Vietnam's tea planted on dioxin-free land

On November 18th, Deputy Chairman of the Vietnam Tea Association, Doan Trong Phuong, affirmed Vietnam’s Lam Dong tea is not planted on dioxin-tainted land.

A tea-growing area in Bao Loc district, Lam Dong. (Photo: VNA)

He stressed that the Vietnam Tea Association will associate with the Taiwan Tea Association to refute a rumor on some websites in Taiwan that “tea production in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong is tainted with dioxin.” The rumor has seriously affected production and business of Oolong tea producers in Vietnam.

Currently, Lam Dong has more than 20 Oolong tea products for exports, in which 15 firms were invested by Taiwanese people. After the rumor came, numerous Vietnamese Oolong tea consignments exported to Taiwan were halted for checking. Consignments which received custom clearance found sales very difficult in Taiwan, hurting local tea growers.

On the same day, Director of the Lam Dong Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Le Van Minh, said that the department coordinated with relevant agencies to survey and collect information to assert that all of the land zones for tea production in the province were dioxin-free.

Last year, Vietnam ranked 11th out of countries that exported agricultural products to Taiwan, with export volumes topping 606,806 tons, and value USD408.63 million, according to the Taiwan Council of Agriculture.

(Source: CPV)