Report Feasibility study organic bitter tea Cao Bang - Helvetas

Feasibility Study Organic Bitter Tea in Cao Bang: 2007
5. ORGANIC PRODUCTION AND MARKETING REQUIREMENTS
One of the observations of the survey was that the BTC has a limited understanding of the
requirements and standards related to food safety in overseas markets, including organic
production. The reason for this survey was an apparent interest from a Korean buyer in
organic bitter tea. However, during our interview with the BTC management it became
clear that this was merely an interest in "clean" production, not in organic. This confusion
was caused because the BTC management was of the impression that "clean" production
(which is production with limited use of chemicals) was similar to organic production.
Therefore, before going into more detail on the requirements for organic production, some
more general information will be given on international for food safety regulations;
5.1. What regulations to follow when exporting?
When exporting agricultural products, either as raw material or processed, to another
country the exporter has to be aware of two main areas where the importing country will
have regulations for the exporter to follow. The first are food safety regulations and the
second requirements on product traceability (FAO, 2007). For the main markets,
European Union, Japan and Korea, which are considered for this report these regulations
are compulsory and have to be followed by exporters or producers who want to sell their
products into these markets. These are the basic regulations to follow for any product to be
exported.
On top of these compulsory standards, additional requirements will apply when the
exporter wants to sell the product under a specific label required in the importing country,
such as organic or "low pesticide". These standards are usually called voluntary standards
since they only need to be followed in case an exporter wants to sell under that specific
label (FAO, 2007). Voluntary standards are normally specific for a country. For example,
Korea has a label for "low pesticide" products but a similar label does not exist in the EU
nor are there any international "low pesticide" standards. Also, there is no system for
recognition between "low pesticide" standards of different countries that have such
standards, for example between Vietnam's "safe" vegetables standards and the Korean "low
pesticides" standards. On the other hand, Korea, Japan and the EU have standards for
organic products but these are not the same for the three countries. However, there exist
some system for mutual recognition of organic certificates between the different countries.
5.1.1. Food Safety Regulations
Producers need to ensure the quality and safety of their produce and avoid all potential
hazards such as risks from contaminated water or from other microbial or chemical
contaminants. Regulations on the maximum residue limits (MRLs) of pesticides an
herbicides are effective both at national and international levels. Producers and exporters
must comply with both the regulations of their own country (in this case Vietnam) and the
regulations of importing countries. They may only use chemicals that are registered for use
on a particular crop and must strictly follow the directions indicated in the instructions
leaflet or on their containers (boxes and bottles) (FAO, 2007).
In the European Union, there are now common limits for many pesticides that apply to the
entire European Union. However, for some pesticides the residue limits vary from country
to country. Each country verifies that regulations are met (usually through the Ministry of
Agriculture) at its point of entry. When European Union countries have not set up
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