China — Herbs and Spices
China received 25 RASFF border-rejection notifications in Herbs and Spices between 2023-Q4 and 2026-Q3. Volume peaked at 5 in 2026-Q2, with the trend rising sharply year-on-year. The most-cited issues are cetrimonium chloride, chlorate, and glufosinate. The list below gives the 20 most recent rejections by date and RASFF reference, with the country that notified it and the hazard found; 16 carry the laboratory result and 15 say what happened to the consignment.
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Key figures
If you import herbs and spices from China
- Chance a consignment is opened at the EU border
- 20% of consignments get identity and physical checks for pesticide residues (Reg. (EU) 2019/1793).
- If it is rejected
- Re-dispatched or destroyed 32%; destroyed 28%; held, final fate not recorded 28%; re-dispatched 8%; treated, sorted or diverted 4%. A re-dispatched lot can be sold elsewhere, a treated or sorted one can be released once it complies, and a destroyed one is lost.
- Where rejections happen
- Poland (8), Spain (5), France (4), of 25 border rejections in the last 3 years.
- Riskiest months
- September, April, July, by rejections since 2020.
- Test for before shipping
- salmonella (7), cetrimonium chloride (4), chlorate (4), glufosinate (4), clothianidin (3).
The EU does not publish how many consignments are shipped, so no page can state a true probability of rejection; these are the figures that are published.
Quarterly rejections, last 12 quarters
Show the numbers
| Quarter | Notifications |
|---|---|
| 2023-Q4 | 2 |
| 2024-Q1 | 1 |
| 2024-Q2 | 1 |
| 2024-Q3 | 1 |
| 2024-Q4 | 0 |
| 2025-Q1 | 0 |
| 2025-Q2 | 4 |
| 2025-Q3 | 4 |
| 2025-Q4 | 0 |
| 2026-Q1 | 2 |
| 2026-Q2 | 5 |
| 2026-Q3 | 5 |
Recent rejections
- 2026.8417 Presence of Centrimonium Chloride in Tea originating from China and dispatched from UK Notified by Malta. Re-dispatched or destroyed. Result 0.066 ± 0.033 (limit 0.01 mg/kg - ppm). cetrimonium chloride
- 2026.8414 Presence of Centrimonium Chloride in Tea originating from China and dispatched from UK Notified by Malta. Re-dispatched or destroyed. Result 0.35 ± 0.18 (limit 0.01 mg/kg - ppm). cetrimonium chloride
- 2026.8412 Presence of Centrimonium Chloride in Tea originating from China and dispatched from UK Notified by Malta. Re-dispatched or destroyed. Result 0.086 ± 0.043 (limit 0.01 mg/kg - ppm). cetrimonium chloride
- 2026.8189 Presence of Centrimonium Chloride in Tea originating from China and dispatched from UK Notified by Malta. Reached the market, re-dispatched or destroyed. Result 0.38 ± 0.019 (limit 0.01 mg/kg - ppm). cetrimonium chloride
- 2026.7275 pesticides in ground hot peppers from China Notified by Poland. Destroyed. Result 0,15 +/- 0,074 (limit 0,07 mg/kg - ppm). chlorateclothianidinglufosinate
- 2026.5496 pestycydy w papryce chilli mielonej z Chin///pesticides in ground chili peppers from China Notified by Poland. Re-dispatched. Result 0,2 +/- 0,1 (limit 0,07 mg/kg - ppm). chlorateclothianidinglufosinate
- 2026.5233 Pesticides in ground hot peppers from China Notified by Poland. Destroyed. Result 6,36 +/- 3,18 (limit 2,1 mg/kg - ppm). chlorateclothianidinglufosinate
- 2026.4998 Chlorpyrifos in sichuanpepper from China. Notified by Finland. Re-dispatched or destroyed. Result 0,39 (limit 0,01 mg/kg - ppm). acetamipridbifenthrincarbofuranchlorpyrifos+3 more
- 2026.4598 przekroczenie ochratoksyny A w papryce suszonej z Chin // exceedance of ochratoxin A in dried peppers from China Notified by Poland. Re-dispatched. Result 29,9+/-8,4 (limit 20 µg/kg - ppb). ochratoxin A
- 2026.3248 Salmonella spp in paprika from China/ Salmonella en pimentón de China Notified by Spain. Result PRESENCIA EN 1 SUBMUESTRA (limit AUSENCIA /25g). Salmonella
- 2026.1988 przekroczenie pozostałości pestycydu antrachinonu (0,043±0,022 mg/kg ) w zielonej herbacie pochodzącej z Chin // anthraquinone (0.043±0.022 mg/kg) in green tea from China Notified by Poland. Destroyed. Result 0,043±0,022 (limit 0,02 mg/kg - ppm). anthraquinone
- 2026.0213 PRZEKROCZNIE PESTYCYDÓW W PAPRYCE CHILLI Z CHIN/// Pesticide Exceedance in Chili Peppers from China Notified by Poland. Result 0,017 ± 0,085 (limit 0,07 mg/kg - ppm). chloratechlorfenapyr
- 2025.5472 nuevos alimentos no autorizados Artemisa annua y Aesculus chinensis de China / Novel foods not approved Artemisa annua and Aesculus chinensis from China Notified by Spain.
- 2025.5423 unlabeled irradiation of soup base spices from China Notified by Poland. Re-dispatched or destroyed.
- 2025.5063 GLUFOSYNAT (1,1 +/- 0,55 MG/KG) W PAPRYCE OSTREJ MIELONEJ Z CHIN////64 / 5 000 GLUFOSINATE (1.1 +/- 0.55 MG/KG) IN GROUND HOT PEPPER FROM CHINA Notified by Poland. Destroyed. Result 1,1 +/- 0,55 (limit 0,3 mg/kg - ppm). glufosinate
- 2025.5028 Salmonella en pimentón de China / Salmonella in paprika from China Notified by Spain. Result detectado (limit ausencia null). Salmonella
- 2025.4371 salmonela spp en pimenton de China/ salmonella spp in paprika from China Notified by Spain. Salmonella
- 2025.4161 Thiacloprid in matcha tea from China Notified by France. Re-dispatched or destroyed. Result 0.20 ± 0.10 (limit 0,05 mg/kg - ppm). thiacloprid
- 2025.2907 Salmonella Meleagridis in Cumin powder from China Notified by Finland. Destroyed. Salmonella Meleagridis
- 2025.2688 Difenoconazole and Dinotefuran in tea from China Notified by France. Re-dispatched or destroyed. Result 0.19 ± 0.095 (limit 0,010 mg/kg - ppm). difenoconazoledinotefuran
Found on the EU market: alerts and information notifications
Besides border rejections, 84 notifications since 2020 concerned herbs and spices from China found after entering the EU — 45 alerts, 39 information notifications. They are not part of the rejection figures or rates above, which measure border controls.
How they were found: company's own check 44%, official control on the market 36%, monitoring or surveillance sample 11%, at the EU border 7%, consumer complaint or illness 1%, other 1%. 29 led to a recall from consumers.
Show the numbers
| Year | Total | Alerts | Information notifications |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| 2021 | 9 | 5 | 4 |
| 2022 | 7 | 2 | 5 |
| 2023 | 9 | 6 | 3 |
| 2024 | 17 | 12 | 5 |
| 2025 | 24 | 12 | 12 |
| 2026 to date | 14 | 6 | 8 |
- 2026.7279 alertChlorpyrifos in Sichuan pepper from China, via the Netherlands Notified by Germany. Official control on the market, reached the market. Result 0,14 +/- 0,07 (limit 0,01 mg/kg - ppm). chlorpyrifos
- 2026.5595 info: follow-upMultiple pesticide residues detected in spice mixtures, including non‑approved substances in the EU Notified by Austria. Official control on the market, reached the market. Result 0,047 ± 0,024. Imidacloprideanthraquinonebifenthrinbiphenyl+12 more
- 2026.5781 info: attentionCadmium in garlic from China Notified by Netherlands. Company's own check. Result 0,075 (limit 0,050 mg/kg - ppm). cadmium
- 2026.5021 info: follow-upUnauthorized pesticide residues Thiamethoxam (0,079 ± 0,040 mg/kg) and Clothianidin (0,19 ± 0,10 mg/kg =0,09) in Hot paprika powder from China Notified by Latvia. At the EU border, reached the market. Result 0,079 ± 0,040 (limit 0,02 mg/kg - ppm). clothianidinthiamethoxam
- 2026.4785 alertPesticide residues in Sichuan pepper powder from China, via the Netherlands Notified by Austria. Official control on the market, reached the market. Result 0,88 ± 0,44 (limit 0,05 mg/kg - ppm). acetamipridbifenthrincarbendazimcarbofuran+7 more
- 2026.4723 info: follow-upPesticide residues in pepper from China Notified by Austria. Official control on the market, reached the market. Result 0,078 ± 0,039 (limit 0,02 mg/kg - ppm). anthraquinonechlorpyrifostebuconazole
- 2026.4640 alertPesticide residues in pepper from China Notified by Austria. Official control on the market, reached the market, destroyed. Result 2,7 ± 1,4 (limit 0,05 mg/kg - ppm). acetamipridcarbendazimcarbofuranchlorpyrifos+7 more
- 2026.4558 alertUnauthorised substance chlorpyrifos in wild Sichuan pepper from China, via NL Notified by Denmark. Company's own check, reached the market. Result 0,044 (limit 0,01 mg/kg - ppm). chlorpyrifos
- 2026.4047 alertTebufenpyrad in Zingiber officinale extract from Italy Notified by Netherlands. Company's own check, re-dispatched. Result 40 (limit 1 mg/kg - ppm). tebufenpyrad
- 2026.3114 info: attentionResiudos de plaguicidas detectados en comino de China // Pesticide residues detected in cumin from China Notified by Spain. At the EU border, not on the market. Result 1,34 ± 0,67. acetamipridbifenthrincarbofuranchlorfenapyr+5 more
Data and downloads
Download all 139 entries (CSV) — every notification behind this page, border rejections and those found on the market, with how each was found and what was done.
The file holds entries up to 2026-09-23. To get new ones for China by email, watch China.
China country report since 2020 — all notification types, not just border rejections →