What does freeze-dried longan need to clear US, EU, UK and UAE customs?
One code, one origin form, a sulfite result and a dossier that answers every question before it is asked. Freeze-dried longan classifies under HS 0813.40, other dried fruit. Shipped from Vietnam with Form EUR.1, it enters the EU and UK at 0% duty, while longan from Thailand and China still pays the third-country rate. In the US, a new 12.5% Section 301 duty has applied to Vietnamese goods since 24 July 2026, on top of the regular rate, and dried fruit is not on the exemption list. Every FruitBuys container carries the same standard dossier, with a sulfite result below 10 mg/kg on every lot COA, so the most common reason dried longan gets stopped at a border never applies to your shipment.
Which HS code applies, and what duty do you pay in each market?
Longan is not named in the fresh-fruit headings 0801 to 0806, so dried longan, whole balls, halves or pieces, falls under 0813.40, “other dried fruit”. Powder is a different product and a different heading (1106.30), and a sugar-infused or syrup-dried longan can move out of 0813 altogether, so the ingredient line and the code are decided together.
| Market | Code | Reference duty (Vietnam origin) | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|---|
| European Union | CN 0813 40 95 | 0% with Form EUR.1 under the EU–Vietnam Free Trade Agreement; 2.4% third-country rate (EU TARIC) | The EUR.1 in your dossier takes the duty line to zero |
| United Kingdom | 0813 40 95 | 0% with Form EUR.1 under UKVFTA; 2% standard rate | Same saving as the EU, same document |
| United States | HTSUS 0813.40.90 | 2.5% general rate (US Harmonized Tariff Schedule) plus 12.5% Section 301 additional duty on goods of Vietnam from 24 July 2026 (USTR notice), about 15% of customs value in total | Budget the full stack in your landed cost; dried fruit of 0813 is not among the exempted fruit codes |
| UAE / GCC | 0813.40 | GCC common external tariff; budget 5% of CIF value | Your clearing agent applies the national line |
Your broker applies the national line at entry; the codes above are the ones FruitBuys prints on the commercial invoice.
Where Vietnam wins on duty today. Thailand and China, the other two big longan origins, pay 2.4% into the EU. The EU–Thailand free trade talks provisionally closed most chapters in October 2026, but market access is still open and nothing is signed. Until that changes, Vietnamese longan is the only one of the three that lands in the EU duty-free.
What the US tariff does and does not change. The Section 301 duty applies to goods of Vietnam whatever their form, fresh or dried, so it is a cost every US importer of Vietnamese longan carries, not a reason to choose one format over another. What freeze-drying changes is everything around the duty: one kilogram carries the fruit of 8–9.5 kg of fresh longan, ships in a standard dry container with no reefer charges or ripening clock, and arrives with nothing to throw away.
What does a container actually cost to land?
The duty is one line of seven. Put your own freight and price into this sheet, and the comparison between markets, grades and suppliers becomes one page.
| Line | 40 ft HC, whole balls | 40 ft HC, pieces | Where the number comes from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net product | 7,840 kg | 10,080–11,200 kg | 1,120 cartons at 7 kg or 9–10 kg |
| Fresh-fruit equivalent | about 65–75 t | about 80–100 t | 8–9.5 kg fresh per kg |
| A. Product value (FOB Cat Lai) | your quote | your quote | FruitBuys RFQ |
| B. Ocean freight, dry container | your forwarder | your forwarder | No reefer, no plug-in at the port |
| C. Insurance | your policy | your policy | Usually a small share of A + B |
| D. Duty | A + B + C × 0% (EU, UK with EUR.1) · A × 15% (US) · (A + B + C) × 5% (UAE) | same | Table above |
| E. Port, broker, inspection | your broker | your broker | Local |
| Landed cost per kg | (A + B + C + D + E) ÷ 7,840 | ÷ 10,080–11,200 |
Two things fall out of the sheet. First, pieces put 30–40% more kilograms into the same box, so every fixed line (freight, port, broker) is spread thinner; choose them wherever shape is not seen. Second, in the US the duty is charged on the customs value of the goods, while in the EU and UAE it is charged on a CIF basis, which is why the formula differs by market.
Which documents travel with every container?
FruitBuys ships a standard export dossier with every container, so your broker files on arrival without a document chase.
| Document | What it does for you |
|---|---|
| Commercial invoice and packing list | Customs value, HS code, carton count, lot codes |
| Bill of lading | Title to the goods |
| Certificate of origin: Form EUR.1 (EU, UK) or the form for your market | Claims the 0% preferential rate in the EU and UK |
| Phytosanitary certificate | Included with every shipment |
| Lot COA | Moisture, water activity, total plate count, yeasts and moulds, E. coli, Salmonella and sulfite, from an independent ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratory |
| US FDA facility registration number (US) | For your Prior Notice and FSVP file |
On the phytosanitary certificate. Freeze-dried longan is peeled, deseeded and dried, and heading 0813 covers dried fruit only, so the plant-health certificate rules written for fresh fruit do not apply to it in the EU, UK, US or UAE. FruitBuys includes a phytosanitary certificate with every shipment anyway, as part of its standard export dossier: when an inspector sees “longan” on the invoice and asks for plant-health papers, the answer is already in the file.
Why does sulfite decide whether dried longan clears?
Because it is where dried longan most often fails. Traditional dried longan has long been sulfur-fumigated to hold colour, and recalls for undeclared sulfites keep coming: Singapore recalled China-origin longan pulp in March 2026, US authorities flagged dried longan with undeclared sulfites in January 2024, and Hong Kong found a breach in 2022. The rule behind every one of those cases is the same:
| Market | Rule | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| EU, UK | Sulfur dioxide and sulphites at 10 mg/kg or more (as SO₂) must be declared as an allergen | Above the line, “contains sulphites” in bold on the pack |
| US | Sulfites at 10 ppm or more must be declared | Undeclared sulfites are a recall, not a relabel |
| UAE / GCC | Sulfites declared in line with GCC labelling rules | Arabic label must match the lab result |
FruitBuys longan is never fumigated, and every lot COA carries a sulfite result below 10 mg/kg, so your pack can read “unsulfured” with nothing to declare. Ask every supplier for that number on the COA, including FruitBuys: a lot without it is the lot that gets held.
Will freeze-dried longan face extra checks at the EU border?
No, on current rules. Longan from Vietnam, fresh or dried, is not listed in the version in force from February 2026 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1793, the EU list of foods under increased official controls. Freeze-dried longan clears EU ports through routine controls, with no mandatory border sampling quota. The list is reviewed every six months, and FruitBuys checks the current version at contract stage.
Which tests should you plan before the container is stuffed?
The lot COA covers safety and stability. Three optional panels cover what importers and retailers in each market ask about longan specifically; FruitBuys books them at an independent ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratory in Vietnam, paid by the buyer or shared by volume, with results in 3–5 working days, planned into the booking date.
| Panel | Why buyers ask for it on longan | Who asks |
|---|---|---|
| Pesticide multi-residue | Standard EU and UK retail entry test; read against limits set on fresh fruit | EU, UK retailers; US private label |
| Chlorate | Potassium chlorate is a common tool in Southeast Asian longan orchards to bring trees into flower out of season; the EU sets chlorate limits for fruit under Regulation (EU) 2020/749 | EU and UK importers who know the crop |
| Cadmium and extended microbiology | Retailer specifications, Listeria and Enterobacteriaceae for ready-to-eat claims | Large retailers, baby and toddler lines |
The chlorate screen is the one most suppliers never mention. FruitBuys knows the orchard practice behind year-round longan and books the screen before stuffing for EU and UK programmes, so the result is in your QA file before the vessel sails rather than in a retailer’s audit after it lands.
Reading a dry-product result. EU and US limits are set on fresh fruit, and drying concentrates everything that is not water. Convert the result back before comparing:
Processing factor = (100 − moisture of dried product) ÷ (100 − moisture of fresh aril)
For longan aril at about 83% water dried to 4%, the factor is 5.6. Divide the dry-product result by 5.6 to get the fresh-fruit equivalent, then compare it with the limit for fresh longan. Your QA team gets the conversion with the lab report.
What goes on the label in each market?
- Ingredient line: “longan”. No sulfite declaration when the lot result is below 10 mg/kg.
- Allergens: longan is not one of the major allergens in the EU, UK or US; FruitBuys confirms cross-contact controls at the facility in the specification.
- Nutrition: US Nutrition Facts per serving, EU and UK per 100 g, Arabic labelling for UAE retail. FruitBuys runs a nutrition panel on your commercial lot for the printed label; the numbers and the potassium and no-added-sugar claims they support are in longan calories and sugar, fresh vs dried.
- US filing: Prior Notice for each shipment and FSVP records for the supplier; FruitBuys supplies the facility registration number, specification and lot COA.
- UAE retail: product registration through Montaji (Dubai) or ZAD (Abu Dhabi), Arabic labels on retail packs; FruitBuys supplies the specification, COA and facility documents.
Fit note. This guide covers the US, EU, UK and UAE. For another destination, name it in your RFQ and FruitBuys prepares the certificate of origin, health documents and test panel that market expects before the container is stuffed.
Get the document set for your market
Send your destination port and the panels your customer asks for, and FruitBuys returns the specification, the document list for that market and a sample lot COA, ready for your broker. The specification behind the COA is in what moisture, water activity and COA freeze-dried longan should ship with; why one kilogram takes 8–9.5 kg of fresh fruit is in how many kilos of fresh longan make 1 kg of freeze-dried longan; full details are on the freeze-dried longan product page. Every line a firm quote needs, market panels included, is in the freeze-dried longan RFQ checklist.
FAQ
What is the HS code for dried longan?
HS 0813.40, other dried fruit: CN 0813 40 95 in the EU and UK, HTSUS 0813.40.90 in the US. Longan powder is classified separately under 1106.30.
What duty does freeze-dried longan from Vietnam pay in the EU?
0% with Form EUR.1 under the EU–Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, instead of the 2.4% third-country rate that Thai and Chinese longan pay.
What is the US duty on dried longan from Vietnam?
2.5% general rate plus the 12.5% Section 301 additional duty on goods of Vietnam since 24 July 2026, about 15% of customs value. Your broker confirms the stack on the entry date.
Does dried longan contain sulfites?
Traditional dried longan often does, from sulfur fumigation. FruitBuys freeze-dried longan is unsulfured, with a sulfite result below 10 mg/kg on every lot COA, so nothing needs declaring.
Is Vietnamese longan under increased EU border checks?
No. It is not listed under the EU increased-controls regulation, so it clears through routine controls.
Does freeze-dried longan need a phytosanitary certificate?
Plant-health certificate rules for fresh fruit do not apply to dried fruit of heading 0813. FruitBuys includes one with every shipment anyway, so an inspector’s question is answered in the file.
Why would an importer test longan for chlorate?
Potassium chlorate is a common tool in Southeast Asian longan orchards for out-of-season flowering, and the EU sets chlorate limits for fruit. FruitBuys books a chlorate screen before stuffing for EU and UK programmes, so the answer is ready before a retailer asks.
How do I compare a residue result on freeze-dried longan with the EU limit?
Divide the result by the processing factor of 5.6 to get the fresh-fruit equivalent, then compare it with the limit for fresh longan.
