Tea Importers in Russia: Buying Vietnamese Tea in 2026

From Hai Phong, a container of bulk tea reaches Vladivostok in about 8 days, Moscow by rail through China in about 35, and St Petersburg by sea in about 40. Russia bought 5,288 tons of Vietnamese tea in 2025, and 23% more in the first eight months of 2026 than a year earlier. This guide walks tea importers in Russia through the route from a Vietnamese factory to a Russian shelf: the grades that match Russian product classes, duties and VAT in 2026, the EAC declaration, the GOST limits, Chestny ZNAK marking and payment.

Checked in October 2026 against the EAEU customs tariff, the Vietnam–EAEU FTA text, GOST 32573-2013 and 32574-2013, Chestny ZNAK guidance and FESCO schedules. Confirm the details with your customs broker before you contract.

Russia's tea market in brief

• About 104,000 tons of imports in 2025, by one estimate based on national and UN data. Russia stopped publishing full import statistics in 2022, so totals are estimates.
• Origins: India, Kenya and Sri Lanka supply roughly four fifths. Kenya's own data shows 27.4 million kg shipped to Russia in 2025. By the same estimate Vietnam is among the top ten origins, and in UN Comtrade data for 2023, Russia was one of the largest buyers of Vietnamese bulk black tea.
• Black tea dominates, at about 90% of imports, with green tea a smaller, slower market.
• Packed at home: about 95% of mass-market tea sold in Russia is packed in Russian factories, and five companies pack about three quarters of it. That is why bulk tea is the main trade.

Matching Vietnamese grades to Russian product classes

GOST 32573-2013 sorts black tea by form, not by grade name: leaf tea (листовой), granulated tea (гранулированный) and pressed tea. Packers then buy grades to fill each class:

Indicative prices in October 2026; live figures on our Vietnam tea prices page.

For strong tea brewed in a pot, as it is drunk across Russia and the CIS, OP and Pekoe are the grades we suggest sampling first. Our side-by-side test of OPA, OP and Pekoe compares the three, and the FBOP guide explains why "BOP" can mean an orthodox leaf or a CTC granule.

Duties and VAT in 2026

Two points surprise many buyers:

• The Vietnam–EAEU free trade agreement does not lower the duty on tea. Bulk tea already enters duty-free from every origin, and packed tea is excluded from Vietnam's concessions, so it pays the full rate. A Form EAV certificate of origin brings no saving on tea.
• Tea is taxed at the standard VAT rate, 22% since 1 January 2026, not at the 10% rate for listed staple foods.

The duty difference between bulk and packed tea is why most Russian packers import bulk and pack locally.

Conformity: the EAC declaration and GOST limits

EAC declaration. Tea placed on the EAEU market needs a declaration of conformity under TR CU 021/2011 on food safety, registered by an applicant established in the Union: the importer or the foreign maker's authorized representative. The supplier provides the laboratory reports and production details the declaration requires. Labels follow TR CU 022/2011, in Russian, and the product name must contain "черный чай" or "чай черный" for black tea.

GOST limits. The interstate standards set these values:

Write the GOST values, or the stricter ISO 3720 values, into the contract and ask for a test of the lot before shipment.

Phytosanitary status. Bulk tea is on the EAEU list of regulated products in the low-risk group; tea in consumer packs is not on the list. Under Russia's border quarantine rules a phytosanitary certificate is required for high-risk products, while low-risk goods can still be inspected. Many importers ask for a Vietnamese phytosanitary certificate anyway; it is issued in Vietnam before shipment, and your broker will confirm current practice.

Chestny ZNAK marking since April 2026

Since 1 April 2026, tea in consumer packaging sold in Russia must carry a Chestny ZNAK DataMatrix code. For the importer:

1. Register in the system and create product cards in the National Catalogue.
2. Order codes and apply them to each consumer pack, either at the factory abroad or in a Russian customs or logistics warehouse.
3. Report the marking and show the codes in the customs declaration; unmarked goods are not released.

Single sachets of 3 g or less are excluded. A packer who repacks bulk tea marks the packs it produces, as their producer. For buyers of bulk tea the rules mostly concern their own packing line; for private-label packs made in Vietnam, the codes can be applied in Vietnam before loading or in a Russian warehouse after arrival.

Routes from Vietnam to Russia

Carrier figures from FESCO. Rail from Vladivostok to Moscow adds roughly another 10 days or more to the first route.

For Moscow buyers the rail shuttle through China, launched in July 2025, competes with the long sea route through Suez. For the Far East and Siberia, the direct line to Vladivostok is the fastest option.

Payment

Since 2024 Vietnamese banks have checked payments involving Russian companies more strictly. Payments for real goods with a full set of documents (contract, invoice, transport and customs papers) go through, but they can take longer. A ruble–dong settlement channel exists between BIDV and VTB. We agree the currency, bank route and terms in the contract before production, so that payment does not hold up loading.

Frequently asked questions

Is there import duty on tea in Russia? Not on bulk tea in packs over 3 kg, which pays 0% under the EAEU tariff. Tea in packs up to 3 kg pays 12% (green) or 12.5% (black), with a minimum per kilogram. Import VAT is 22%.

Does the Vietnam–EAEU FTA reduce duty on Vietnamese tea? No. Bulk tea is duty-free from every origin anyway, and packed tea is excluded from the agreement's concessions.

Do I need Chestny ZNAK codes for bulk tea? The marking rules apply to tea in consumer packaging. The packer who puts bulk tea into retail packs applies the codes. Confirm your case with the Chestny ZNAK operator.

Which Vietnamese tea suits Russian leaf tea blends? Whole-leaf orthodox grades, OPA, OP and Pekoe, for large and medium leaf tea; CTC grades for granulated tea; fannings and BPS for tea bags.

How long does shipping from Vietnam to Moscow take? About 35 days by rail through China, or about 40 days by sea to St Petersburg. The direct sea line to Vladivostok takes about 8 days.

Request samples for the Russian market

Goo Farm Tea Vietnam makes orthodox and CTC black tea and green tea at factories in Phu Tho and Yen Bai; the Yen Bai factory is ISO 22000:2018 certified. Tell us the product class you pack, the grades you buy today and your delivery point, and we will send samples with an indicative quotation and the test data your declaration needs. Contact us.

Sources

• IFCG, EAEU tariff entries for 0902 40 000 0, 0902 20 000 0, 0902 10 000 9 and 0902 30 000 9, accessed October 2026.
• Eurasian Economic Commission, Free Trade Agreement between the EAEU and Vietnam (Russian text), and annex to Decision No. 36.
• Eurasian Economic Commission, list of regulated products, as amended in 2023.
• Retail.ru, Federation Council approves VAT increase to 22%, 26 November 2025.
• GOST 32573-2013 Black tea and GOST 32574-2013 Green tea.
• TKS.ru, mandatory importer registration for tea and other beverages, 14 November 2025; New Retail, mandatory marking of tea starts in Russia, 1 April 2026; Chestny ZNAK, products not subject to marking, August 2026.
• FESCO, intermodal services from Vietnam, accessed October 2026; Interfax, FESCO and Ratraco launch Vietnam Shuttle, 28 July 2025.
• Kommersant, review of the Russian tea market, 27 November 2025; OSN, interview with the head of Rusteacoffee, February 2024.
• Business Today Kenya, tea industry earnings in 2025, 6 April 2026, citing the Tea Board of Kenya.
• Expert.ru, Vietnamese banks tighten payments for Russian business, 13 August 2025.
• World Bank WITS, Viet Nam exports of bulk black tea, 2023; Vietnam Customs, exports by country, December 2025.