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The short answer
From Nigeria you cannot bring any meat, meat products, milk or dairy products into Great Britain in your luggage (powdered infant milk, infant food and special medical food up to 2kg are the exceptions). Fish is allowed up to 20kg per person, whether dried, smoked, cured, cooked or fresh and gutted. Most fresh fruit and vegetables need a phytosanitary certificate, but plantain, banana, mango, coconut, citrus, pineapple, dates, guava, passion fruit, processed and packaged plant products and certain grains such as rice do not.
The short version
GOV.UK sets out what you can bring into Great Britain for your own use from a country outside the EU, such as Nigeria. The rules are split into animal products (meat, dairy, fish and the like) and plant products (fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds). The pages cited here were last updated on 10 December 2024 and were checked in October 2026. Northern Ireland has different rules, so this article covers arrivals into England, Scotland and Wales.
| Food | Allowed from Nigeria? | Limit or condition |
|---|---|---|
| Meat and meat products (suya, kilishi, dried or smoked meat, ponmo, meat pies) | No | Not allowed in any amount |
| Milk and dairy (wara, milk-based sweets, cheese) | No | Except powdered infant milk, infant food and special medical food, up to 2kg per person |
| Fish: dried, smoked, cured, cooked, or fresh and gutted (stockfish, panla, smoked catfish) | Yes | Up to 20kg per person in total |
| Prawns and lobsters | Yes | Count within the 20kg fish allowance |
| Honey | Yes | Up to 2kg per person |
| Plantain, banana, mango, coconut, citrus, pineapple, dates, guava, passion fruit | Yes | No phytosanitary certificate needed |
| Most other fresh fruit and vegetables (fresh peppers, leaves, yam, garden egg) | Only with a certificate | Phytosanitary certificate needed |
| Processed and packaged plant products, peeled or processed nuts, nut butters, rice | Yes | No certificate needed |
Meat and dairy: why the answer is no
The GOV.UK page for non-EU countries is plain: you cannot bring in meat or meat products, or milk and milk products. That covers the things Nigerians most often want to pack: suya spice blends with meat in them, kilishi, dried beef, cow skin (ponmo), goat meat and chicken, whether raw, cooked, smoked or vacuum-packed. It also covers dairy, including wara and sweets made with milk.
The only dairy exceptions are powdered infant milk, infant food and special food needed for medical reasons, up to 2kg per person, which must not need refrigeration and must be branded and unopened unless in current use. Snails are listed separately: they can be brought in if preserved, or shelled and cooked and prepared.
Fish: the 20kg allowance
Fish is where travellers from Nigeria have the most room. GOV.UK allows up to 20kg of fish per person in total. Fresh fish must be gutted; dried, cooked, cured or smoked fish is also allowed. Lobsters and prawns count within the same 20kg, so dried prawns are part of it, not on top of it. Live mussels and oysters have their own 2kg limit, and caviar needs a CITES permit.
The 20kg is a total across all your fish, per person, not per bag. A couple travelling together each has their own allowance. It is also separate from your airline's baggage allowance, which is usually the tighter limit: 20kg of stockfish takes a lot of suitcase space.
Is crayfish fish?
Nigerian "crayfish" is usually small dried shrimp. GOV.UK groups prawns with fish inside the 20kg allowance, but it does not name crayfish. If you pack it, count it towards your 20kg and keep it in sealed, labelled bags.
Fruit, vegetables and plant foods
For plant products the rule runs the other way: most fresh fruit and vegetables from outside the EU need a phytosanitary certificate, an official document from the exporting country's plant health authority confirming the produce meets UK rules. Ordinary travellers rarely have one, so in practice fresh produce that is not on the exempt list should stay behind.
The exempt list on GOV.UK includes several things Nigerians commonly carry:
- banana and plantain
- mango, pineapple, coconut, guava, passion fruit and dates
- citrus fruit, such as oranges
- curry leaves
- processed and packaged plant products
- peeled or processed nuts and nut butters
- certain grains, such as rice
Ground egusi, garri, elubo, packaged pepper soup spice without meat, and packaged dried leaves are processed plant products, so they generally fall on the allowed side when sealed and labelled. Egusi is a melon seed, and the GOV.UK page does not address seeds from non-EU countries, so bring it ground and commercially packaged rather than as whole seeds. Whole fresh peppers, ugu, bitter leaf, fresh garden egg and raw yam are fresh produce that is not on the exempt list, so they need a certificate. GOV.UK also lists items that are unrestricted, including bread, biscuits, cakes without fresh cream, packaged soups and stock cubes, and pasta and noodles that are not filled with meat.
What to check before you pack
- Read the two GOV.UK pages linked in the sources the week you fly; the rules can change.
- Remove anything containing meat or milk, including mixed products such as meat-based seasoning.
- Weigh your fish and prawns together and keep the total at or under 20kg per person.
- Keep fresh fruit and vegetables to the exempt list unless you have a certificate.
- Pack food in sealed, clearly labelled bags so it can be inspected easily.
- Check your airline's weight limits and the cost of extra bags before you buy in bulk.
These rules are for food you carry for your own use. The GOV.UK pages do not set out the rules for food posted or shipped to you, so do not assume a cargo box follows the same limits; see shipping cargo boxes between the UK and Nigeria for the shipping side, and excess baggage costs before you decide what is worth carrying.
Where Pryme fits
If the food is a gift from home, a simpler option is sometimes to send naira to the relative who would have shopped for you, so the money stays in Nigeria for their use. A Pryme account holds pounds and naira, and the app shows the rate and the fee before you approve a Swap. For a December trip, a trip budget helps decide how much luggage space food deserves.
Questions people ask
Can I bring stockfish from Nigeria to the UK?
Yes. Dried fish is allowed up to 20kg per person in total under GOV.UK's rules for non-EU countries, and prawns count within that 20kg.
Can I bring suya or kilishi into the UK?
No. Meat and meat products cannot be brought into Great Britain from Nigeria in any amount, whether raw, cooked, dried or packaged.
Can I bring garri and egusi to the UK?
Processed and packaged plant products do not need a phytosanitary certificate, so sealed, labelled garri and packaged ground egusi generally fall on the allowed side; GOV.UK does not address whole seeds from non-EU countries. Fresh vegetables and leaves need a certificate.
Can I bring plantain and mango from Nigeria?
Yes. Banana and plantain, mango, pineapple, coconut, citrus, guava, passion fruit and dates are on GOV.UK's list of produce that does not need a phytosanitary certificate.
Sources
- GOV.UK: Bringing food into Great Britain, meat, dairy, fish and animal products (updated 10 Dec 2024) · accessed Oct 2026
- GOV.UK: Bringing food into Great Britain, fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds (updated 10 Dec 2024) · accessed Oct 2026
This article is general information, not financial, legal or tax advice. Products described are provided under the terms on this site and are subject to regulation and eligibility.