Wholesale · Mexico · 2026
We supply Japanese matcha to cafes and importers from 5 kg per order, milled after you order in Japan. Mexico has two trade agreements with Japan, and for green tea only one of them takes the duty to zero. Mexico also has its own rule on Spanish labels at the border, and it depends on the size of the bag. This page explains which agreement to use, who imports, why post and the courier shortcut do not suit matcha, and how samples and orders travel from Japan.
Key takeaways
Japanomars at a glance
In this guide
Mexico classifies green tea in packs of 3 kg or less as 0902.10.01, and green tea in larger packs as 0902.20.01. The standard (most-favoured-nation) duty on both is 20%. Japan and Mexico have two agreements that could lower it, and for green tea they give very different results:
| What the importer claims | Duty on Japanese green tea | What it takes |
|---|---|---|
| Nothing (standard rate) | 20% | |
| Japan-Mexico EPA (2005) | 20%: green tea is excluded from the tariff cuts | |
| Japan-Mexico EPA, inside the green tea quota | Half the standard rate | A quota certificate from Mexico’s Ministry of Economy. 500 tonnes a year, first come, first served |
| CPTPP | 0% | A statement of origin for the shipment |
From the Ministry of Economy agreement on rates for goods of Japanese origin (DOF, August 31, 2022), the green tea quota fact sheet, and Mexico’s CPTPP tariff schedule (Annex 2-D).
Buyers who know that Japan and Mexico have had a trade agreement since 2005 often assume it covers tea. For green tea it does not, and the quota under it is a 50% cut, not a zero. The 0% comes from the CPTPP, where Mexico removed the duty on 0902.10.01 and 0902.20.01 on the day the agreement entered into force.
The CPTPP also works differently on paper. There is no chamber of commerce certificate: origin is declared in a statement of origin made out by the exporter, the producer or the importer. We provide a CPTPP statement of origin with each shipment. Your importer’s customs broker claims the rate on the import declaration (pedimento).
You may have read that Mexico raised duties on more than 1,400 tariff lines from January 1, 2026. That increase does not apply to goods originating in countries that have a trade agreement with Mexico, and Japanese matcha claimed under the CPTPP is in that group.
To import into Mexico, a business needs a place on the importers’ register (Padrón de Importadores) of the tax authority, SAT. The conditions include a valid RFC tax number, an e.firma electronic signature, and a customs broker (agente aduanal) named to act for it. Tea is not one of the sectors that need an extra, sector-specific register in 2026.
On the regulatory side, green tea (0902) does not appear on the lists of goods that need import clearance from the health regulator, COFEPRIS, or from the agriculture ministry, SADER, in the versions we checked (2022 and 2021). Ask your broker to confirm against the current lists before the first shipment.
For a cafe, that leaves two setups:
One thing you do not need to plan for: Mexico has lifted the import restrictions it placed on Japanese food after 2011.
Many small food orders reach other countries by post. For Mexico, Japan Post lists powdered goods as a prohibited item for letters, parcels and EMS, and goods over 1,000 pesos in value need the permission of the Mexican authorities. We do not send matcha to Mexico by post.
Express couriers have a simplified procedure in Mexico, but it does not suit matcha either:
So a commercial order of matcha enters Mexico the normal way: a full import declaration by your importer’s customs broker, which is where the CPTPP 0% is claimed. There are two ways to get it there. Your importer’s cargo agent collects from the pickup point in Japan and flies the lot to Mexico (EXW), or we ship by express courier for a formal entry by your broker. We confirm with the courier that it accepts the shipment before we send it.
Because we mill after you order rather than ship from a warehouse, allow 2 to 4 weeks from order to delivery, shipping included, and 8 to 10 weeks around the first harvest in spring. Our dosing chart turns drinks per day into kilograms per month.
Mexico’s food label standard, NOM-051, covers pre-packaged food for consumers, imported or made in Mexico. Labels are in Spanish (other languages can appear alongside) and state the country of origin. It does not apply to food sold in bulk.
What makes Mexico different is when the rule is checked. The Ministry of Economy keeps a list of goods that must meet certain standards at the moment they enter the country, and green tea in packs of 3 kg or less (0902.10.01) is on the NOM-051 part of it. Green tea in packs over 3 kg (0902.20.01) is not. For listed goods, the importer has three ways through:
So a 1 kg bag for cafes and a bag of more than 3 kg can be treated differently at the border. Tell us how your importer plans to meet NOM-051. We can pack in bags over 3 kg, or apply the Spanish label your importer provides to 1 kg bags before shipping. Whether the front-of-pack warning seals apply to a plain matcha with no added sugar, fat or sodium is a question for your verification unit.
Mexico’s VAT law applies a 0% rate to food, with exceptions that include drinks other than milk and powders that make soft drinks when diluted. Goods that are zero-rated when sold in Mexico pay no VAT at import either. Whether matcha falls under the 0% rate or the general 16% is not settled in anything we could find from SAT, and private tariff databases disagree. Ask your customs broker how it treats your matcha, and budget for 16% until it confirms.
Japan’s green tea exports to Mexico reached 52,044 kg in 2025, worth about 331 million yen, up from 47,862 kg in 2024. About two thirds of that, 35,737 kg, was tea in powder form. Mexico was the 21st largest market for Japanese green tea that year. The figures come from the Japan Tea Central Council’s tables, built on Japan’s trade statistics.
Post is closed to powders, so for Mexico there are two ways to get samples: to your agent or forwarder in Japan, where only domestic shipping applies, or by express courier to your importer. For any other route, ask us and we will look at it with your broker.
The sample cost comes off your first bulk order if you place it within a month of the samples arriving.
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, what you pour now, and who will import. We will pick lots that fit your menu and plan the bags and labels with your broker. 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, Australia and New Zealand, the UAE, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Hong Kong.
The standard rate is 20%. Under the CPTPP, Japanese green tea is duty-free, claimed by your importer’s customs broker with a statement of origin. The Japan-Mexico EPA does not reduce the duty on green tea except inside a 500-tonne quota, where it halves it.
Green tea is excluded from its tariff cuts. Inside its quota, which needs a certificate from the Ministry of Economy, the duty is half the standard rate, not zero. The CPTPP gives 0%.
Whoever imports the matcha needs a place on SAT’s importers’ register and a customs broker. A cafe without them buys through a Mexican importer. Tea does not need a sector-specific register.
Green tea in packs of 3 kg or less is on the list of goods that must meet NOM-051 when they enter Mexico, so the Spanish label is on before arrival, a verification unit certifies it, or it goes on in a bonded warehouse. Packs over 3 kg are not on that list.
No. Japan Post lists powdered goods as prohibited for mail and EMS to Mexico. Orders travel as cargo for a full customs entry by your importer’s broker.
No. Importing into Mexico needs a registered importer and a customs broker, so your importer clears the shipment and pays any tax due. We prepare the commercial invoice, packing list and CPTPP statement of origin.
5 kg per order in total, the same everywhere we ship, and you can mix grades.
Hiroshi Asami is the founder of Japanomars, which exports Japanese matcha to cafes in the United States, Canada, the Philippines and Europe. He sources through direct relationships with growers and processors across Japan, including the Uji area of Kyoto.
Sources
