registration Certificate (BRC), which will be issued by the same department. BRC is also referred to as Enterprise Registration Certificate (ERC). You also need to have a business license number certificate. This certificate will also mention your company’s tax number, according to which you’ll have to pay your taxes. However, the taxes will be paid through an online system, and you’ll have to submit the report electronically as well.

Now, once you receive your BRC, you’ll get 90 days to make a capital contribution. For most businesses, there is no minimum capital contribution, but the Department of Planning and Investment advises you to provide just enough that can cover your monthly expenses. Many businesses start with USD 10,000, while some go with USD 3,000. It takes about one month to fully register your company.

FAQs

What customs documents are required in Vietnam to allow goods into the country?

Companies or businessmen who wish to import organic Japanese tea to Vietnam will have to provide certain documents to the Vietnamese customs authority. The extremely important documents include:

• Company’s business registration certificate
• Import business code registration certificate

Additional documents include:

• Lading bill
• Import goods declaration form
• Origin certificate
• Release order of cargo
• Inspection report
• Health certificate/technical standard
• Commercial invoice
• Packing list
• Delivery order (if the goods are imported via seaports)
• Terminal handling receipts

How can you calculate the import duty tax for tea?

In order to calculate the import duty tax on organic Japanese tea, make sure you know the HS code for tea. Green tea sits under HS heading 0902 — 0902.10 for tea in immediate packings of 3 kg (6.6 lb) or less, and 0902.20 for other green tea.

Now, imagine you import a medium amount of organic Japanese tea just to test the market. The total cost of your tea comes out to be 15,000 Dong with 7,000 Dong insurance costs. In this case, there will be no general duty tax applied because it is less than the threshold value. However, VAT will be applied to the total value of the goods. So, 10% VAT will be 0.1 x 22,000 = 2200 Dong. The total value will become 24,000 Dong.

Let’s say your testing phase breaks records. Now, you want to import a larger quantity of organic Japanese tea and, say, the quantity of the goods exceeds the threshold value, i.e., 1,000,000 Dong, and the insurance cost comes out to be 50,000 Dong. Now, the general duty tax, which is 12%, will also be applicable to the total amount, which is 1,050,000 Dong. After applying the duty tax, we get the value 0.12 x 1,050,000 = 126,000 Dong. Now, the total value becomes 1,176,000 Dong that you’ll pay to the Vietnamese government. Also, don’t forget to add 10% VAT on this value.

Treat those two examples as a simplified illustration of the method rather than the exact rates. For Japanese green tea the real MFN duty is 40%, not 12% — and it falls to 0% when the shipment travels with a valid VJEPA, AJCEP or CPTPP Certificate of Origin. The VAT charged on retail-packaged tea is currently 8%, down from the standard 10%, through 31 December 2026.

What are the requirements to set up your company in Vietnam?

In order to set up your company in Vietnam, you need to provide the following information:

• Minimum capital contribution
• Your registered address
• The registered director of the company

Do I need a Vietnamese-language label to import Japanese tea?

Yes. Every unit of prepackaged tea needs a Vietnamese-language label or sub-label, and since Decree 111/2021/ND-CP (in force 15 February 2022) it must be affixed before customs clearance, not merely before the tea reaches the shelf — this is the step importers most often trip over. The Vietnamese text has to cover the product name, the name and address of the party responsible for the goods in Vietnam, the country of origin, and the food-specific details in Appendix I: ingredients, net quantity, dates of manufacture and expiry, storage and use instructions, and the lot number. The original Japanese label should still show the product name, origin and manufacturer.

Does organic Japanese tea need a radiation or Fukushima-related certificate for Vietnam?

There is no documented Vietnam-specific radiation control on Japanese tea. Vietnam never joined the small group of markets that still keep post-2011 restrictions on Japanese food — China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, South Korea and Russia — and by 2023–2024 most of the world, the EU included, had lifted those measures. In practice that leaves no residual barrier for tea. Because the point is not spelled out in an official Vietnamese notice, it is still worth confirming directly with the Vietnam Food Administration (VFA) before you rely on it for a particular shipment.

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

There is no Vietnam–Japan organic equivalency agreement, so Japan’s JAS certification is not automatically treated as equal to Vietnam’s national organic standard (the TCVN 11041 series, under Decree 109/2018/ND-CP). That national scheme is aimed mainly at domestic producers and is not a mandatory gate for imports. In practice, JAS-certified Japanese tea can be imported and marketed as organic on the strength of the exporter’s JAS certificate together with honest labelling, with no need to re-certify to TCVN 11041 just to bring it in. Keep in mind that Vietnamese law will not automatically grant such tea the national organic logo, so any “organic” claim has to rest on the genuine JAS certificate and truthful labelling.

Conclusion

The people of Vietnam are learning more about their culture and traditions with each passing day, and they are all up to grab that nostalgic feeling of the good old days. That is why more and more tea houses are being manufactured in the country. Such a vast number of tea houses require different kinds of tea as well to leave the people awestruck. Organic Japanese tea is one such tea that has the tendency to do that. So, start importing organic Japanese tea to Vietnam, keeping all the import rules and regulations in view.

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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