On June 19th, the reporter learned from Sanmenxia Customs that a batch of 200 bags of Forsythia bud tea worth 202,000 yuan has been successfully exported to Hong Kong, China. This was the first export of Lushi Forsythia bud tea from Sanmenxia, breaking the record of “zero” export in Henan Province.

The raw material of forsythia bud tea comes from the Funiu Mountains of Lushi. Due to the unique natural growth environment, this tea is of high quality. The tender buds are picked and developed into forsythia bud tea only during the half-month period from Fresh Green to Grain Rain every year. Due to the strict requirements for export substitute tea products, which must meet the inspection and quarantine standards of the importing country or region, forsythia bud tea has not been able to enter overseas markets for many years. 

Lushi County Yang Xianmin Tea Industry Co., Ltd. mainly produces forsythia bud tea. Currently, it has opened 15 physical stores in Sanmenxia, Zhengzhou, Shanghai, Beijing and other places with the registered trademark “Lu Qiao Hong”. After the company received an order from Hong Kong, China this year, forsythia bud tea could not be exported smoothly because it did not understand the relevant requirements.

After Sanmenxia Customs learned about this situation, it quickly set up an assistance working group, and went to the enterprise to carry out “one-to-one” guidance as soon as possible. Giving full play to the designated assistance officer’s profession in food science, he offered proper suggestions for the selection of raw materials, fermentation temperature and humidity, packaging and storage, etc. While improving the production quality and safety management level, the enterprise was urged to implement the standardized management of the GAP system on the planting base, and strictly manage the use of pesticides and fertilizers in accordance with the target market access restrictions. In particular, for the parts where the major testing indicators are different from the current standards in mainland China such as pesticide residues and heavy metals, targeted technical guidance was given, and the control of plant epidemics and the monitoring of toxic and harmful substances was strengthened.

“Customs experts came to guide us to improve the weak links in our product quality control, which helped us to increase the added value of our products and boosted our confidence in developing overseas markets. Next, we must strictly control the quality of the forsythia bud tea, make it bigger and stronger, and strive to let high-quality products in my hometown go further,” said Yuan Kai, foreign trade manager of Yang Xianmin Tea Industry Company.