7.1 PREFACE
The first points at which food safety hazards may be identified are, for the most part, at the producing
factory in the country of origin and it is there that the monitoring activity and corrective actions should
occur. While there is growing evidence that hygiene standards in tea factories are improving, the
European Tea Trade recognizes that it cannot entirely devolve its responsibilities for food safety to the
producers of the primary raw material. Tea Buyers may frequently visit the producers but they can
only inspect/audit a tiny fraction of the many thousands of tea gardens and tea factories. For this
reason it is recommended that the European packers’ in-house quality programmes encompass
suitable checks on the tea as received to ensure compliance with their legal obligations relating to
food safety and to demonstrate ‘due diligence’.