India’s new dust-grade tea reforms face fierce opposition.
Bought leaf factories across Assam ceased operations this week to protest a controversial 90-day trial mandating the sale of all dust-grade teas at auction.
The shutdown will idle many of the 200,000 small growers in Assam who supply bought-leaf factories. Dust grades manufactured in Assam and West Bengal represent about 25% of the tea produced.
The Assam Bought Leaf Tea Manufacturer’s Association, representing 110 factories, organized the shutdowns. The association vehemently opposes mandatory auctions, arguing that the existing sales mechanisms are more beneficial and yield higher prices. Moreover, it is aggrieved by the requirement to test green leaf produced at member factories to comply with food safety requirements, asserting that the grower, not the factory, is responsible for chemical and pesticide use.
The association notes that factories in Assam and the Nilgiris are not equipped to test green leaves for various chemicals using a protocol developed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSAI). Factory owners say it takes several days to obtain test results.
Last month, Kamal Jalan, Chairman of the North Eastern Tea Association (NETA), passionately voiced his opposition at the organization’s biennial general meeting in Golaghat, Assam. NETA said the auction mandate is detrimental to the industry's survival.
NETA also raised the issue of food safety compliance, calling for greater awareness among small tea growers, increased testing and facilities needed to conduct tests at factories, and a roadmap towards achieving 100% compliance with food safety standards.
The Indian Tea Exporters (ITEA) issued a release that “strongly endorses” the requirement. ITEA Chairman Anshuman Kanoria writes, “The ITEA believes that this trial will afford much-needed transparency, comprehensive and legitimate testing of all production units per FSSAI protocol and incentivize better quality production for Indian tea lovers.
“The Indian tea industry faces an oversupply of lower-quality teas, and questionable compliance standards, which are key to boosting tea demand domestically and overseas, have often been flouted. The government's resolve to make the tea industry cleaner is most heartening,” Kanoria said.
He added that ITEA believes that the 100% auction should also be extended to the export sector of Orthodox and Darjeeling teas to boost competition and price discovery.
In January, FSSAI completed extensive tea testing for 33 chemicals at factories nationwide and announced that 40% were not compliant.
The Indian Tea Association (ITA), the country's oldest and largest association of tea producers, supports the three-month trial. “By default, it appears to be the only solution to detect and test Maximum Residue Levels (MRL) transparently, that is, by channelizing this category (being representative of the overall production) to pass through a funnel where testing and detection would be possible,” the association said. The association added, “ITA pledges its unequivocal support to the Tea Board and the Commerce Ministry in this endeavor.”
The Guwahati Tea Warehousing Association (GTWA), representing tea packers, blenders, and retailers, also issued a statement supporting the mandate and expressing relief. “We are thankful to all concerned who have made this possible. We are sure that this will go a long way in discovering the fair price of teas,” said GTWA President C. Chaliha told ANI news.
The amendment to the Tea (Marketing) Control Order of 2003 requires all dust-grade tea manufactured in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal to be sold through public tea actions. It does not apply to mini-tea factories or the South India-producing states of Kerala and Karnataka.
The mandate is also supported by the Federation of All India Tea Traders Association (FAITTA), the apex body of tea traders, buyers, packers, and retailers in India, and the Small Tea Growers’ Association, Confederation of Indian Small Tea Growers Association (CISTA).