“In regard to import of Nepal tea, the Mechi Customs Office has witnessed 55.70 per cent rise in tea export to India in six months. The early closure of tea production in North India is cited as the reason behind the rise in import of tea. Therefore, Tea Board’s intention to control oversupply of tea in India got defeated,” it added.Stating that excellent leaves, in terms of quality, were noticed in the tea bushes last December but they could not be plucked due to Tea Board’s directive; the association said it was a “national loss”, not just a loss for the small tea growers.“Restricting production only in North India will not help in overcoming demand-supply mismatch, if any. Moreover, Tea Board has no official statistics to prove that there is oversupply of tea in India. We have heard that the imported teas are often re-blended and re-exported as Indian teas, which has severely impacted the brand image, value, and demand of Indian teas especially those from Northeast India in the global market,” it said.Referring to reports which indicated that 119 million kgs of old teas are lying at the Mombasa auction centre and awaiting export to India, the association warned that if such unregulated import continues, it would deal a devastating blow to the small tea growers of the Northeast and dismantle the rural economy of the region, particularly in Assam.
Source link
