Lam Dong province's tea does not contain green coloring additives

According to Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee, the province's Department of Industry and Trade recently reviewed and sanctioned the use of coloring additives by local tea farmers, .

Da Lat Sub-Department of Customs carried out customs procedures for five tea companies that export to the Pakistan and Afghanistan markets in 2022 and the first five months of 2023. The inspected companies include: Phong Giang Co., Ltd, Thien Phuong Trading - Processing Pvt., Ltd, Phuong Nam Pvt., Ltd, Phuoc Nam Anh Co., Ltd and Dang Gia Tea Co., Ltd.

Lam Dong province's government recognized Phong Giang Co., Ltd, Lam Dong as a large-scale green tea production, processing and exporting company. With an output of over 1,400 tons in 2022, Phong Giang's primary focus in 2022 and the first five months of 2023 was on exporting tea to the Afghanistan and Pakistan markets.

Regarding the company's production process, Phong Giang Co., Ltd strictly complies with the technical requirements for each production stage. Namely, it does not use any coloring additives or chemicals in order to create the most natural product line.

Thien Phuong Trading - Processing Pvt., Ltd, produced over 450 tons of tea and exports 430 tons to Pakistan and Afghanistan in 2022. Within the first five months of 2023, this company exported nearly 80 tons of green tea to the Pakistan and Afghanistan markets. Lam Dong province's government has concluded that this company utilizes fresh tea materials and dried natural flavorings without relying on coloring additives for their tea products.

Phuong Nam Pvt., Ltd, Phuoc Nam Anh Co., Ltd and Dang Gia Tea Co., Ltd have also been acknowledged for adopting production processes that adhere to strict regulations, without utilizing additives or chemicals.

After inspecting the five aforementioned businesses, Lam Dong province's Department of Industry and Trade proposed the Provincial People's Committee to task the Department of Industry and Trade with strengthening communcation, warning and prevention of the use of chemicals in the tea production and processing, in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and relevant agencies.

According to Lam Dong province's Department of Industry and Trade, the province housed 161 tea processing companies with an annual capacity of 39,000 tons and 65 tea processing facilities with an annual capacity of 10,000 tons in 2022. These companies are mainly concentrated in the cities of Da Lat, Bao Loc and the districts of Bao Lam, Lam Ha, and Di Linh.

Lam Dong province reportedly exports over 4,600 tons of tea with a total value of 11 million USD in 2022. Additionally, Lam Dong's output of tea export was estimated at 2,200 tons with a total value of over 5 million USD during the first 5 months of 2023. The main target markets for Lam Dong's tea exports include Taiwan, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

Lam Dong province's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development issued a document to address local tea production and trading companies regarding the prevention of coloring additives.

Most notably, the Afghan Government publicly announced a complete ban on the import of Vietnamese tea products that contain traces of coloring additives at the beginning of May. On the other hand, Pakistani tea importers have also alerted about the use of coloring additives in Vietnamese tea products to the Pakistan Tea Association and Pakistan Customs. Various relevant agencies in Pakistan are researching to strengthen the inspection processes used to verify the quality of tea imported from Vietnam.

Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee issued a Decision on April 17 to penalize Lam Dong Tea Joint Stock Company (Quang Trung Street, Bao Loc City, Lam Dong province) with a fine of 320 million VND. Accordingly, the company has been organizing a project for a Lam Dong Tea Quality Inspection and Product Display Center at No. 280, Tran Phu street, Loc Son ward, Bao Loc city since May 2022 despite a lack of mandatory environmental permit.