Trade & Markets

Importing Mānuka Honey into the UK: An Importer's Guide

By the Nuka Team • 9 Aug 2026 • 12 min read

The United Kingdom is the most developed Mānuka market outside New Zealand itself, and since 31 May 2023 New Zealand honey has entered it duty-free.[1] The commercial door is wide open. The border process behind it is where first-time importers get caught.

This guide walks a UK importer, distributor, or retail buyer through what it actually takes to bring genuine New Zealand Mānuka honey into the UK: the tariff position, the commodity code (Mānuka has its own), VAT, the pre-notification and veterinary-control steps at the border, labelling law, and the New Zealand-side certification that proves the honey is what the jar says it is.

Every regulatory and numeric claim below is sourced to a primary or near-primary reference, linked at the end. Where a figure is a market-intelligence estimate rather than official data, we say so.

The headline: zero duty, and it has been for three years

The New Zealand–United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement entered into force on 31 May 2023. The great majority of customs duties were removed outright on day one, honey among them.[1] Before the agreement, New Zealand honey faced a 16% MFN tariff on entry to the UK.[2] That 16% is still the third-country rate sitting in the UK tariff schedule today for suppliers without a preference — which is exactly why the New Zealand origin of the goods is worth documenting properly.[3]

The effect has been measurable rather than theoretical. MFAT's primary exports update records New Zealand honey exports to the UK rising from NZ$38 million before the FTA to NZ$57 million in the year ending June 2025 — a 50% increase, with 17% of it in that final year alone.[4]

What this means in practice: to claim the preferential rate you need to satisfy the agreement's rules of origin and hold the documentation to prove it. For single-origin New Zealand Mānuka that is a straightforward test — the honey is harvested, extracted, tested, and packed in New Zealand — but the paperwork still has to travel with the shipment.

Mānuka has its own commodity code

This is the detail most guides miss, and it matters. The UK Integrated Online Tariff carries a dedicated ten-digit commodity line for Mānuka honey:

  • 0409 00 00 10 — Natural honey: Mānuka honey
  • 0409 00 00 90 — Natural honey: other

Both sit under HS heading 0409 (natural honey) and both carry the same 16% third-country duty and the same VAT treatment.[3] The split is not about tax. It is about visibility: the UK now counts Mānuka as its own trade flow, separately from the bulk honey market.

Two practical consequences. First, classify to the Mānuka line — declaring genuine Mānuka under the generic "other" code invites questions you don't want to answer at the border. Second, recognise what the existence of that line signals: a market where Mānuka is a distinct, watched, high-value category rather than a niche of a commodity.

VAT: zero-rated

Most food for human consumption is zero-rated for UK VAT, and honey falls inside that treatment rather than in the confectionery exceptions.[5] The tariff entry for the Mānuka line reflects this, showing both the 20% standard rate and the 0% zero rate as available treatments depending on the goods.[3]

Combined with the FTA, that gives an unusually clean landed-cost model for a premium imported food: CIF + 0% duty + 0% VAT + clearance and logistics. Compared with markets that layer a duty on top of a consumption tax, the UK's border cost is close to negligible. Your economics are driven almost entirely by freight, grade, and channel margin — not by the border.

Confirm your own position with your customs agent for the specific consignment; VAT liability follows the goods and the supply, not a generalisation in a guide.

The border process: honey is a product of animal origin

Here is the step that catches people. Honey is classified as a product of animal origin (POAO), which places it under veterinary controls on entry into Great Britain. The Mānuka commodity line itself carries the requirement: subject to veterinary control and presentation of a Common Health Entry Document for Products (CHED-P).[3]

In sequence, that means:

  1. Pre-notify on IPAFFS. The Import of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System is the GB notification platform. The importer (or their agent, registered in their own business details) creates an import notification with all documents attached electronically, and accepts responsibility for the consignment from entry until checks are complete.[6]
  2. Submit the CHED-P in good time. POAO consignments are pre-notified as a CHED-P ahead of arrival at the Border Control Post — plan on the notification being lodged at least 24 hours before arrival, and check the specific requirement with the port health authority at your BCP.[6]
  3. Ship from an approved establishment, with an export health certificate. POAO must come from an establishment approved by the exporting country to trade with GB, and travel with an export health certificate plus the usual commercial set: bill of lading, packing list, commercial invoice.
  4. Clear at a Border Control Post with documentary, identity, and where applicable physical checks.

The practical failure mode is not paying the wrong duty — it is a consignment arriving without a valid pre-notification, and sitting at the border accruing storage while the paperwork catches up. Confirm before your first shipment that your New Zealand supplier is exporting from an approved establishment and can issue the health certificate for the specific consignment, not a generic one.

A note on Northern Ireland: goods moving into NI follow a different regime under the Windsor Framework, including EU honey-labelling rules. If NI is part of your distribution, treat it as a separate compliance question from Great Britain rather than an extension of it.

Labelling: origin is not optional

UK honey labelling sits on two pillars — the Honey (England) Regulations 2015 (with parallel Welsh, Scottish, and Northern Irish instruments) and general food-information law. The core requirement in regulation 17 is that honey cannot be sold unless the country of origin where the honey was harvested is indicated on the label.[7]

Where honey is a blend from more than one country, the regulations permit an alternative expression — "blend of honeys from more than one country", or the EU/non-EU variants — instead of naming each source country.[7] That option exists for practical reasons, and it is also the single sharpest point of difference on a UK shelf.

A jar of single-origin New Zealand Mānuka says New Zealand. A jar of blended honey beside it may say nothing more specific than that it came from more than one country. For a buyer building a premium honey fixture, that contrast is a merchandising asset, not just a compliance box.

Beyond origin, expect the standard pre-packed food set: product name, net quantity in metric units, lot or batch identification, best-before date, storage conditions, and the name and address of the food business operator responsible for the information. Get the artwork approved before the print run, not after the shipment lands.

Proving it's real: the New Zealand side

None of the above matters if the honey isn't genuine Mānuka — and the UK regulator is actively closing in on that question. In February 2025 the Food Standards Agency confirmed it was developing new honey-authenticity testing methods to tackle adulterated imports.[8] Honey fraud is a live enforcement priority in Europe, and a traceable single-origin product is on the right side of that trend.

In New Zealand, any honey exported as "Mānuka" must be tested by an MPI-recognised laboratory against the official scientific definition.[9] That definition is a five-attribute test — four chemical markers plus one DNA marker:[9]

  1. 3-Phenyllactic acid (3-PLA)
  2. 2'-Methoxyacetophenone
  3. 2-Methoxybenzoic acid
  4. 4-Hydroxyphenyllactic acid
  5. DNA from Leptospermum scoparium pollen

Honey meeting all five is classified as monofloral Mānuka (3-PLA ≥ 400 mg/kg) or multifloral Mānuka (3-PLA in the 20–<400 mg/kg range), depending on chemistry.[9] Both are genuine Mānuka under New Zealand law. MPI also issues the official export and health certification that UK border authorities will expect.

What to ask every supplier for: the MPI test results and export certification covering the specific batches you are buying — not a sample certificate from a previous shipment. For a fuller buyer's checklist see our guide to spotting fake Mānuka honey, our walkthrough of how to read a Certificate of Analysis, and our explainer on the Mānuka grading systems.

Why the UK is worth the effort

The UK is not an emerging Mānuka market. It is a mature one, and the numbers say something specific about where the opportunity sits.

  • The UK takes the majority of New Zealand's bulk Mānuka. In 2024, 769 tonnes — 52% of New Zealand's bulk monofloral Mānuka exports — went to the UK, up 64.6% year on year.[10]
  • But it pays the least for it. That bulk flow moved at an average NZ$17.13/kg, some 36% below the all-market average.[10] The UK buys the volume and underpays for it — because bulk honey arrives unbranded and gets its value added by somebody else.
  • Branded New Zealand honey commands a completely different price. Against UK honey imports of roughly US$124 million, New Zealand is only a fraction of the volume yet sits second by value at about US$29 million, at an average of roughly US$18,950 per tonne against China's US$1,080.[11] (Trade-data estimates, not official UK statistics.)
  • Supply is tightening. New Zealand's registered hive numbers are down roughly 42% from the 2019 peak (918,026 to 533,838), and the number of beekeepers running 50 or more hives has fallen from 1,332 to 807.[10] Genuine Mānuka is a finite product and competition for it across the UK, China, India, the Gulf, and the US is real.

Put together, the case is not "the UK is growing" — it is that the UK already understands Mānuka, buys enormous quantities of it as an anonymous input, and rewards the small share that arrives with a brand, a certificate, and a country of origin on the front of the jar.

What a UK importer should do next

1. Classify to 0409 00 00 10. Use the dedicated Mānuka commodity line, and confirm the current duty and VAT treatment for your consignment on the UK Integrated Online Tariff.

2. Document origin for the FTA preference. Zero duty is not automatic — it follows from meeting the NZ–UK FTA rules of origin and holding the evidence.

3. Sort the veterinary side before you book freight. Confirm your supplier's establishment is approved to trade with GB, that they can issue the export health certificate for your batches, and that your agent is registered on IPAFFS.

4. Pre-notify early. Lodge the CHED-P ahead of arrival — a minimum of 24 hours, and check the specific expectation with the port health authority at your BCP.

5. Approve label artwork before the print run. Country of origin, metric net quantity, lot code, best-before, and the responsible food business operator's details.

6. Verify the honey itself. MPI test results and export certification for the specific batches. No certificate, no genuine-Mānuka claim.

7. Lock in supply ahead of demand. Hive numbers are falling. The brands that secure certified supply early are the ones that hold shelf space as the category consolidates.

Working with Nuka in the UK

Nuka is a New Zealand-owned Mānuka brand building distribution in the UK. We source New Zealand's best Mānuka and pack under nine production certifications in a purpose-built New Zealand facility. Every batch is independently tested and travels with its Certificate of Analysis, and we work directly with importers and distributors rather than through intermediaries — so the documentation chain stays clean from source to shelf.

Our range is graded by MGO: MGO 260+, 500+, and 800+ for the core retail ladder, with higher grades available. Every jar is independently traceable through our batch verification tool, and our certifications page sets out exactly what we hold.

If you are a UK importer, distributor, farm shop or delicatessen buyer, or online seller, get in touch for current wholesale pricing, certificates, and samples. You can also read more about our UK market approach.

Sources

  1. "New Zealand–United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement" (in force 31 May 2023) — NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT). View →
  2. "New Zealand Honey Industry Welcomes UK Free Trade Deal" (tariff on NZ honey to the UK was 16% prior to the agreement) — Scoop / Apiculture New Zealand, May 2023. View →
  3. Commodity 0409 00 00 10 — Natural honey: Mānuka honey (third-country duty 16%; VAT 20% / 0%; veterinary control and CHED-P) — UK Integrated Online Tariff, HMRC. View →
  4. "NZ–UK Free Trade Agreement: Primary Exports Update" (NZ honey exports to the UK NZ$38M pre-FTA → NZ$57M year ending June 2025) — MFAT. View →
  5. "Food products (VAT Notice 701/14)" — most food for human consumption is zero-rated; honey is treated as zero-rated food — HM Revenue & Customs. View →
  6. "Import of products, animals, food and feed system (IPAFFS)" — pre-notification requirements for products of animal origin entering Great Britain — GOV.UK / APHA. View →
  7. The Honey (England) Regulations 2015, regulation 17 (country of origin labelling; blend expressions) — legislation.gov.uk. View →
  8. UK Food Standards Agency work on honey-authenticity testing methods (Feb 2025) — FSA. View →
  9. "Mānuka honey testing" — the scientific definition and five-attribute test — NZ Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI). View →
  10. "Bulk Monofloral Mānuka Honey Exports Hit Record Levels in 2024" and "Bulk Mānuka Honey – Should it Stay, or Should it Go?" (769t / 52% to the UK; NZ$17.13/kg; hive numbers) — Apiarist's Advocate, drawing on Stats NZ data, 4 Mar 2025. View →
  11. UK honey import values and average unit prices, 2024 — UN Comtrade data via IndexBox (market-intelligence estimate; treat as indicative, not official statistics). View →

Building distribution in the UK?

Nuka ships certified, batch-traceable Mānuka into the UK duty-free under the NZ–UK FTA. Talk to us about wholesale pricing, certificates, and samples.

Request Wholesale Pricing → Read: How to Spot Fake Mānuka