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. The list below gives each of these 11 rejections by date and RASFF reference, with the country that notified it and the hazard found; 7 carry the laboratory result and 7 say what happened to the consignment.
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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.
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 →