Assam tea associations express concern over increasing imports

Guwahati, Aug 28 (PTI) Major tea associations in Assam have expressed concern over increasing imports, particularly from African countries, and called for the constitution of a task force to protect the industry, a release said on Thursday.

A delegation of Assam Bought Leaf Tea Manufacturers Association (ABLTMA), Bharatiya Cha Parishad (BCP) and North Eastern Tea Association (NETA) called on Tea Board India's Deputy Chairperson Arunita Phukan Yadav and submitted a memorandum on issues related to imports, routing of 100 per cent dust grade tea through auctions and compliance of norms of the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) on the use of pesticides, it said.

''We are concerned about teas from African countries entering the Indian market without paying duty or through other means, which will kill the Indian tea industry," the tea associations claimed.

As per the official figures of the Tea Board of Kenya, the exports from the African country to India increased by 45 per cent during the January-June period this year, as compared to the same period last year, they said.

The imports in 2024-25 have doubled compared to 2023-24, the tea associations said.

In 2023-24, it was 25.21 mkgs, whereas in 2024-25, it reached 50.14 mkgs.

"Surprisingly, this data does not match that of the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S), and this non-matching has created more suspicion in our minds," one of the members of the delegation claimed.

The majority of the tea was imported from Kenya (17 m kgs) and Nepal (15 m kgs) in 2024-25, they claimed.

Moreover, another area of concern is that the Tea Board "does not have a proper trace of re-exports and a software application can easily be put in place, which will monitor imports and re-exports", they added.

''We appeal that a task force be formed to investigate the whole import matter in a holistic manner. The task force should also recommend measures to protect the Indian tea industry," another member of the delegation said.

The Tea Board's regulation of routing 100 per cent dust-grade tea through public auctions has also created financial distress for the tea industry, they claimed.

The Tea Board had thought of having a single point of sale for better price realisation, but there are five auction centres in North India - Kolkata, Siliguri, Jalpaiguri, Guwahati and Jorhat, the tea associations said.

''The auction dates are different, buyers are different, selling/buying prices are different, qualities of teas offered are different and so on. Therefore, in any case with five auction centres, it is not a single point of sale," the three tea bodies pointed out.

The members of these associations claimed that they know their business and will automatically sell through auction if price realisation is better.

''All of us sell through both auction and private modes depending upon market dynamics from time to time, and therefore forceful regulation by the Tea Board to sell only through auction is not required," another member of the delegation said.

These tea associations appealed to the authorities to withdraw the order issued on July 25 on the routing of 100 per cent dust grades through auction.

They also claimed that tea growers and the industry are "suffering from a non-compliance situation because of a letter from the Tea Board to FSSAI to put six off-label pesticides under compulsory testing".

''We appeal to the Tea Board to withdraw that letter to FSSAI, and we are ready to adhere to compliance as per statute, but there shouldn’t be over regulations'', they stated.

The members of the delegation included ABLTMA chairman Chand Kumar Gohain and vice chairman Chandrjit Baruah, NETA chairman Ajay Dhandhania, its advisor Bidyanand Barkakoty and executive committee member Manab Aagrwalla and BCP executive committee member Sumit Agarwalla. PTI DG DG BDC