China Tea Standards: Safety Obligations of Tea Exported to China

As a major tea exporting country, China has for centuries been globally renowned for its numerous varieties of high quality tea. In recent years unilateral trade has evolved into multilateral trade between China and other tea exporting countries thanks to Chinese consumer’s obsession with savoring different kinds of teas. Figures show that people in China spend more money on tea than alcoholic drinks.

Aside from document filings with competent authorities, which is required for all imported food in China, imported tea requires lab testing before flowing into the market.

Pesticide Residues

Pesticide residue is the most significant of all testing items. Tea is classified as beverages in GB 2763-2014, but testing for pesticide residues will be conducted on tea rather than its water extract. Regarding the newly released national standard which became effective on 1 Aug 2014, 28 limits for all kinds of teas have been established (Refer to GB/T 30776-2014 for classification of tea in China).

*Temporary MRLs

Contaminants

Contaminants left in tea shall not exceed the maximum levels stipulated in GB 2762-2012 , GB 2762-2005 and NY 659-2003.

Sensory Quality

Testing of sensory quality is applied to tea grading by assessing the qualities of its appearance, color, taste, odors and other elements.

Reference standards:

• GB/T 23776-2009 Methodology of sensory evaluation of tea

• GB/T 18797-2012 General requirement of the tea sensory test room

• SN/T 0917-2010 Method for the organoleptic examination on quality of tea for import and export

• GB/T 14487-2008 Terms of tea sensory tests

Physical and Chemical Components

A number of revised national standards for physical and chemical components of tea have become effective earlier this year:

• GB/T 8311-2013 Tea – Determination of dust and broken content

• GB/T 8304-2013 Tea – Determination of moisture content

• GB/T 8306-2013 Tea – Determination of total ash content

• GB/T 8307-2013 Tea – Determination of water-soluble ash and water-insoluble ash content

• GB/T 8308-2013 Tea – Determination of acid-insoluble ash content

• GB/T 8309-2013 Tea – Determination of alkalinity of water-soluble ash content

• GB/T 8305-2013 Tea – Determination of water extracts content

• GB/T 8310-2013 Tea – Determination of crude fibre content

• GB/T 8312-2013 Tea – Determination of caffeine content

Labeling

Chinese Labels of pre-packaged tea products shall comply with GB 7718-2011 General Standard for the Labeling of Prepackaged Foods. Label filing is required for first-time imported products.

REACH24H Food Compliance Service Team

Located in the beautiful city of Hangzhou China, The REACH24H FCS Team is a multidisciplinary and multilingual team composed of food technologists, nutritionists, chemists and regulatory analysts. Years of regulatory compliance experience and close ties with authorities has made the FCS team China’s foremost private agency on China food import regulatory compliance issues. If you are planning to launch a food business in China or encounter any problems during food exportation to China, please feel free to contact us for compliance solutions.