Japan — Herbs and Spices
Japan received 6 RASFF border-rejection notifications in Herbs and Spices between 2023-Q4 and 2026-Q3. Volume peaked at 3 in 2025-Q3, with the trend roughly flat year-on-year. The most-cited issues are dinotefuran, tebuconazole, and tolfenpyrad. The list below gives each of these 7 rejections by date and RASFF reference, with the country that notified it and the hazard found; 6 carry the laboratory result and 6 say what happened to the consignment.
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Key figures
If you import herbs and spices from Japan
- Chance a consignment is opened at the EU border
- Not on the EU's increased-checks list, so only member states' routine, risk-based checks apply (rates not published).
- If it is rejected
- Re-dispatched 67%; destroyed 33%. 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 (6), of 6 border rejections in the last 3 years.
- Test for before shipping
- dinotefuran (4), tebuconazole (4), tolfenpyrad (3), fenbuconazole (2), lufenuron (2).
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 | 0 |
| 2024-Q1 | 0 |
| 2024-Q2 | 0 |
| 2024-Q3 | 0 |
| 2024-Q4 | 0 |
| 2025-Q1 | 0 |
| 2025-Q2 | 0 |
| 2025-Q3 | 3 |
| 2025-Q4 | 0 |
| 2026-Q1 | 1 |
| 2026-Q2 | 1 |
| 2026-Q3 | 1 |
Recent rejections
- 2026.5911 Thiametoxam (0,17±0.09 mg/kg) in green tea from Japan //// zielona herbata sproszkowana Matcha Notified by Poland. Destroyed. Result 0,17±0.09 (limit 0,05 mg/kg - ppm). thiamethoxam
- 2026.4957 Przekroczenie pozostałości pestycydów w zielonej herbacie z Japonii // Excessive pesticide residues in green tea from Japan Notified by Poland. Re-dispatched. Result 0,067±0,034 (limit 0,01 mg/kg - ppm). acetamipridbenomil/carbendazimclothianidindinotefuran+3 more
- 2026.2258 Pesticides in matcha tea from Japan Notified by Poland. Destroyed. Result 0,19±0,10 (limit 0,05 mg/kg - ppm). difenoconazoledinotefuranflonicamidtebuconazole+1 more
- 2025.5725 Przekroczenie pozostałości pestycydów zielona herbata MATCHA // Exceeding pesticide residues in green tea from Japan Notified by Poland. Re-dispatched. Result 0,27±,014 (limit 0,05 mg/kg - ppm). chlorpyrifosdinotefuranfenbuconazoletebuconazole+1 more
- 2025.5718 Przekroczenie pozostałości pestycydów w zielonej herbacie z Japonii // Exceeding pesticide residues in green tea from Japan Notified by Poland. Re-dispatched. Result 0,23±0,12 (limit 0,01 mg/kg - ppm). dinotefuranfenbuconazolelufenuron
- 2025.5521 Przekroczenie pozostąłości pestycydów zielona herbata liściasta Sencha (Kakegawa)/// Exceeding pesticide residues in green leaf tea Notified by Poland. Re-dispatched. Result 0,36 ± 0,18 (limit 0,05 mg/kg - ppm). tebuconazole
- 2023.1161 Unauthorised novel food Zanthoxylum piperitum from Japan Notified by Spain.
Found on the EU market: alerts and information notifications
Besides border rejections, 1 notifications since 2020 concerned herbs and spices from Japan found after entering the EU — 1 alerts. They are not part of the rejection figures or rates above, which measure border controls.
How they were found: company's own check 100%.
Show the numbers
| Year | Total | Alerts |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| 2026 to date | 1 | 1 |
- 2026.6283 alertClostridium in Tonburi jar from Japan Notified by Netherlands. Company's own check, reached the market, destroyed. Result 1.3 e 8 (limit 1.0 e 5 CFU/g). Clostridium
Data and downloads
Download all 8 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 2026-07-14. To get new ones for Japan by email, watch Japan.