Import Permit for Plants by Market

Permit and notification requirements by market

Market names link to the full guide for that destination, which covers inspection points, tax treatment and the conditions specific to the market. The document column lists what the importer has to hold before the consignment can clear; the phytosanitary certificate is issued by Barantan on the Indonesian side.

Permit, notification and document requirements for importing bare-root plants from Indonesia, by destination market.
Market	Authority	Permit or notification	Documents the importer must hold
United StatesPermit 13+	AuthorityUSDA APHIS	Permit or notificationPPQ 587 permit required for 13 or more plants. Consignments of 12 or fewer admissible plants may qualify for the personal-use exemption.	Documents to holdPPQ 587 permit copy, PPQ 508 Green and Yellow labels, phytosanitary certificate
European UnionNotification	AuthorityNational NPPOs and EU Border Control Posts	Permit or notificationNo plant import permit. CHED-PP pre-notification in TRACES-NT before arrival.	Documents to holdPhytosanitary certificate, CHED-PP, commercial invoice
United KingdomNotification	AuthorityDEFRA / APHA	Permit or notificationNo advance plant health permit. Professional-operator registration and a CHED-PP in IPAFFS at least 4 working hours before the aircraft lands.	Documents to holdIPAFFS CHED-PP, phytosanitary certificate, commercial invoice; the paper certificate is posted to APHA York or SASA within 3 days
SwitzerlandNotification	AuthorityBLW / EPSD	Permit or notificationNo advance permit. Importer registration and a CHED-PP notification at least 24 hours before import.	Documents to holdRegistration, CHED-PP, phytosanitary certificate, commercial invoice
CanadaPermit	AuthorityCFIA	Permit or notificationPermit to Import required for every plant for planting from outside the continental United States. There is no exemption for Indonesia.	Documents to holdCFIA Permit to Import, phytosanitary certificate with the soil-borne pest additional declaration, Notice to Importer
JapanInspection	AuthorityMAFF Plant Protection Station	Permit or notificationNo plant-quarantine import permit exists. Import inspection is required at any quantity, at one of 33 designated cargo airports.	Documents to holdImport inspection application (Form 4(a)), phytosanitary certificate, commercial invoice
South KoreaInspection	AuthorityAPQA	Permit or notificationNo advance permit for non-prohibited plants. Declaration and inspection at the port of first arrival.	Documents to holdImport declaration and quarantine inspection application via UNI-PASS, phytosanitary certificate
NorwayNotification	AuthorityMattilsynet	Permit or notificationNo advance permit. Importer registration and a DigiPlant notification that must reach the authority before the goods cross the border.	Documents to holdRegistration, DigiPlant notification, phytosanitary certificate
United Arab EmiratesPermit	AuthorityMOCCAE	Permit or notificationPhytosanitary import permit covering the species before dispatch, plus a trade licence with an agricultural activity code.	Documents to holdMOCCAE import permit, phytosanitary certificate, commercial invoice
AustraliaPermit	AuthorityDAFF	Permit or notificationPermit to import conditionally non-prohibited goods under s. 179(1) of the Biosecurity Act 2015, before dispatch.	Documents to holdDAFF import permit via BICON, phytosanitary certificate, commercial invoice
New ZealandPermit	AuthorityMPI	Permit or notificationImport permit before dispatch, with every species checked in the Plants Biosecurity Index first.	Documents to holdMPI import permit, phytosanitary certificate, commercial invoice
Saudi ArabiaPermit	AuthorityMEWA	Permit or notificationPlant quarantine import permit for seeds and seedlings via the Ministry's Naama portal before dispatch, plus a Saudi commercial registration with an agricultural activity.	Documents to holdMEWA import permit, phytosanitary certificate, commercial invoice

The badge in each row marks the mechanism: a permit that must be issued before dispatch, a pre-arrival notification lodged by the importer, or inspection at the border with no advance document. Every market remains subject to inspection on arrival, and a permit does not guarantee clearance of the consignment that arrives under it.

A certificate is not a permit, and a permit is not a notification

These three documents are treated as interchangeable in a lot of order enquiries, and they are not. Each one is issued by a different party, at a different moment, and does a different job. Reading the table above is easier once the difference is clear.

The phytosanitary certificate is issued at origin. Barantan inspects the consignment in Indonesia and certifies its condition at the time of inspection. It travels with the plants and is required almost everywhere, but it says nothing about whether the importer is allowed to bring them in.

An import permit is issued by the destination authority, in the importer's name, before the goods leave Indonesia. It authorises the import of a stated commodity, sometimes a stated species and quantity. Without it, the exporter cannot lawfully dispatch to that market — the permit is a precondition of shipment, not a document to produce at the border after the fact.

A pre-arrival notification is lodged in the destination's electronic system by the importer or a registered broker, usually a short time before the aircraft lands. It tells the border post what is coming so it can schedule the plant health check. It grants no permission, and in the markets that use one there is no permit to hold in the first place.

Permit

Advance permit, before dispatch

The importer applies, the authority issues, and the permit number and copy travel with the shipping documents. Species and quantity must match the consignment.

Markets: United States (PPQ 587 from 13 plants), Canada, United Arab Emirates, Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia.

Notification

Pre-arrival notification

The importer registers with the plant health service, then lodges the notification in the national system within the deadline the market sets. Missing the deadline delays clearance even when every other document is correct.

Markets: European Union (CHED-PP in TRACES-NT), United Kingdom (IPAFFS), Switzerland (CHED-PP), Norway (DigiPlant).

Inspection

Certificate and inspection only

No permit and no advance notification for non-prohibited plants. The certificate accompanies the goods and the consignment is inspected at the port of arrival; the absence of a permit is not the absence of a check.

Markets: Japan, South Korea.

What travels with every consignment

The destination decides which permit or notification applies. The export file that leaves the nursery does not vary in the same way: these four items are prepared for every order, and the market-specific permits, labels and notifications are added on top.

Phytosanitary certificate from Barantan

Badan Karantina Indonesia inspects the consignment physically before the certificate is issued. Some markets require additional declarations on the certificate: Canada, for example, requires the soil-borne pest declaration. The certificate must name the same botanical binomial and plant count as the permit, invoice and manifest.

Commercial invoice

The invoice fixes the parties, the species, the quantities and the value. Customs uses it to assess duty and tax, and the plant health service uses it to check that the consignment matches the permit and the certificate.

Packing manifest

The manifest lists the contents carton by carton. It has to agree with the invoice and the certificate on species and count, because an inspection that finds a mismatch stops the consignment until the discrepancy is resolved.

Bare-root protocol, no soil

Plants travel bare-root, with no soil and no growing medium; roots are wrapped in sterile sphagnum at calibrated moisture. This is the export standard for every market, and it matters most where soil is restricted: South Korea and Saudi Arabia prohibit soil outright, and the United Arab Emirates permits it only under its own conditions.

What to do before you order

The sequence matters. A permit cannot be issued retrospectively, and an inspection station will not accept a consignment because the paperwork was started late. Work through these in order.

1. Check the market, then the species

Start with the authority named in the table, not with the catalog. Admissibility is decided per taxon: the United States checks taxa in the APHIS ACIR database, New Zealand checks every species in the Plants Biosecurity Index, and the United Arab Emirates issues a permit that must cover the species being imported. CITES-listed plants carry a further layer — Japan requires a METI import licence for them, and Australia requires a DCCEEW CITES import permit in addition to the Indonesian export permit.

2. Put the permit or registration in place

For the United States, Canada, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, New Zealand and Saudi Arabia, this means a permit issued to the importer. For the European Union, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Norway it means registering as an importer or professional operator with the plant health service and being ready to lodge the notification within that market's window. The United Kingdom registers professional operators, and the notification deadline there is counted in working hours before the aircraft lands.

3. Order, with the timing the market imposes

For Australia, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates the permit or the quarantine arrangement has to exist before the plants are dispatched. Australia and New Zealand add a step after arrival: the consignment goes into post-entry quarantine in a DAFF-approved facility or a registered transitional facility, with a minimum period of at least three months under the applicable schedule, before it can be released. That changes the commercial timing, because the plants are not available to sell or plant out when they land. For Canada, inspection happens at the importer's own premises rather than at the airport, so the buyer needs a location that can receive and hold the consignment.

For Norway, the certificate cannot be issued more than 14 days before shipment, and the DigiPlant notification must reach the authority before the goods cross the border and before customs clearance. For Saudi Arabia, the permit sets a ten-day interval between issue and arrival, which should be confirmed with MEWA. Those two conditions constrain when the order can realistically be shipped, so they belong in the planning conversation rather than in the paperwork at the end.

Duty and tax at import

The plant health requirement and the customs treatment are separate decisions, taken by different agencies. The rates below are the ones published on each destination guide; duty is assessed on the customs value and tax is charged according to the importer's status and the member state or jurisdiction of entry.

Duty and import tax treatment for bare-root plants from Indonesia, by destination market.
Market	Duty and tax
United States	Duty per the HTS tariff; consignments valued under $800 may qualify for Section 321 de minimis entry, at CBP discretion.
European Union	Duty per the tariff; VAT at the rate of the member state of entry.
United Kingdom	0602.90 — free of duty; 20% import VAT.
Switzerland	2.6% import VAT; CEPA preference on proof of origin.
Canada	0602.90.10 free; 0602.90.90 at 6%; 5% GST, reclaimable as an input tax credit.
Japan	0602.90 at 0%; 10% consumption tax.
South Korea	8% basic duty, 0% under the ASEAN-Korea FTA with a Form AK certificate of origin; 10% VAT.
Norway	0602.90.10 duty-free; 25% MVA.
United Arab Emirates	5% duty and 5% VAT, with a preferential rate under the Indonesia-UAE CEPA on a certificate of origin.
Australia	0602.90.00 free of duty; 10% GST.
New Zealand	0602.90 free of duty; 15% GST on the value plus duty plus freight.
Saudi Arabia	5% GCC duty on 0602.90; 15% ZATCA VAT.

A registered business may be able to reclaim import tax as input tax — Canada's GST input tax credit is one example — depending on its registration and local rules. Confirm the applicable rate and any preference claim with the customs authority or a customs broker for your market.

Questions importers ask first

The answers below are drawn from the market facts above. Each one is written to stand on its own, because the same text is published as structured data for search results.

Do I need an import permit for plants?

It depends on the destination market. Canada, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, New Zealand and Saudi Arabia require a permit before the consignment is dispatched, and the United States requires a PPQ 587 permit for 13 or more plants. The European Union, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Norway require registration and a pre-arrival notification instead of a permit. Japan and South Korea require neither for non-prohibited plants, but inspect the consignment on arrival. Confirm the current rule with the authority named for your market before ordering.

Is a phytosanitary certificate enough on its own?

No. The phytosanitary certificate is issued by Barantan in Indonesia after the consignment has been inspected, and it attests to the condition of those plants at the time of inspection. It is not an authorisation to import. In a market that requires a permit, the border authority will ask for the permit as well as the certificate; for the United States the PPQ 508 Green and Yellow labels are also required to route the cargo to a Plant Inspection Station. The certificate travels with every consignment, but it does not replace a permit or a pre-arrival notification.

Which markets require a permit before the plants are shipped?

Canada requires a CFIA Permit to Import for every plant for planting from outside the continental United States, with no exemption for Indonesia. The United Arab Emirates requires a MOCCAE phytosanitary import permit covering the species, and the importer must hold a trade licence with an agricultural activity code. Australia requires a DAFF permit under s. 179(1) of the Biosecurity Act 2015, New Zealand requires an MPI permit with every species checked in the Plants Biosecurity Index first, and Saudi Arabia requires a MEWA plant quarantine import permit obtained through the Naama portal. The United States requires a PPQ 587 permit from 13 plants, while 12 or fewer admissible plants may qualify for the personal-use exemption.

Which markets require a pre-arrival notification?

The European Union requires a CHED-PP pre-notification in TRACES-NT before arrival, and issues no plant import permit. The United Kingdom requires professional-operator registration and a CHED-PP in IPAFFS at least 4 working hours before the aircraft lands, with the paper certificate posted to APHA York or SASA within 3 days. Switzerland requires importer registration and a CHED-PP at least 24 hours before import. Norway requires registration with Mattilsynet and a DigiPlant notification that must reach the authority before the goods cross the border and before customs clearance.

Can I avoid a permit by ordering fewer plants?

Only in the United States, and only within the limit. Consignments of 12 or fewer admissible plants may qualify for the personal-use exemption; 13 or more plants require a PPQ 587 permit. Canada has no exemption for plants for planting from Indonesia, and the permit requirements of the United Arab Emirates, Australia, New Zealand and Saudi Arabia are not quantity-based, so reducing the order does not remove them.

How long do Australia and New Zealand hold plants in quarantine?

Consignments bound for Australia cannot be released straight to the buyer's nursery. Bare-root stock enters post-entry quarantine in a DAFF-approved facility first, for a per-commodity minimum period of at least three months. In New Zealand, nursery stock sits in post-entry quarantine in a registered transitional facility, minimum three months unless the schedule of special entry conditions says otherwise. The plants are not available to sell or plant out until quarantine is completed.

Is the permit tied to the species in my order?

In several markets, yes. The United Arab Emirates permit must cover the species being imported, New Zealand requires every species to be checked in the Plants Biosecurity Index before the permit is sought, and Japan requires a METI import licence for CITES-listed goods in addition to the Indonesian export permit. The certificate, commercial invoice and packing manifest must agree on the current botanical name and the plant count, because a trade name or outdated synonym that does not match the permit is a common cause of border holds.

Is soil allowed in the consignment?

Foliaria ships bare-root plants only, with no soil and no growing medium. Destination rules differ beyond that. South Korea and Saudi Arabia prohibit soil outright; in the United Arab Emirates soil is permit-gated rather than banned absolutely. Roots travel wrapped in sterile sphagnum at calibrated moisture, and the consignment is declared as bare-root plants for planting on the commercial invoice and packing manifest.

Find your market, then confirm the rule

Each destination guide sets out the authority, the permit or notification, the inspection point and the duty treatment for that market in full. If your market is not in the directory, or the species list needs checking before a permit application, send it to the export desk and we will confirm the taxon position before quoting.

Open the destination directory Read the export process

Market not covered, or the species list needs a check before a permit application?Send it to the export desk.

This page summarises published requirements and is not a substitute for the current regulation. Confirm every permit, notification deadline and rate with the authority named for your market before dispatch.

Do you need an import permit for plants?