Overseas trade specialists have stepped in to try to resolve an international dispute over the export of blended teas, including one of Yorkshire's best-known brands, which could affect all similar sales from the EU.
Export professionals from Chamber International, Bradford, are working to help Taylors of Harrogate, which blends Yorkshire Tea, to try and resolve a regulatory dispute with South Korean customs officials which centres on 'country of origin' labelling and could become an EU-wide issue.
The dispute, which has been bubbling for two years, has arisen over the definition of the 'substantive change' in a tea product which is used to determine its country of origin.
Taylors of Harrogate, acting on advice from HM Customs and Chamber International, has believed that the added value of blending and tasting different teas to create a distinctive, consistent brand flavour constitutes the 'substantive change' to warrant the country of origin to be within the EU under the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with South Korea.
However, South Korea customs officials argue that the only 'substantive change' occurs when the freshly-picked green tea is turned into black tea. South Korean retail labelling regulations also demand that the country of origin where the tea leaf is grown, such as Rwanda or Kenya, is displayed rather than where it was blended.
Among help arranged by Chamber International has been taking the matters up with authorities in South Korea which led to South Korean customs asking HMRC to visit the company to conduct an audit on the tea blending process as part of moves to resolve the problem.