Sri Lanka — Cocoa and Cocoa Preparations, Coffee and Tea
Sri Lanka received 8 RASFF border-rejection notifications in Cocoa and Cocoa Preparations, Coffee and Tea between 2023-Q4 and 2026-Q3. Volume peaked at 5 in 2024-Q4, with the trend falling sharply year-on-year. The most-cited issues are ethylene oxide, pesticide residues, and pyrrolizidine alkaloids.
Key figures
If you import cocoa and cocoa preparations, coffee and tea from Sri Lanka
- Chance a consignment is opened at the EU border
- 50% of consignments get identity and physical checks for aflatoxins (Reg. (EU) 2019/1793).
- If it is rejected
- Destroyed 38%; re-dispatched or destroyed 25%; held, final fate not recorded 25%; re-dispatched 12%. 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 (5), Denmark (1), Latvia (1), of 8 border rejections in the last 3 years.
- Test for before shipping
- ethylene oxide (2), diuron (1), pyrrolizidine alkaloids (1).
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.
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Quarterly rejections, last 12 quarters
Show the numbers
| Quarter | Notifications |
|---|---|
| 2023-Q4 | 0 |
| 2024-Q1 | 1 |
| 2024-Q2 | 0 |
| 2024-Q3 | 0 |
| 2024-Q4 | 5 |
| 2025-Q1 | 0 |
| 2025-Q2 | 0 |
| 2025-Q3 | 0 |
| 2025-Q4 | 1 |
| 2026-Q1 | 0 |
| 2026-Q2 | 0 |
| 2026-Q3 | 1 |
Recent rejections
- 2026.8433 przekroczony poziom zawartości alkaloidów pirolizydynowych w herbacie czarnej kraj pochodzenia Sri Lanka///Pyrrolizidine alkaloid content exceeded in black tea (country of origin: Sri Lanka) Notified by Poland. Re-dispatched. Result 352+/- 123 (limit 150 µg/kg - ppb). pyrrolizidine alkaloids
- 2025.8437 Ethylene oxide in organic chamomile tea from Sri Lanka // Óxido de etileno en el té de manzanilla orgánico de Sri Lanka Notified by Spain. Result 0.2. ethylene oxide
- 2024.9491 Unauthorised novel food (Nymphaea stellata) in tea from Sri Lanka Notified by Poland. Re-dispatched or destroyed.
- 2024.9481 Ethylene oxide in organic chamomile tea from Sri Lanka Notified by Denmark. Destroyed. Result 1,7. ethylene oxide
- 2024.9473 Unauthorised novel food (Anoda cristata) in tea from Sri Lanka Notified by Poland. Re-dispatched or destroyed.
- 2024.9392 Pesticide residues - diuron (0,065 +/-0,033 mg/kg and 0,044+/- 0,022 mg/kg) in black tea from Sri Lanka Notified by Poland. Destroyed. Result 0,065+/- 0,033 (limit 0,01 mg/kg - ppm). diuron
- 2024.8996 Unauthorized Organic claims, absent of COI certificate, importer does not approved for import and any handling with organic products Notified by Latvia. Destroyed.
- 2024.1165 nieautoryzowana substancja roślinna Hemidesmus indicus w herbatce ziołowej ze Sri Lanki/// unauthorized plant substance Hemidesmus indicus in herbal tea from Sri Lanka Notified by Poland.
- 2023.6508 pesticide residues in black tea from Sri Lanka instead of China Notified by Netherlands. Re-dispatched. Result 0.21 (limit 0.05 mg/kg - ppm). acetamipridchlorpyriphos-ethyllambda-cyhalothrin
- 2021.1627 Too much unauthorised pesticide residue (anthraquinone) in organic green tea Notified by Finland. Result 0,15 (limit 0,02 mg/kg - ppm). pesticide residues
- 2021.1625 Too much unauthorised pesticide residue (anthraquinone) in organic herb tea. Notified by Finland. Result 0,16 (limit 0,02 mg/kg - ppm). pesticide residues
Found on the EU market: alerts and information notifications
Besides border rejections, 9 notifications since 2020 concerned cocoa and cocoa preparations, coffee and tea from Sri Lanka found after entering the EU — 9 information notifications. They are not part of the rejection figures or rates above, which measure border controls.
How they were found: official control on the market 89%, company's own check 11%.
Show the numbers
| Year | Total | Information notifications |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 1 | 1 |
| 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 3 | 3 |
| 2025 | 4 | 4 |
| 2026 to date | 1 | 1 |
- 2026.0317 info: follow-upPrzekroczenie najwyższego dopuszczalnego poziomu pozostałości pestycydu - antrachinonu w herbacie czarnej liściastej, kraj pochodzenia Sri Lanka/// Exceeding the MRL for pesticide residues - anthraquinone in black leaf tea, country of origin Sri Lanka Notified by Poland. Official control on the market, reached the market. Result 0,044 +/- 0,022 (limit 0,02 mg/kg - ppm). anthraquinone
- 2025.5550 info: attentionStwierdzenie przekroczenia NDP pozostałości antrachinonu w herbacie czarnej liściastej, kraj pochodzenia: Sri Lanka// Exceeding the MRL for anthraquinone residues in black leaf tea, country of origin: Sri Lanka Notified by Poland. Official control on the market, reached the market. Result 0,051 ± 0,026 (limit 0,02 mg/kg - ppm). anthraquinone
- 2025.5546 info: follow-upPrzekroczenie NDP pozostałości pestycydu – antrachinonu (na poziomie 0,052± 0,026 mg/kg) w herbacie czarnej liściastej/// Exceeding the MRL for pesticide residues – anthraquinone in black leaf tea, country of origin Sri Lanka Notified by Poland. Official control on the market, reached the market. Result 0,052± 0,026 (limit 0,02 mg/kg - ppm). anthraquinone
- 2025.5302 info: follow-upnieautoryzowana nowa żywność Clitoria ternatea w herbatach sprzedawanych przez Internet////unauthorized novel food Clitoria ternatea in teas sold online Notified by Poland. Official control on the market, reached the market.
- 2025.4516 info: attentionProbably unauthorised novel food ingredient senna leaves in herbal tea blend from Sri Lanka Notified by Germany. Official control on the market, reached the market. Result Detection of sennoside A and sennoside B. novel food ingredient
- 2024.9604 info: follow-upUnauthorized novel food ingredient Clitoria ternatea in blue butterfly tea Notified by Slovenia. Official control on the market, reached the market.
- 2024.4541 info: attentionPesticide residues (tolfenpyrad, lambda-cyhalothrin and dinotefuran) in green tea from Sri Lanka via the UK Notified by Belgium. Official control on the market, reached the market. Result 0,014 (limit 0,01 mg/kg - ppm). acetamipridchlorpyrifosdinotefuranlambda-cyhalothrin+1 more
- 2024.4507 info: follow-upChlorpyrifos and metolcarb in green tea from Sri Lanka Notified by Czechia. Official control on the market, reached the market. Result 0,17 (limit 0,01 mg/kg - ppm). chlorpyrifosmetolcarb
- 2022.2353 info: attentionChlorpyrifos in chamomile tea Notified by Sweden. Company's own check.
Data and downloads
Download all 20 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 Sri Lanka by email, watch Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka country report since 2020 — all notification types, not just border rejections →