Vietnam — Herbs and Spices
Vietnam received 16 RASFF border-rejection notifications in Herbs and Spices between 2023-Q4 and 2026-Q3. Volume peaked at 5 in 2024-Q1, with the trend falling sharply year-on-year. The most-cited issues are chlorfenapyr, chlorothalonil, and permethrin. The list below gives each of these 20 rejections by date and RASFF reference, with the country that notified it and the hazard found; 19 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 Vietnam
- 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
- Destroyed 69%; held, final fate not recorded 25%; re-dispatched or destroyed 6%. 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
- France (11), Poland (2), Spain (2), of 16 border rejections in the last 3 years.
- Riskiest months
- February, December, September, by rejections since 2020.
- Test for before shipping
- chlorothalonil (4), chlorfenapyr (3), permethrin (3), clostridium perfringens (2), acetamiprid (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 | 5 |
| 2024-Q2 | 3 |
| 2024-Q3 | 1 |
| 2024-Q4 | 5 |
| 2025-Q1 | 0 |
| 2025-Q2 | 0 |
| 2025-Q3 | 1 |
| 2025-Q4 | 0 |
| 2026-Q1 | 0 |
| 2026-Q2 | 0 |
| 2026-Q3 | 1 |
Recent rejections
- 2026.7897 PRZEKROCZENIE POZOSTAŁOŚCI PESTYCYDÓW W HERBACIE MATCHA // finding that the MRLs for pesticide residues in matcha from Vietnam were exceeded Notified by Poland. Destroyed. Result 0,17±0,09 (limit 0,05 mg/kg - ppm). acetamipriddinotefuranhexaconazolethiamethoxam
- 2025.6705 Salmonella Chester in chopped frozen lemongrass from Vietnam via Germany Notified by Finland. Result Detected (limit None /25g). Salmonella chesterSalmonella spp
- 2024.9255 Chlorothalonil in peppers from Vietnam Notified by France. Destroyed. Result 0.14±0.070 (limit 0,01 mg/kg - ppm). chlorothalonil
- 2024.9248 Chlorothalonil in peppers from Vietnam Notified by France. Destroyed. Result 0.023±0.012 (limit 0,01 mg/kg - ppm). chlorothalonil
- 2024.9244 Chlorothalonil in peppers from Vietnam Notified by France. Destroyed. Result 0.022 ± 0.011 (limit 0,01 mg/kg - ppm). chlorothalonil
- 2024.9240 Chlorothalonil in peppers from Vietnam Notified by France. Destroyed. Result 0.024 ± 0.012 (limit 0,01 mg/kg - ppm). chlorothalonil
- 2024.9222 Propiconazole in peppers from Vietnam Notified by France. Destroyed. Result 0.025±0.013 (limit 0,01 mg/kg - ppm). propiconazole
- 2024.6590 chloropyrifos (0,045 ± 0,023 mg/kg) in turmeric from Vietnam Notified by Poland. Re-dispatched or destroyed. Result 0,045 ± 0,023 (limit 0,01 mg/kg - ppm). chlorpyrifos
- 2024.4349 Clostridium perfringens in organic cinnamon powder from Vietnam Notified by Spain. Result 130 , 200 , 10 , 40 (limit 100 - 1000 CFU/g). Clostridium perfringens
- 2024.4205 Chlorfenapyr in chilli pepper from Vietnam Notified by France. Result 0.044±0.022 (limit 0,01 mg/kg - ppm). chlorfenapyr
- 2024.3562 Multiple pesticide residues in peppers from Viet Nam Notified by France. Destroyed. Result 0.53 ± 0.27 (limit 0,01 mg/kg - ppm). diafenthiuronpermethrinprofenofos
- 2024.2416 Presencia de Clostridium perfringens en canela de Vietnam. Occurrence of Clostridium perfringens in cinnamon from Vietnam. Notified by Spain. Result 1 (limit 0 CFU/g). Clostridium perfringens
- 2024.1366 Chlorfenapyr in peppers from Vietnam Notified by France. Destroyed. Result 0.051±0.025 (limit 0,01 mg/kg - ppm). chlorfenapyr
- 2024.1327 Chlorfenapyr in chilli pepper from Vietnam Notified by France. Destroyed. Result 0.030 ± 0.015 (limit 0,01 mg/kg - ppm). chlorfenapyr
- 2024.1187 Permethrin in peppers from Vietnam Notified by France. Destroyed. Result 1.9±0.95 (limit 0,05 mg/kg - ppm). permethrin
- 2024.1185 Permethrin in peppers from Vietnam Notified by France. Destroyed. Result 1.4±0.70 (limit 0,05 mg/kg - ppm). permethrin
- 2023.6468 Hexaconazole and Chlorfenapyr in peppers from Viet Nam Notified by France. Destroyed. Result 0.030±0.015 (limit 0,010 mg/kg - ppm). chlorfenapyrhexaconazole
- 2023.0982 Unauthorised substance chlorfenapyr in red chilli from Vietnam Notified by Germany. Destroyed. Result 0,032 +/-0,016 (limit 0,01 mg/kg - ppm). chlorfenapyr
- 2022.4475 Unauthorised pesticide residues (Tricyclazole, Chlorpyrifos) in curry powder. Notified by Finland. Result 0,13 (limit 0,01 mg/kg - ppm). chlorpyrifostricyclazole
- 2022.2772 unauthorised E554 in spice mix from Vietnam Notified by Poland. Re-dispatched or destroyed.
Found on the EU market: alerts and information notifications
Besides border rejections, 41 notifications since 2020 concerned herbs and spices from Vietnam found after entering the EU — 24 alerts, 17 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 63%, company's own check 29%, at the EU border 5%, monitoring or surveillance sample 2%. 11 led to a recall from consumers.
Show the numbers
| Year | Total | Alerts | Information notifications |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2021 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| 2022 | 10 | 6 | 4 |
| 2023 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 2024 | 8 | 5 | 3 |
| 2025 | 8 | 6 | 2 |
| 2026 to date | 8 | 2 | 6 |
- 2026.7243 alertMercury in cinnamon spices Notified by Netherlands. Official control on the market, reached the market. Result 0,042 (limit 0,02 mg/kg - ppm). mercury
- 2026.7068 info: follow-upUnauthorised substance chlorpyrifos in ground black pepper from India, via Spain////Sustancia no autorizada clorpirifós en pimienta negra molida procedente de la India, vía España Notified by Czechia. Official control on the market, reached the market. Result 0,041 (limit 0,01 mg/kg - ppm). chlorpyrifos
- 2026.5694 info: attentionExceed maximum levels of pesticides residues: thiamethoxam 0,17 ± 0,09 and cypermethrin (cypermethrin including other mixtures of constituent isomers (sum of isomers)) (F) 0,31 ± 0,16 mg/kg in black pepper (Piper nigrum) from Vietnam Notified by Latvia. At the EU border. Result 0,31 ± 0,16 (limit 0.1 mg/kg - ppm). cypermethrinthiamethoxam
- 2026.5243 info: attentionSalmonella in Parsley from Vietnam Notified by Netherlands. Official control on the market, reached the market. Result present (limit absent /25g). Salmonella
- 2026.4784 info: follow-upPesticide surpassing MRL in black pepper from Vietnam via Hungary Notified by Austria. Monitoring or surveillance sample. Result 0,19 ± 0,10 (limit 0,1 mg/kg - ppm). chlorpyrifoscypermethrinfipronilmetalaxyl+1 more
- 2026.4129 info: follow-upUnauthorised pesticide fenobucarb in peppercorns from Bosnia and Herzegovina via Slovenia Notified by Austria. Company's own check. Result 0,06 (limit 0,01 mg/kg - ppm). fenobucarb
- 2026.4119 alertBacillus cereus in ground cinnamon from Vietnam, via Hungary Notified by Croatia. Official control on the market, reached the market, destroyed. Result 17000 (limit 10000 CFU/g). Bacillus cereus
- 2026.0626 info: attentionPesticide residues in Rau om from Vietnam Notified by Switzerland. Official control on the market, reached the market. Result 0.25 (limit 0.01 mg/kg - ppm). chlorfenapyrchlorpyrifoslufenuronpropiconazole+1 more
- 2025.9878 alertForeign body (metal wire) in ground black pepper from Vietnam via Turkey Notified by Germany. Official control on the market, reached the market. fragments metal wire
- 2025.8543 info: follow-upExcessive levels of lead in cinnamon powder from Vietnam, via the Netherlands Notified by Germany. Official control on the market, reached the market. Result 2,68 +/- 0,64 (limit 2 mg/kg - ppm). lead
Data and downloads
Download all 63 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 2026-09-08. To get new ones for Vietnam by email, watch Vietnam.
Vietnam country report since 2020 — all notification types, not just border rejections →