China said it is concerned about a possible pesticide residue test in green tea by its major buyer Morocco. The Ministry of Commerce has called on the two countries to enhance communication about the issue.

When meeting with Morocco's Minister of External Commerce Mustapha Mechahouri on Tuesday, Chinese Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai said green tea was a traditional product of China and usually of reliable quality. He said he expected to talk with Morocco officials about its specific way of testing green tea.

China sold 49,000 tons of green tea to Morocco last year, worth US$77 million. The deal accounted for nearly one third of China's total exports of green tea.

An official from the Tea Department of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce and Animal By-products (CFNA) confirmed the related departments in two countries are engaged in official negotiations on the issue.

She said Morocco is studying how to run pesticide residue tests on green tea.

Morocco departments are planned to follow the test model of the European Union, which is very harsh, she said.

If so, China's green tea exports to Morocco, one of China's largest green tea export destinations, will be greatly affected, she said.

But she said it is appreciated that Morocco government departments are willing to negotiate standards and detailed ways to conduct the tests.

In July 2000, the European Union (EU) released new pesticide standards on tea imports, expanding their number from seven to 134.

In 2001, China's tea exports to the EU dropped 37 percent as the test standards were too rigid and involved protectionism.

Tea is the second largest exported agricultural specialty of China, after silk products.

Bo said that China attaches importance to balanced trade with Morocco and has taken many measures to encourage Chinese enterprises to buy more products from Morocco.

China-Morocco trade surged by nearly 50 percent year-on-year to US$860 million last year and is expected to exceed US$1.2 billion this year.

Bo said Chinese companies have strong capacities for building roads, ports, power stations and hotels.

He asked the Morocco side to deliver more information on major projects with China to facilitate Chinese companies' bidding in those sectors.

Morocco's Minister of External Commerce Mechahouri said he believed Chinese companies would have a big role in Morocco's market for contracted projects after he saw infrastructure construction during his visit.

(China Daily July 15, 2004)