Warning from returned tea export shipment

(Baonghean) - From the beginning of 2015 until now, some tea exporting enterprises of our country have been caught in a rather tragic situation. That is, dozens of containers of Vietnamese tea exported to some European countries have been returned by their partners because the products were found to contain pesticide residues exceeding the permitted level. When the tea containers were returned, they were also subject to import tax.

According to a tea exporting enterprise, this is not the first time tea products originating from Vietnam have been returned. Since 2012, many shipments exported to Europe have committed the above-mentioned violations and have been forced to "repatriate". The returned tea products all contained residues of two active ingredients of plant protection drugs, Acetamiprid and Imidacloprid, exceeding the permitted level, so they did not meet food hygiene and safety standards. Recently, in mid-April 2015, 3 more containers of Vietnamese tea exported to Taiwan were also returned.

Tea nursery in hamlet 1, Hung Son commune (Anh Son).

It is worth mentioning that in addition to these two active ingredients of plant protection, there are currently four other active ingredients (Fipronil, Carbendazim, Cypermethrin, Buprofezin) that are also being banned by tea importing countries, especially the EU and Taiwan, but have not yet been removed from the list of banned substances for use on tea plants by Vietnamese authorities. The above situation will be a huge barrier, preventing our country's tea products from penetrating deeply into the world and regional markets. This is something that needs to be warned early to have preventive and containment measures before it is too late.

By the end of 2015, Nghe An is striving to complete the target of 12,000 hectares of industrial tea in the whole province. Although the exploited tea area is currently over 8,000 hectares, Nghe An Tea Investment and Development Company Limited has produced about 7,000 tons of dry tea of ​​all kinds/year, of which the total dry tea output (mainly black tea and green tea) is exported to the markets of the former Eastern European countries, Pakistan, Afghanistan and China (about 6,500 tons/year). Nghe An tea has long been considered a clean tea region, producers are investing and taking care of tea according to the instructions of Nghe An Tea Investment and Development Company Limited, of the Agricultural Extension Center... Some tea regions are also investing according to the VietGap model. But the information that Vietnamese tea has been returned recently is still a lesson for both growers and tea production enterprises in Nghe An.

In Nghe An, although the total tea area of ​​the whole province is only about 9,000 hectares, there are currently 5 tea processing factories under Nghe An Tea Investment and Development Company Limited, not to mention dozens of manual tea processing facilities of households. Most of the private tea processing factories have small capacity and outdated technology, so the product quality is not high. Manual tea processing factories are even more backward. This is the first reason why the quality of tea and the export price of Vietnamese tea are not competitive in the international market.

Up to now, to have a large tea material area, an effective hunger eradication and poverty reduction tree of Nghe An is thanks to the investment of the State, capital and efforts of Nghe An Tea Investment and Development Company Limited, and tea growers. However, when private tea factories and manual tea processing facilities spring up like mushrooms, combined with price competition, tea growers turn their backs on investors to chase after profits earned on each kilogram of fresh tea. This is also a reason why many tea growers ignore the quarantine period for plant protection active ingredients, in order to increase the number of harvests, increase fresh tea yield without paying attention to the quality of the product... According to the assessment of the Vietnam Tea Association, this is the main reason why the amount of exported tea purchased by Vietnam in some localities has residues of plant protection active ingredients exceeding the permitted level.

To prevent the above situation, and at the same time help tea growers in Nghe An have a stable and long-term life on their tea gardens, contributing to the sustainable development of the tea processing industry, from now on, Nghe An Tea Investment and Development Company Limited and its member units must re-establish relationships, proactively work with localities with raw material areas to organize the construction of a value chain from tea growers to processing and consumption enterprises. By doing this well, Nghe An will achieve the goal of linking raw material areas with each processing factory, creating conditions for management from the production process, harvesting and processing tea to ensure both issues: food safety and product quality.

According to the Vietnam Tea Association (Vitas), the average export price of Vietnamese tea in recent years is still very low compared to tea products of other countries. In addition to black tea, we are currently exporting raw materials in 50 kg bags and 10% in finished products, so the price is only 1,695 USD/ton. In Nghe An, exported tea products are mainly raw and have low value. Because of raw exports, quality is difficult to control and is easily mixed during circulation.

According to Mr. Ho Ngoc Sy, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, in order for Nghe An tea products to have the conditions to deeply integrate into the world market, tea purchasing and processing enterprises in the province need to do well the following two tasks at the same time: First, it is necessary to invest in innovation in technology and equipment to produce products with high added value, thereby creating conditions to strive to bring Nghe An's tea export price on par with the average tea price of the world. Second, tea purchasing and processing enterprises for export must closely cooperate with tea growers to manage well right from the seed stage, production process, to the quality of each kilogram of fresh tea and food hygiene and safety on each batch of exported products. Tea growers need to consider the long-term benefits of tea gardens, grasp information, practice clean production to ensure output and safety for consumers. If both of these issues can be addressed, Nghe An tea products will certainly pass the "screening" of all partners to dominate the international and regional markets.

Vo Thanh Mai(Vietnam Agriculture Newspaper)