Last year, the share of Vietnamese tea export to Taiwan accounted for 55.23% of the total turnover of this market.
Statistics from the Taiwan Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT) show that last year, Taiwan imported more than 33,000 tonnes of tea from more than 30 partners worldwide. Its total tea import turnover reached 87.8 million USD, an increase of 8.58% in volume and 13.39% in turnover compared to 2020.
A farmer is picking tea leaves in Lam Dong. (Photo: Phong Vinh)
Vietnam continues to be the largest supplier of tea products in Taiwan in 2021 with 18,330 tonnes, worth 28.91 million USD, up 7.1% in volume and 7.47% in value compared to 2020. This figure accounts for 55.23% of the market share of imports into Taiwan. However, compared to nine years ago, the share has decreased by 8%.
The reason for the decrease in market share is the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic for three consecutive years, causing export activities difficult. On the other hand, Taiwan is becoming more strict in its control of commodities, which raises the standard of tea. This reduces the amount of Vietnamese tea exported to the Taiwan market.
At the consultation on exporting tea and coffee products to Taiwan and Hong Kong markets last week, Ms. Nguyen Thu Thuy – Deputy Director of Export Support Center (Ministry of Industry and Trade), assessed if Vietnam improves the quality of tea, the export of this product to the above markets can increase sharply in this year.
In the first two months of 2022, Vietnamese tea export reached 2,000 tonnes, worth three million USD, up 3.5% in volume and 0.9% in value compared to the same period in 2021. Currently, Vietnamese tea products have been exported to more than 70 countries and territories. In particular, Pakistan, Taiwan, Russia, Indonesia, and China are the five key markets for Vietnamese tea.
Vietnam’s main competitors in Taiwan are Sri Lanka (15.43% of the market share), India (10.28%), Indonesia (6.46%), and China (4.79%).
According to the Taiwanese regulations, tea products imported into this market must comply with the “regulations on food and import-related product inspection”. Importers must register for inspection with the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (FDA), some products prohibit the import of items originating from China.
Based on Taiwan’s import tariff, the import tariff of Vietnamese tea is from 17% to 22% or 25% depending on the type. In particular, pesticide and Fipronil residues allow 0.002ppm instead of 0.005ppm (2014).