The Government decided to regulate the presence of stick and dust in yerba mate that may be in the packages of imported merchandise, through the Resolution 379/2020.
The measure, published this Monday (16.11.2020) in the Official Gazette, aims to obtain a "good quality product» and ensure the «"safety" of that raw material.
In the new quality control regulations approved by the National Institute of Yerba Mate, it was indicated that "the analysis carried out on a sample of Yerba Mate Canchada must yield a result of total percentage of stick, including crude fiber (IRAM Standards 20511), which is not greater than 35,0%."
The regulation explained that Resolution 11/2017 approved the regulations applicable to all operators who carry out tasks of receiving, transporting and/or drying green yerba mate leaves.
«The results of laboratory analysis of samples of yerba mate taken by INYM officials, show over the years, an increase in the percentage of stick dust that passes through a 420 mm sieve (mesh 40), a circumstance that shows that during the processing of the green yerba mate leaf, a grinding or reprocessing of the thick yerba mate stick takes place, which the INYM must regulate and control in order to obtain a good quality product.", the text detailed.
The new regulation was justified by arguing that "the comparison of the results of laboratory analysis of samples of yerba mate canchada taken by INYM officials during the years 2019 and 2020, shows that it is necessary to require that yerba mate canchada marketed in the country comply with microbiological specifications that ensure the safety of said raw material."
The Resolution stated that "all yerba mate stalks obtained as a by-product of the production process of producing dried yerba mate in drying establishments are considered to be discarded stalks that must be rendered useless."
It was also specified that "the physical characteristics of the yerba mate canchada must show in a sieve test, the following maximum and minimum percentages: Yerba mate sticks on a 5 mm. x 70 mm. mesh, a maximum of 5,00%; volume retained by a 420 mm sieve, a minimum of 88,0% and under a 420 mm sieve (mesh 40) (leaf and stick dust), a maximum of 7,00%."
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