On January 27, Hunan Baishaxi Tea Factory declared an export of dark tea to Yiyang Customs House in Changsha Customs District, marking the first export of dark tea with a special HS code from Hunan Province.

In recent years, Hunan dark tea has been very popular on the domestic market, but their export abroad was in disadvantage because there was no special HS code for this tea in China’s Import & Export Tariff.

According to Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council, as from January 1, 2021, the Import & Export Tariff is added with a subhead of “dark tea”, transferring previous “Puer tea” into this subhead. Thus dark tea can be exported with a special HS code of this subhead, which can make easier customs statistics compilation, export promotion and reduce the disputes on commodity classification.  

With the special HS code, it is easier for Baishaxi Tea Factory to access overseas markets. The export of January 27 included 3 specifications of dark tea as samples, totaling over 40 kilograms, which will be followed by bulk sales in future.     

In support of dark tea export, Changsha Customs does its best to optimize the clearance process, completing cargo inspection and phytosanitary certification within 1-2 days. Next, the Customs will take more measures to facilitate the export, including: help the producers cope with external technical barriers to trade, e.g. supporting their international certifications; cooperate with local government agencies and industrial associations in formulating dark-tea quality and technical standards; promote the benefits of dark tea to their recognition at abroad; guide the exporters to design utility-model patent packages of dark tea.