The authorities in Lam Dong Province have sought
government help to put a stop to false Taiwanese rumors about dioxin
contamination in Vietnamese tea.
The Central Highlands province is home to around 3,000
hectares of high-quality tea plantations whose tea leaves are exported
to the United States, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Europe.
In a statement sent to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on
Thursday, Lam Dong People’s Committee said the rumor has cut the
province’s tea exports to Taiwan by half in the course of several
months.
Consumers in other countries have also grown hesitant to
buy Vietnamese-grown tea following the promulgation of the dioxin rumor
in the Taiwanese media, the statement said.
The provincial leaders called on the government to order
ministries of foreign affairs, environment, agriculture, trade, and
communication to inform media outlets and government authorities in
Taiwan that Lam Dong's tea plantations are dioxin-free.
“In addition, we ought to launch a media campaign to set
the record straight about Vietnamese tea,” the committee said in the
statement.
Based on maps of the US' war-era defoliation campaign and
other related documents, Lam Dong’s Military Command affirmed that the
province's tea plantations couldn't possibly have been affected by
dioxin.
Following this notice, Taiwanese customs agencies cleared
200 tons of Lam Dong’s Oolong tea worth roughly VND140 billion (US$6.5
million) last week after holding them for two months based on the
spurious media reports.
Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper quoted Han Wen Te, director of
Taiwanese tea firm Fushen, as saying the dioxin contamination rumor was
spread to cripple competition.
Imported Vietnamese Oolong is four times cheaper than domestic tea, Han said.
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