China reduces import tariffs on rooibos tea from SA to 6%

Government has welcomed the decision by the People’s Republic of China to substantially reduce tariff rates on imports of South African rooibos tea from 1 January.

“China, the world’s largest tea market, previously had tariffs ranging from 15% to 30% on rooibos tea. This has now been reduced to six percent,” said the department of trade, industry and competition in a statement.

It added that rooibos tea is a unique South African tea which has gained a strong foothold in global markets, with hundreds of millions of rands of exports in 2022.

South Africa led efforts at the World Customs Organisation (WCO) for a specific tariff code applicable only for rooibos tea.

Last August, Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Ebrahim Patel raised the tariff duties on rooibos tea with his counterpart, Chinese Minister of Commerce, Wang Wentao, during the eighth meeting of the China-South Africa Joint Economic and Trade Commission.

He asked China to consider a request to reclassify rooibos tea and to reduce the duties.

Following further consideration on the Chinese side, the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council of China advised it would be adopting the new tariff code of the WCO to categorise rooibos tea under tariff code HS 1211.90.39 with an import tariff rate of six percent.

“According to the Rooibos Council of South Africa, about 20 000 tons of rooibos is produced in South

Africa every year, generating employment for more than 5 000 people.

“China featured as the seventh-largest recipient market in 2023 for South African rooibos, out of a total of 45 countries currently importing rooibos tea,” said the department.

Patel welcomed the decision by the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council of China. Commenting on the decision, he said: “Our rooibos tea are refreshing, delicious and healthy. “This decision will enable more South African rooibos tea to be available to Chinese tea drinkers, creating more jobs in South Africa. “Rooibos exporters can ramp up their exports of tea to China.

“China is currently South Africa’s largest global trading partner, with Chinese customs reporting two-way trade of more than R900 billion.

“We look forward to continuing our engagements with our Chinese counterparts as we seek to shift our exports from mainly minerals to a greater basket of value-added agricultural and industrial products.

“I wish to commend Minister [of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development] Thoko Didiza and her team for the close collaboration and hard work to get this decision finalised,” Patel said.

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This decision will create more jobs in SA