Pu-erh not legal in the U.S. until 1996: Urban legend?

[mbanu]

I ran across an article from 2000 from Fresh Cup magazine that suggests that before the Tea Act was repealed in 1996, pu-erh wasn't able to make it past FDA standards!

Until just a few years ago, all commercial shipments of tea imported into the United States were subject to inspection by one of two
tea examiners, Robert Dick or Joseph Spilman, of the Department of Health and Human Services. Dick, the Senior Tea Examiner, was not a pu-erh drinker. “Smells old, moldy,” he would say. “Can’t let it in the country.” Thus, in America, pu-erh was not recognized as a tea
with virtue or merit and was never assigned its own classification by the
government.

Pu-erhs, nevertheless, were brought into this country unofficially in great
quantities, under other names, smuggled or otherwise, to satisfy
the huge demand in Chinese communities. Finally, on April 9, 1996, President Clinton repealed the outdated Tea Importation Act of 1897, and jurisdiction of tea importation was turned over to the FDA. At last, pu-erhs could be imported under their own name.

(Source) Was this true? I wasn't drinking pu-erh back then, so I don't have any context...

[ndw76]

Sounds like something that would happen here in Thailand. Can't let that wine into the country, might get children drunk. Better put it in a safe place like the cellar of the guy who runs customs.

[entropyembrace]

maybe they shouldnt let moldy smelling puerh into the country...then the US vendors would stop selling such trashy puerh

[gingkoseto]

Hmm... interesting story!
This just reminds me that several years ago, probably somewhere between 2001 and 2004, Chinese black pepper was not allowed to be imported. It was said that some government agency found the pepper had some life threatening ingredient. Then many Chinese people went to Canada for grocery shopping of pepper. The local Chinese grocery had some under the counter pepper for sale, only sold to people the shop owner personally knew, because it was supposed to be illegal trade... My Sichuan girlfriend was like, how am I going to live, without pepper... Then suddenly black pepper was in grocery again. It turned out they made a mistake and the life threatening thing they looked into was not black pepper at all. It's said that the ban of black pepper happened in 1968 too. So it's not guaranteed the government wouldn't ban it again in the future. My Sichuan girlfriend always stocks up a lot of black pepper nowadays

[wyardley]

This just reminds me that several years ago, probably somewhere between 2001 and 2004, Chinese black pepper was not allowed to be imported. It was said that some government agency found the pepper had some life threatening ingredient.

Do you mean Sichuan peppercorns (huajiao)?

[gingkoseto]

This just reminds me that several years ago, probably somewhere between 2001 and 2004, Chinese black pepper was not allowed to be imported. It was said that some government agency found the pepper had some life threatening ingredient.

Do you mean Sichuan peppercorns (huajiao)?

Yeah that's it. I think that was the major target of the ban, but other pepper spices disappeared from the groceries too.

[iannon]

This just reminds me that several years ago, probably somewhere between 2001 and 2004, Chinese black pepper was not allowed to be imported. It was said that some government agency found the pepper had some life threatening ingredient.

Do you mean Sichuan peppercorns (huajiao)?

Yeah that's it. I think that was the major target of the ban, but other pepper spices disappeared from the groceries too.

I have a local Chinese restaurant that is masters of the chinese peppercorn..yumm.spicy and numbing on the lips

[tingjunkie]

Dick, the Senior Tea Examiner, was not a pu-erh drinker. “Smells old, moldy,” he would say. “Can’t let it in the country.”

What a D***!