Kenyan Hass avocados to China: the import requirements buyers should check

The legal basis is GACC Notice 2022 No. 47 (opens in a new tab), issued and in force on 1 June 2022 under a protocol between China's customs administration (GACC) and Kenya's agriculture ministry. The table separates what the notice confirms from what must be checked for each shipment.

The notice covers fresh Hass avocados only. Other varieties, including green-skin types, are not covered by this notice, and frozen or processed avocado products fall under different rules.

Any avocado-producing area of Kenya may supply, provided the orchard, packhouse and fumigation site are registered. Registration records the name, address and code of each site so that a non-compliant lot can be traced back.

We found no dated official harvest calendar for Kenyan avocados that we can cite, so we do not state season months here. Ask each supplier for harvest weeks per growing region and for the fruit available in your arrival window.

Timing also depends on paperwork. The registration list is supplied before each export season, and the import permit must be in place before the contract is signed.

Before export, the fruit must be washed, brushed and sorted, with over-ripe, off-type, scarred, spotted and misshapen fruit removed, and no stems, leaves, roots or soil. Packing material must be clean, sanitary and unused.

Each carton must show in English the fruit name, country, producing area (county or district), the orchard or its registration number, and the packhouse or its registration number. Each carton and pallet must carry "Exported to the People's Republic of China" or the Chinese equivalent. Wooden packaging must meet ISPM 15 (opens in a new tab).

Beyond these legal points, the commercial specification is yours to set. Many buyers use the UNECE avocado standard (opens in a new tab) for class and size codes and add a maturity requirement — general guidance, not a requirement of the notice.

KEPHIS inspects each lot before export. For the first two years after the notice took effect, the sample rate was 2% of each lot with at least 1,200 fruit; it could drop to 1% if no phytosanitary problem occurred. Ask the supplier which rate applies now.

KEPHIS issues the phytosanitary certificate with the container and seal numbers, the fumigation dose, duration and temperature, and an additional declaration that the consignment complies with the Kenya–China avocado protocol and is free from quarantine pests of concern to China.

On arrival, Chinese customs checks the permit, the certificate and the labels, and the fruit must enter through a port approved for imported fruit. Fruit from unregistered sites is refused entry. If live quarantine pests are found, the lot is returned, destroyed or treated, and the sites involved can be suspended for the season.

The notice sets fumigation conditions but no transport temperatures or transit times, and we do not publish any. Ask the supplier and the carrier for the settings they will use for this product and route, and how fumigation, cooling and loading are sequenced.

Containers must be checked for good hygiene before packing. From 1 November 2026, fruit must enter through ports that meet customs supervision conditions, and fruit that has not completed inspection may not be moved, sold or used.

Send one structured request with your specification, volume per shipment and season, arrival window and port. Our team checks which suppliers can show registered sites and current documents, contacts them on your behalf and returns comparable offers. You do not deal with suppliers directly, and we do not represent any supplier as approved by an authority.