Although the voidwas filled by a 6 percent rise in export prices, the Vietnam TeaAssociation claimed export prices for Vietnamese tea remained low, atjust 40-50 percent of the value enjoyed by many other countries.
This was attributed to the failure to establish a well-recognised brand for “made-in-Vietnam” tea products.
About 90 percent of Vietnamese tea is exported in the form of rawmaterials and only 10 percent leaves the country as a finished product,according to the association.
Director of thePlantation Protection Department Nguyen Xuan Hong said efforts are beingtaken to enhance the quality of tea products.
The department has asked localities to keep a close watch on the use ofpesticides to ensure exported products meet importers’ standards. Teaprocessing companies should also work with farmers to create supplychains and offer farming techniques to meet the international standardof groups such as the Rainforest Alliance (RA) Certificate or VietGap.-VNA