REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Indonesia Tea Trade Mission (ITTM) comprising government officials and stakeholders left for Europe to pay a week-long visit aimed at increasing the market access of Indonesian tea to the continent.

During their stay in Europe from Dec 3 to 9, the Indonesian tea mission will visit Hamburg, London, and Brussels to discuss the possibility of reducing barriers to the export of Indonesian tea to Europe, Director General of Foreign Trade of the Trade Ministry Oke Nurwan said in a press statement released on Sunday.

"The tea trade mission will hopefully minimize the barriers to the export of Indonesian tea to the European Union so that the export of Indonesia tea to the continent will increase again," he said.

The mission will hold technical consultations with the EU Tea & Herbal Infusion Europe (THIE) and look into the possibility of cooperation with the Eurofins Scientific laboratory in Hamburg to study tea samples, he said.

He said the mission will also discuss market access and preference with tea stakeholders in London and visit the Directorate General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE)of the European Commission in Brussels.

The mission will also brief European tea stakeholders on the results of a scientific study conducted by the Goods Quality Assessment Center of the Indonesian Trade Ministry in cooperation with the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), he said.

The study shows that the threshold of anthraquinone residue (AQ) which can be tolerated by humans is 0.2 mg/kg by observing risk analysis. The threshold is looser than that set by the European Commission, he said.

The Indonesian mission is led by Director of Trade Safeguard of the Trade Ministry Pradnyawati.

Indonesia is one of the world's top tea tea producers. 

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