Wholesale · Australia & New Zealand · 2026
We ship Japanese matcha from Japan to cafes in Australia, from 5 kg per order, milled to order. For plain matcha, Australia is one of the simplest markets in the world to import into: no duty, no GST, no import permit. The one thing that changes that is a blend. This page explains both, then food safety and timing, and closes with New Zealand, where the border works differently.
Key takeaways
In this guide
Four separate rules would normally add cost or paperwork at the Australian border. For plain matcha, every one of them comes out at zero:
| What | For plain matcha | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Customs duty | Free, for any origin; Free again under JAEPA for Japanese goods | Australian Border Force, Customs Tariff Schedule 3, chapter 9 |
| GST on import | None: tea is a GST-free ingredient for beverages | Australian Taxation Office |
| Biosecurity import permit | Not required for tea made purely of Camellia sinensis | Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry |
| Mandatory inspection on arrival | Not required for pure Camellia sinensis tea | Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry |
Checked September 29, 2026.
On top of that, consignments with a customs value of AUD 1,000 or less pay no duty or GST at the border at all, and a set of samples sits well under that. We ship DDP in any case, so nothing is collected at your door.
The zero-permit rule covers tea made purely of Camellia sinensis. The Department of Agriculture is explicit that all other teas are classed as herbal teas, and herbal teas can contain higher-risk plant material, so their conditions vary by ingredient. Some need an import permit and a herbal tea questionnaire lodged through BICON, the department’s import conditions system.
For a cafe that means a simple rule. Plain matcha, in any grade, is the easy case. Genmaicha with matcha, matcha mixed with fruit or botanicals, or any ready-made blend should be checked against the BICON case for tea before you order it. If you want a blend for your menu, the simplest route is usually to import plain matcha and blend in Australia.
Biosecurity and food safety are two separate systems in Australia. Even without a biosecurity permit, imported food must comply with the Imported Food Control Act 1992 and the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code, and the Imported Food Inspection Scheme may pick any consignment for inspection and testing. If you sell matcha in retail packs, the labelling rules of the Food Standards Code apply to those packs.
| Item | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Latte grade matcha | About $100 to $160 per kg, quoted at 1 kg | Our collection list |
| Ceremonial grade matcha | About $160 to $210 per kg, quoted at 1 kg | Our collection list |
| EMS to Australia, parcel of around 5 kg | 13,000 yen | Japan Post published EMS rate (zone 3) |
| Sample shipping | US$25 flat | Our terms |
| Duty and GST | None for plain matcha; we ship DDP | ABF, ATO, our terms |
Yen amounts are converted at the exchange rate on the day of the invoice. Japan Post gives delivery days to Australia by postcode rather than one national figure.
Japan picks its first harvest in spring, from late April into May. In Australia that is autumn, so the new season’s matcha reaches you heading into winter, and your busiest iced-drink months, December to February, fall in the middle of Japan’s winter.
Because we mill after you order, allow 2 to 4 weeks from order to delivery, shipping included, and 8 to 10 weeks around the first harvest. For an Australian summer menu, order before the end of spring so the stock is on your shelf when the heat arrives. Our dosing chart turns iced drinks per day into kilograms per month. New Zealand shares the same southern seasons, so the same timing applies there.
We also ship to cafes in New Zealand. It is easy to treat it as the same market as Australia: the two countries share one Food Standards Code and the same seasons. At the border, though, most of the lines come out differently, and one of them decides how your order has to be set up.
| Plain matcha from Japan | Australia | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|
| Customs duty on green tea | Free under the Australian tariff | Free under the Normal Tariff (0902.10.00 and 0902.20.00) |
| GST on import | None: tea is GST-free | 15% on value, freight and duty, collected when the shipment is over NZ$1,000 |
| Who must be the importer | We can act as the importer | A New Zealand resident registered with MPI as a food importer, for any food imported for sale |
| Biosecurity for pure Camellia sinensis | No permit and no mandatory inspection | No certification and no inspection requirement |
| EMS from Tokyo, about 5 kg | 13,000 yen; days by postcode | 13,000 yen; 9 days standard |
| How we ship | DDP | Not DDP: you or your registered agent clear the goods and pay GST |
Checked November 9, 2026. New Zealand Customs Service, Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), Japan Post.
The registered food importer. This is the line that matters most. Under the Food Act 2014, every consignment of food imported for sale into New Zealand needs a New Zealand resident who is registered with MPI as a food importer. A company in Japan cannot fill that role, so we do not ship to New Zealand on DDP terms. Either your business registers, or you import through a customs broker or agent who is already a registered food importer. MPI lists the application fee as NZ$116.44 including GST, with a yearly renewal of NZ$77.63, and allows up to 20 working days to process it, so start before your first bulk order. Put the Customs client code linked to that registration on the entry: consignments that arrive under an unregistered importer are held at the border.
GST and the NZ$1,000 line. Unlike Australia, tea is not GST-free in New Zealand. Customs works out GST at 15% on the value of the matcha plus freight, insurance and any duty, and collects it once a shipment is worth more than NZ$1,000. Above that line a commercial shipment also needs an import entry, and since April 1, 2026 an air shipment carries a goods levy of NZ$51.81 plus GST per entry. Below NZ$1,000 Customs collects neither duty nor GST. A set of samples sits well under the line; depending on grade, a 5 kg order can fall on either side of it, so plan for an entry.
Duty and bag size. Green tea is listed as Free under New Zealand’s Normal Tariff in the Working Tariff Document effective October 20, 2026, both for packings of 3 kg or less (0902.10.00, which covers our 1 kg bags) and for larger packings (0902.20.00). The rate does not change with bag size, so you can take the 1 kg bags we pack as standard.
Biosecurity. For plain matcha, New Zealand is as simple as Australia. MPI’s Import Health Standard for stored plant products for human consumption lists common tea, the dried leaves of Camellia sinensis, with no certification or inspection requirements, and it needs no import permit. Two practical points: the packaging has to be clean and the product easy to identify, ideally labelled in English, and any plant product for eating that arrives by post must be declared even when no inspection is needed. Herbal blends sit on other lines of the same standard and can be inspected, so check a blend before you order it.
Food safety and labels. Tea is not on MPI’s list of high regulatory interest foods, so it needs no food safety clearance at the border, and it is still absent from the revised list that takes effect on February 1, 2027. Because the Food Standards Code is shared, the labelling rules are the same on both sides of the Tasman: if you repack matcha for retail, the label must carry the contact details of a supplier in New Zealand or Australia.
Samples. We send samples by EMS, described as trade samples that are not for sale. Because the parcel contains food, MPI may open and check it on arrival.
What you get from us is not one farm but access to many. We are connected with farms all over Japan, including the Uji area of Kyoto, and we choose each one ourselves: we visit, we look with our own eyes, and we taste the samples before deciding which farms are the right fit for cafe owners.
We then help connect you directly with those farmers, which gives your brand a real story to tell. And we can invite you to each of those farms on a farm tour.
See who grows our matcha on the farmers and regions page, and compare grades on our collection list.
Tell us your drinks per day and what you pour now. We will pick lots that fit your menu and send samples. The sample cost comes off your first bulk order if you place it within a month of the samples arriving.
Shipping somewhere else? See our wholesale guides for the United States, Canada, the Philippines, Europe, the United Kingdom, the UAE, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, India, Mexico, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Hong Kong.
To compare us with other suppliers on the same terms, see the Australia section of our comparison of 50 matcha wholesale suppliers: minimum order, price, samples, delivery and lab testing for each, with a source link for every entry. It is checked every month.
No. Green tea under tariff items 0902.10.00 and 0902.20.00 has a general rate of Free, and originating goods from Japan are also Free under the Japan-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement.
No. Tea is listed as a GST-free ingredient for beverages in Schedule 2 of the GST Act. Only ready-to-drink tea is excluded, which does not apply to matcha powder.
Not for pure matcha. Tea made purely of Camellia sinensis is treated as minimal biosecurity risk and needs no import permit or mandatory inspection on arrival. Blends with other plant ingredients are classed as herbal teas and may need a permit, so check the BICON case for tea before ordering one.
No. Once tea is mixed with another plant ingredient, such as roasted rice in genmaicha, it falls under the herbal tea conditions, which vary by ingredient. Plain matcha is the simple case.
5 kg per order in total, the same everywhere we ship, and you can mix grades. It can be split into sealed 1 kg bags. Allow 2 to 4 weeks from order to delivery, shipping included.
Yes, by EMS from Japan, with the same 5 kg minimum per order. Japan Post gives 9 days as the standard EMS time from Tokyo to New Zealand. Food imported for sale into New Zealand must come through a New Zealand resident registered with MPI as a food importer, so we do not ship there on DDP terms: your business, or a customs broker who is a registered food importer, clears the goods.
Green tea is listed as Free under New Zealand’s Normal Tariff (items 0902.10.00 and 0902.20.00). GST of 15% applies, calculated on the value plus freight, insurance and duty, and Customs collects it when a shipment is worth more than NZ$1,000. Tea is not GST-free in New Zealand as it is in Australia.
Not plain matcha. MPI’s Import Health Standard for stored plant products for human consumption lists dried Camellia sinensis tea with no certification or inspection requirements. Food sent by post must still be declared, and herbal blends fall under other conditions.
Hiroshi Asami is the founder of Japanomars, which exports Japanese matcha to cafes in the United States, Canada, the Philippines and Europe, sourcing through direct relationships with growers and processors across Japan, including the Uji area of Kyoto.
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