Standards certification:

For sustainable tea sector, certification is a major requirement as a market tool to penetrate different markets with premium prices. however certification to private standards is voluntary though certification for compulsory standards is mandatory.

 NAEB advised  all factories to be ISO 22000:2005 certified  for safety assurance. Private standards are diverse depending on different market; preference should depend on the target market however the following four private Certification Standards dominate on the global market; Rain Forest Alliance, UTZ, Fair Trade and Organic.

Britain is a major purchaser of Rwanda’s Fair Trade Certified Tea and Sainsbury’s one of the biggest British supermarket chains, recently switched its entire range of tea lines to Fair Trade. A commitment by Sainsbury’s to sell Rwandan tea has encouraged farmers to increase Fair Trade tea production in Rwanda.

 N.B,   Reference to RSB as Rwanda Standards Regulator and reference to the Official gazette N0 31 of 05/08/2013; The Mandatory Standards in tea sector are;

• Black Tea Specification  RS 31
• Green Tea Specification RS  118

BASIC EXPORT REQUIRED DOCUMENTS IN TEA SECTOR