How to Export Indian Tea to South Korea (2026): Tea Board Licence, MFDS Testing, Duty & Shipping
Korean café chains, tea boutiques and online sellers are buying Darjeeling, Assam and masala chai blends from India. This guide covers the licences, Korea's strict pesticide testing, the tariff position on tea, and how to ship small and mid-size lots profitably.
Key takeaways
- You need a Tea Board of India exporter licence plus IEC and GST/LUT; Darjeeling must carry the GI certification.
- Korea's MFDS tests tea against its Positive List System for pesticides — 0.01 ppm default where no MRL exists — so demand a residue report from your garden.
- Korea protects domestic tea heavily: black tea (HS 0902.30/40) faces a high MFN tariff; confirm the CEPA preferential rate for your exact line before quoting.
- Air express DDP from ₹609/kg (21 kg+) in 5–8 days suits café and boutique orders of 20–200 kg; vacuum-packed, nitrogen-flushed packs protect aroma.
Quick answer
To export Indian tea to South Korea: hold a Tea Board exporter licence, IEC and GST/LUT; work with a Korean importer who files the MFDS import declaration; ensure your tea passes Korea's pesticide Positive List System; confirm the tariff line and CEPA rate; and ship in aroma-safe packaging. ShipKorea.in delivers DDP door-to-door from ₹609/kg in 5–8 days and pre-checks your documents so first shipments are not stuck in testing.
The Korean market for Indian tea
Korea's café culture is shifting from coffee-only menus to premium teas. Darjeeling first flush, Assam CTC for milk tea and masala chai concentrates are stocked by specialty tea shops in Seoul (Yeonnam, Seongsu, Hannam), by online tea sellers on Naver Smart Store, and by Indian restaurants. Chai latte is a fast-growing café item, driving demand for ready masala chai blends and instant premixes. Buyers want consistent grades, English + Korean spec sheets and small repeat orders.
Licences and registrations in India
Tea Board of India Exporter Licence (mandatory for tea exports under the Tea (Marketing) Control Order), IEC from DGFT, GST with LUT, AD code at the airport of export, and FSSAI licence for the blending/packing unit. For Darjeeling, use the Darjeeling GI logo only with Tea Board authorisation. For organic claims, an APEDA-recognised organic certificate (NPOP) is required, and Korea additionally requires equivalence/certification recognition for 'organic' labelling — check before printing packs.
MFDS import declaration and pesticide testing
Tea is food under Korea's Food Sanitation Act and Imported Food Safety Control Act. The Korean importer files the declaration with MFDS; first imports of a new product are sampled and tested. Korea applies the Positive List System (PLS): any pesticide without a Korea-specific MRL is limited to 0.01 ppm. This catches many Indian teas on compounds permitted in India. Insist on a recent multi-residue analysis (ideally from an NABL lab tested against Korean MRLs) before you ship, and prefer gardens with EU/Japan-compliant programmes. Fluoride and heavy metals may also be checked.
Tariff position — read this before quoting
South Korea protects domestic green tea with one of the world's highest tariffs (several hundred percent on HS 0902.10/20 out-of-quota), and applies a high MFN rate (historically 40%) on black tea HS 0902.30 and 0902.40. Tea is a sensitive line in the India–Korea CEPA, so preferential reductions are partial or staged rather than zero. Ask us for the current applied rate for your 10-digit Korean HSK code — it changes the landed price materially. 10% VAT applies on the duty-paid value. Masala chai premixes with sugar/milk powder classify differently (HS 2101/2106) and usually attract lower duty than pure tea.
Packaging that protects aroma in transit
Tea absorbs moisture and odour. Use aluminium-laminated, nitrogen-flushed or vacuum pouches for loose leaf; pyramid bags in individually sealed envelopes; and rigid outer cartons lined with kraft paper. Never pack tea with spices in the same carton. Retail packs need Korean labels: product name, ingredients, net weight, origin, manufacturer, importer, best-before and storage instructions. Bulk 5–20 kg lots for Korean blenders can ship in food-grade PP bags inside cartons.
Shipping and costs
Air express door-to-door DDP: ₹749/kg for sample lots to ₹609/kg at 21 kg+, 5–8 days — right for 20–200 kg café and boutique orders. Larger lots go as consolidated air cargo (7–10 days) or sea LCL from Kolkata/Chennai to Busan (4–6 weeks) when volume exceeds ~500 kg. A 25 kg Darjeeling order lands in Seoul for about ₹15,225 in freight/duty handling by air, with the tea's own duty confirmed in your written quote. Related: export spices to Korea and food to Korea rules.
Sampling before the big order
Korean buyers almost always cup samples first. Send 100–500 g of each grade with a spec sheet (garden, grade, harvest, residue report) as a documented trade sample. We ship samples at standard per-kg rates with the right 'commercial sample' declaration — see sample shipments to Korean buyers.
