Tea Importers in Saudi Arabia and the UAE: Vietnam Guide

Saudi Arabia imported 49,746 tons of tea worth US$310.7 million in 2025, and the UAE re-exports tea to half the region from its free zones. Both markets set the same two questions for tea importers in Saudi Arabia and the UAE who look at Vietnam: where does Vietnamese tea fit on price, and what does it take to register, label and ship it in 2026, a year in which the Strait of Hormuz has been all but closed? This guide answers both, with the official rules and the routes that still work.

Checked in October 2026 against UN Comtrade data, SFDA and Dubai Municipality requirements as summarised by the USDA, the GCC tariff and shipping reports. Confirm registrations, duty lines and routings with your broker and forwarder before each order.

The price ladder: what each origin costs in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia's own import data for 2025 shows how differently each origin is priced. The values are CIF, per ton, so they include freight:

Source: UN Comtrade, as reported by Saudi Arabia; averages are our calculation.

Vietnam is the lowest-priced major origin in the Saudi market, at about a third of the Ceylon price and 30% below Kenya. That makes Vietnamese tea a blending and value origin: it lowers the cost of a blend whose character comes from Ceylon or Kenyan tea, or it carries a private-label range where price decides. Black tea is about 93% of Saudi tea imports by value, split between bulk tea for local packers and tea already packed abroad; green tea is a small but growing niche.

Grades that fit Gulf blends

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

Cardamom tea deserves a note. Our cardamom teas are Pekoe black or Pekoe green tea flavored with cardamom, so a packer can launch a cardamom line without blending the spice in-house. Our flavored tea guide describes the jasmine and Earl Grey range as well.

Duties and VAT

• Customs duty: 0%. Tea enters both Saudi Arabia and the UAE duty-free under the GCC common tariff, in bulk and in retail packs. A Saudi tariff revision in June 2026 changed 51 food lines but left tea untouched.
• VAT: 15% in Saudi Arabia, 5% in the UAE.
• Vietnam–UAE CEPA: the agreement has been in force since 3 February 2026, but because tea already enters the UAE at 0%, it brings no duty saving on tea.
• Flavored blends: jasmine, Earl Grey and cardamom tea normally stay in heading 0902, but a blend with herbs or extracts can fall under another heading. Confirm the 12-digit line with your broker.

Saudi Arabia: SFDA registration and labels

Registration is the importer's job. Every food product must be registered in the importer's SFDA e-account before it can enter the kingdom, with its HS code, barcode, ingredients in Arabic and English, a photo and the label. Registration is free and does not expire, but each importer registers the product itself, even if another importer has registered the same product. Whether SFDA also requires a foreign tea factory to be registered is not settled in the sources we checked, so the importer should confirm it in the e-account.

Labels:

• Arabic, or an Arabic translation, with name, packer, country of origin, ingredients and shelf life.
• Only one Arabic sticker, designed and printed by the manufacturer.
• Production and expiry dates printed or embossed by the producer, never on a sticker.
• Tea repacked in the kingdom keeps its origin: "Product of Vietnam, packed in KSA by …".

Pesticide residues: SFDA applies its own standard first, then Codex, and where neither sets a limit, the lower of the EU and US limits. For tea that last rule is strict, so ask for a residue test on the actual lot; our SGS test report on green tea shows what such a report looks like.

Halal and conformity:

• We found no Saudi rule that requires a halal certificate for plain tea. If the pack makes a halal claim, the certificate must come from a body recognised by the SFDA Halal Center.
• SFDA's pre-shipment certificate of conformity is voluntary for food from Vietnam. It is mandatory for tea from Sri Lanka, including Ceylon tea shipped through third countries, which matters if a blend containing Ceylon tea is packed outside Sri Lanka.
• Black tea quality is set by GSO ISO 3720, the Gulf adoption of the international black tea standard.

The UAE: Dubai registration and the tea hub

Registration: the importer registers each product, and each pack size, in the federal ZAD system or, in Dubai, through Dubai Municipality's portals. Dubai approves labels even for tea that is only re-exported, and it laboratory-tests products registered for the first time.

Labels: loose tea is exempt from the expiry date requirement but must show a production date.

The DMCC Tea Centre: opened in 2005 in the Jebel Ali Free Zone, the centre stores about 43,000 tons of tea a year in temperature-controlled warehouses and offers CTC and orthodox blending, tea bag and loose packing and flavoring. Traders use it to hold bulk tea from several origins in one place and to blend for markets across the Gulf, Iraq, the CIS and beyond.

Shipping in 2026: around Hormuz

Jebel Ali and Dammam both lie inside the Gulf, behind the Strait of Hormuz, which has been all but closed to commercial shipping since March 2026. In the second quarter of 2026 Jebel Ali handled 90% fewer containers than a year earlier. The trade has moved:

• To the UAE's east coast and Oman. Cargo for the UAE now lands at Khor Fakkan or Fujairah, or at Sohar in Oman, and goes on by truck. Khor Fakkan's weekly volume grew about eightfold.
• To Jeddah for Saudi Arabia. The Red Sea port became the kingdom's gateway, with trucks to Riyadh (about 950 km) and Dammam (about 1,400 km). Carriers also run road corridors from Jeddah to the other Gulf states and Iraq.

What this means for a tea buyer:

1. Ask for FOB Hai Phong and book freight yourself or through your forwarder, so you can choose the gateway.
2. Expect longer and costlier transits than before 2026, and congestion at the gateway ports.
3. Write routing changes into the contract: who pays if the carrier discharges at a different port.

Payment and trade fairs

Letters of credit are widely used in both markets, and the US government's trade guides advise exporters to the Gulf to use LCs, ideally with export credit insurance. We agree the terms in the proforma invoice before production.

Gulfood, the region's main food fair, is scheduled for 15–19 March 2027 in Dubai. It is a useful place to cup Vietnamese tea against the origins you buy today; check travel advice before you plan the trip.

Frequently asked questions

Is there import duty on tea in Saudi Arabia? No. Tea is duty-free in Saudi Arabia under the GCC common tariff. VAT of 15% applies.

Does tea need a halal certificate for Saudi Arabia? No rule we found requires one for plain tea. If the label claims halal, the certificate must come from a body recognised by the SFDA Halal Center.

Who registers imported tea with SFDA? The Saudi importer, in its own SFDA e-account, for each product. The supplier provides the product details, photos and documents the registration needs.

Where does Saudi Arabia import tea from? Mainly from Sri Lanka and the UAE, followed by Jordan, Kenya and India. Vietnam supplied 2,388 tons in 2025, at the lowest average price of the major origins.

How do I ship tea to Dubai while Hormuz is closed? Through the UAE's east coast ports, Khor Fakkan or Fujairah, or through Sohar in Oman, with the last leg by truck. Your forwarder will quote the current options.

Request samples for the Gulf

Goo Farm Tea Vietnam makes orthodox and CTC black tea, green tea and flavored tea at factories in Phu Tho and Yen Bai; the Yen Bai factory is ISO 22000:2018 certified. Tell us the origins you blend today, your pack formats and your gateway port, and we will send samples with an indicative quotation and the documents your registration needs. Contact us.

Sources

• UN Comtrade, tea imports reported by Saudi Arabia, HS 0902, 2025, accessed 28 October 2026.
• USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, FAIRS Country Report, Saudi Arabia, SA2025-0013, July 2025, and FAIRS Country Report, UAE, TC2025-0008, November 2025.
• US International Trade Administration, Saudi Arabia: import tariffs and trade financing, May 2026.
• EY, Saudi Arabia revises customs duty rates on selected agricultural and food tariff items, 20 July 2026.
• Intertek, SFDA certification programme: exporter guidelines, December 2024.
• TradeArabia, UAE–Vietnam CEPA enters into force, 3 February 2026.
• DMCC, DMCC Tea Centre, accessed October 2026.
• Semafor, Gulf's biggest port, Jebel Ali, waits for the war to end, 2 September 2026.
• Enterprise AM, Gulf container trade shifts to ports outside Hormuz, 19 October 2026.
• The Loadstar, Jeddah emerges as Gulf supply chain lifeline, 17 March 2026.
• Austrade, Gulfood 2027, accessed October 2026.