TeaChat

Is the Chinese QS mark (ie 质量安全) useful for anything other than getting company info? If one of my teas has the QS mark, is this similar to an USDA mark in terms of inspection? Are these forged at all? Obviously a shadey vendor can sell anything to anyone but provided the vendor has a high reputation, does the QS tell you anything?

After reading a thread about a potential "fake" Menghai cake http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?p=144840 showed me how serious some people are at producing forgeries. Even very knowledgable people can be fooled! I am not into trading tea for money so I'm not concerned with "authenticity" much just curious.

Probably not much. As far as I know, this "Quality Safety" certification is mandatory for tea producers to have since 2007.

javi_sanchez wrote:Is the Chinese QS mark (ie 质量安全) useful for anything other than getting company info? If one of my teas has the QS mark, is this similar to an USDA mark in terms of inspection? Are these forged at all? Obviously a shadey vendor can sell anything to anyone but provided the vendor has a high reputation, does the QS tell you anything?

After reading a thread about a potential "fake" Menghai cake http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?p=144840 showed me how serious some people are at producing forgeries. Even very knowledgable people can be fooled! I am not into trading tea for money so I'm not concerned with "authenticity" much just curious.

The mark appeared in many tea wrappers from 2006 onwards but it has no meaning as the wrapper, tea and everything can be faked. There is no guarantee of any quality but give the seller another excuse to persuade buyer to buy the tea. It is a totally different way of business altogether. As buyer, we must learn to taste and recognize the quality of tea.

Cheers!

Teaism wrote:

javi_sanchez wrote:Is the Chinese QS mark (ie 质量安全) useful for anything other than getting company info? If one of my teas has the QS mark, is this similar to an USDA mark in terms of inspection? Are these forged at all? Obviously a shadey vendor can sell anything to anyone but provided the vendor has a high reputation, does the QS tell you anything?

After reading a thread about a potential "fake" Menghai cake http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?p=144840 showed me how serious some people are at producing forgeries. Even very knowledgable people can be fooled! I am not into trading tea for money so I'm not concerned with "authenticity" much just curious.

The mark appeared in many tea wrappers from 2006 onwards but it has no meaning as the wrapper, tea and everything can be faked. There is no guarantee of any quality but give the seller another excuse to persuade buyer to buy the tea. It is a totally different way of business altogether. As buyer, we must learn to taste and recognize the quality of tea.

Cheers!

+1

If someone tries to follow or trust modern China institutions or its people 100%, she or he might end up being naked in the middle of Beijing West Railway Station or...die