TAI seeks more power for Tea Board to stop selling of multi-origin tea as Indian tea
Times of India | 31 January 2025
123 Jalpaiguri: To stop the selling of multi-origin tea as Indian tea, Tea Association of India (TAI) has sought more empowerment for the Tea Board of India to root out alleged fraud. Alleging gross mismatch in respect of tea imported and the figure published by the Tea Board, TAI claimed that the extant import laws were being exploited.
"Up to a 10-time mismatch was observed between import figures released by the Tea Board based on returns furnished by tea importers and export figures from origins such as Kenya, Nepal and other countries. The main reason is that businesses are not declaring their tea imports on the council portal," alleged TRAI president Sandeep Singhania. "The Tea (Distribution & Export) Control Order, 2005, mandates that any tea exported as ‘Indian tea' or as any growing area name in India must contain 100% Indian name, which was produced and manufactured in that particular tea-producing area in India. Any tea exported from India when blended with any part of imported tea must be branded as ‘multi-origin tea' and specify origin," he added.