Importing Indonesian Tropical Plants
to Switzerland.
A regulatory and logistical roadmap for Swiss plant boutiques, rare aroid collectors and commercial nurseries importing live flora from Indonesia. Switzerland sits outside the EU customs union but runs a harmonised plant health regime with the EU, using the same TRACES-NT notification system. For standard bare-root stock for planting no individual advance import permit applies: the statutory conditions are importer registration, a CHED-PP pre-notification lodged 24 hours before import, and a clean taxon admissibility check.
Bare-root stock for planting; the importer must still register with the plant health service, SR 916.20 Art. 64
Direct air cargo clears plant health at Zurich or Geneva; Basel sits in French customs territory
Notification to EPSD at least 24 hours before import, SR 916.201 Art. 10
Reduced Swiss import VAT rate for live plants, SR 641.20 Art. 25; CEPA relief needs proof of origin
What the Swiss importer must have in place before dispatch
1. Registration with the plant health service. Businesses that import goods requiring a phytosanitary certificate or a plant passport must register with the Eidgenössischer Pflanzenschutzdienst (SR 916.20, Art. 64). Registration is filed with the Federal Office for Agriculture (BLW) using theBetriebsmeldeformular Einfuhr aus Drittländern, and the plant health service publishes its import guidance on theBLW plant health trade chain page.
2. TRACES-NT access. The CHED-PP is created in TRACES-NT, and access to the notification system is granted by the plant health service after the importer's staff have completed its training. Without that access the pre-notification cannot be lodged at all, which is why this is a setup task rather than a formality.
3. A CITES import permit, if the line is a listed taxon. Orchids, most cacti and euphorbias, Nepenthes and tree ferns fall under Appendix II. The Swiss import permit is issued by the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (BLV) under the Ordinance on the Circulation of Protected Species (SR 453.0) and must be in place before the consignment is shipped. Foliaria supplies the matching Indonesian export permit for artificially propagated plants.
4. Proof of origin, if a preferential duty rate is claimed. Under the EFTA-Indonesia CEPA many live plants enter Switzerland duty-free against an Indonesian EUR.1 movement certificate or declaration of origin. Without it, the standard tariff line for HS 0602.90 applies.
5. The importer of record. The buyer is the importer of record. Foliaria supplies the origin-side phytosanitary certificate, the commercial invoice and the packing manifest; the Swiss buyer handles the CHED-PP, the customs declaration and the tax treatment.
The clearance sequence, order by order
Where the importer sits in the chain decides which documents have to exist before the plants leave East Java.
Before ordering — registration, TRACES-NT access, CITES permit
The Swiss importer registers with the plant health service, obtains TRACES-NT access for its staff, and, for listed taxa, obtains the BLV CITES import permit. Foliaria confirms the taxon against the Swiss prohibited and restricted lists before quoting a line.
Before dispatch — Barantan inspection and phytosanitary certificate
The consignment is registered on the Indonesian quarantine portal, physically inspected at the regional station for soil, pests and decay, and only then certified. The certificate carries the e-Phyto verification where the issuing station supports it, and is issued in German, French, Italian or English for Swiss acceptance (SR 916.20, Art. 68).
At least 24 hours before import — CHED-PP notification
The importer or their customs broker creates the CHED-PP in TRACES-NT, which reaches the responsible plant health office for the entry point (SR 916.201, Art. 10 para. 5). The notification is sent to the plant health service with the CHED-PP document, a copy of the phytosanitary certificate, the air waybill, the commercial invoice and the packing list. The CHED-PP number is then entered in the customs declaration.
On arrival — plant health inspection at ZRH or GVA
The consignment is presented to the plant health inspection point for the phytosanitary control required before import (SR 916.20, Art. 43). Plants intended for planting may then only be traded with a plant passport, which the plant health service or an authorised operator issues (Arts. 60 and 76).
Customs clearance — BAZG, separate from plant health
The commercial invoice and packing manifest are declared through the Federal Office for Customs (BAZG) e-dec/Passar system. Plant health clearance does not clear customs, and the two run in parallel rather than in sequence. Plant health control is chargeable under SR 910.11 and SR 814.014, with laboratory costs added where soil or substrate samples have to be analysed.
Taxa Foliaria does not ship into Switzerland
A page that only lists what can be shipped is marketing. These are the categories that are closed, restricted, or conditional — check them before you build a range around a species.
Growing media — not admissible. Soil and organic growing media do not travel with a third-country plant consignment. The requirements that importable goods must meet are set out in Annex 7 of the Plant Health Ordinance of the WBF and UVEK (SR 916.201) together with the BLW and BAFU phytosanitary measures, and the plant health service may take soil or substrate samples to verify compliance. Every Foliaria consignment is bare-root with sterile sphagnum wrap and no planting medium, so this is a standing part of the packing protocol rather than a special request.
Plants for planting of the Solanaceae family, Ullucus tuberosus and certain conifers — closed. These planting material lines are excluded from third-country imports and appear in the plant health service's consolidated list.
High-risk plants — import closed. The high-risk list covers Acacia, Albizia, Bauhinia, Diospyros, Ficus carica, Jasminum, Nerium, Persea, Prunus and similar genera, and these are not importable into Switzerland. Host plants of Xylella fastidiosa are treated the same way, which is why admissibility is confirmed per cultivar rather than per family.
Invasive neophytes — restricted. Trachycarpus fortunei, Prunus laurocerasus, Buddleja davidii and Paulownia tomentosa are listed as invasive alien plants under the Ordinance on Alien Species (SR 814.911) and cannot be introduced for planting.
How this is handled in practice. The consolidated list of prohibited and restricted goods is published by the plant health service in Merkblatt Nr. 1. The export desk checks the line against it before the invoice is issued, and says so plainly when a cultivar cannot be shipped to Switzerland. If a variety is restricted, the alternative is a documented quarantine-compliant preparation agreed with the importer — never a silent substitution.
CITES: the one permit that must exist before shipping
Switzerland applies the CITES Convention through the Ordinance on the Circulation of Protected Species (VCITES, SR 453.0). For Appendix II taxa the importer needs a Swiss import permit from the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (BLV), obtained before the consignment is shipped, and Foliaria supplies the matching Indonesian export permit for artificially propagated plants.
Border CITES control in Switzerland is carried out by the Border Veterinary Service at the Zurich and Geneva entry points, billed as a base fee plus hourly rates. Consignments mixing listed and non-listed taxa are separated before dispatch so the inspection is not held up by a single orchid line.
One plant passport, two customs territories
The plant passport is the official document for trade within Switzerland and with the EU, confirming that the goods meet the plant health rules (SR 916.20, Arts. 60 and 76). A consignment cleared in Switzerland and issued a passport can move within the EU without a further plant health inspection. A third-country consignment inspected at its first entry into the EU is not subject to a further notification or control in Switzerland.
Customs is still separate in both directions, and Basel remains French customs territory. For a Swiss buyer already running an EU lane, the cheapest routing is often to land the cargo at an EU hub, clear it there, and move it on to Zurich or Geneva — Foliaria dispatches to Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Paris on the same air services.
Both routings need the CHED-PP lodged before import, and neither a plant passport nor an EU clearance removes the importer's own obligations. What it does remove is a second plant health inspection.
Swiss Import Questions, Answered
Do I need an import permit to import plants from Indonesia to Switzerland?↓
Is a phytosanitary certificate required for every consignment?↓
Which airports can take plant cargo into Switzerland?↓
What VAT and duty apply to a plant import into Switzerland?↓
Which plants can you not ship to Switzerland?↓
Do orchids and succulents need CITES documents?↓
How long does clearance take once the consignment lands?↓
Ready to Import into Switzerland?
Review our wholesale export catalog of Indonesian tropical houseplants and rare aroids. We confirm taxon admissibility against the Swiss prohibited and restricted lists before an invoice is issued, and we quote the CITES position per line. Minimum wholesale consignment is 20 plants.