China — Coffee and Tea
China received 24 FDA import refusals in Coffee and Tea between 2023-Q4 and 2026-Q3. Volume peaked at 10 in 2025-Q4, with the trend rising sharply year-on-year. The most-cited issues are inadequate process control, no net quantity, and no food-canning registration. No trade baseline is published for this commodity from China, so no per-$1B rate is shown here.
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Key figures
If you import coffee and tea from China
- Hazard or paperwork
- Of 23 refusals in the last 3 years, 5 were hazard findings and 18 paperwork alone — most were avoidable at the desk.
- Where refusals happen
- DNEI — Northeast (17); DWCI — West Coast (5); DSEI — Southeast (1).
- Riskiest months
- October, March, January, by refusals since 2020.
- Test for before shipping
- melamine (2), pesticide residue (2), poisonous or deleterious substance (2), unfit for food (2), undeclared allergen (1).
- Paperwork to get right
- inadequate process control (11), no food-canning registration (6), not in English (6).
FDA does not publish how many entries it examines, so no page can state a true probability of refusal; these are the figures that are published.
Quarterly refusals, last 12 quarters
Show the numbers
| Quarter | Refusals | Hazard | Paperwork |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-Q4 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2024-Q1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2024-Q2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024-Q3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024-Q4 | 6 | 2 | 4 |
| 2025-Q1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2025-Q2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025-Q3 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2025-Q4 | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| 2026-Q1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2026-Q2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2026-Q3 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
Recent refusals
- EVR-0187925-8 TEA, LIQUID Import division DWCI. no process filingunsafe color additivecolor not declared
- AEK-0913524-4 TEA, GREEN Import division DWCI. pesticide residue
- EVR-0181113-7 TEA, LIQUID Import division DWCI. ingredients not listedno net quantitynutrition labeling
- SCS-3297345-1 TEA, GREEN Import division DSEI. pesticide residue
- NMR-6738796-7 TEA, GREEN Import division DNEI. inadequate process control
- NMR-6738812-2 TEA, GREEN Import division DNEI. inadequate process controlno food-canning registration
- NMR-6738869-2 TEA, GREEN Import division DNEI. inadequate process controlno food-canning registration
- NMR-6738659-7 TEA, GREEN Import division DNEI. inadequate process control
- NQX-0055423-9 TEA, OOLONG Import division DWCI. inadequate process controlno acidified-food filing
- NMR-6738340-4 TEA, GREEN Import division DNEI. inadequate process control
- NMR-6738664-7 TEA, GREEN Import division DNEI. inadequate process control
- NMR-6736603-7 TEA, GREEN Import division DNEI. inadequate process control
- NMR-6737693-7 TEA, GREEN Import division DNEI. inadequate process control
- NMR-6738339-6 TEA, GREEN Import division DNEI. inadequate process control
- NMR-6736604-5 TEA, GREEN Import division DNEI. inadequate process control
- NMR-6717316-9 TEA, GREEN Import division DNEI. nutrition labelingno food-canning registrationno process filingno manufacturer name+1 more
- K09-0094652-4 TEA, GREEN Import division DNEI. ingredients not listedpoisonous or deleterious substanceno manufacturer nameno net quantity+8 more
- K09-0094297-8 TEA, LIQUID Import division DNEI. no manufacturer nameno net quantitynot in Englishnutrition labeling+1 more
- K09-0094804-1 TEA, GREEN Import division DNEI. no manufacturer nameno net quantitynot in English
- K09-0094865-2 TEA, LIQUID Import division DNEI. no manufacturer nameno net quantity
Data and downloads
Download all 41 entries (CSV) — every refusal behind this page, with its import division, FDA product code, charges and whether it was a hazard finding or paperwork.
The file holds entries up to 2026-07-24. To get new ones for China by email, watch China.
China country report since 2020 — every refusal by year, charge and import division →