Burundi Tea Office-OTB can now sell its products all over the world since its different factories have been certified. In a statement issued on Monday, 2 January 2017, Goreth Nimpagaritse, OTB spokesperson, said the certification they received will allow them to boost their sale at the global market.
During the week dedicated to tea (from 13 to 21 December), Jacques Bigirimana, OTB Director General, presented the certification of five factories of OTB- Mabayi, Tora, Rwegura, Teza and Ijenda.
“It is an obligation from the global market .If you do not have the certificate, you are not allowed to sell your products at the international market”, says Goreth Nimpagaritse, Spokesperson of OTB.
Jacques Bigirimana, OTB General Director says getting certified is a significant victory for the country. “We had no right to sell Burundian tea at a European market. No Burundian product can be sold at that market without certification. Burundi tea had to be sold through another country that has already received the certificate, but nowadays, we go straight as we are certified», Bigirimana says.
Getting such a certificate is not an easy task, says Nimpagaritse. “It requires a serious control of tea factories by an international association- AFRICET, to ensure that the products are perfect and that the relationships between their workers and their partners are good. The certification is also expensive. We must, however, have it to get access to the world market”, says Nimpagaritse.
In spite of difficulties to get the certification, Nimpagaritse says they expect to earn much. “The market is extended now. We can sell our tea all over the world, the reason why we are expecting to earn a lot. We will get foreign currencies because many people in the whole world have heard that there is a quality tea in Burundi. They had not yet seen it, but they can get it now”, Nimpagaritse says.
Bigirimana says an added value is the fact that the price for a product from a certified plant is not the same as that for an uncertified one.
OTB Director General says Burundian tea is so much appreciated by the international market that even the queen of Britain does not drink any tea except that from Ijenda, one of OTB factories.
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