DARJEELING: The Darjeeling Tea Association (DTA) have lodged a complaint with different authorities alleging illegal entry of tea from Nepal that are being sold in retail markets as ‘Darjeeling tea’. The largest association of tea gardens of the hills also sought an intervention from the Tea Board of India.
“It has come to our knowledge that some trucks carrying tea consignments from Nepal are illegally entering through the Indo-Nepal borders of Raxaul, Jogbani and Panitanki at night on regular basis. These illegal consignments are reaching the warehouses in Kolkata and Siliguri and being sold in the retail markets there,” said DTA chairman-core group Sanjay Prakash Bansal in his letter to the chief commissioner of Customs, Kolkata zone.
The DTA, in its letter, added that tea coming from Nepal do not comply with Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). “These non-compliant spurious teas imported from Nepal are sold in the retail markets passing off as Darjeeling Tea thus deceiving the consumers and also endangering their health. This is alsocausing financial loss to Darjeeling tea industry and threatening the livelihood of the majority of the people besides damaging the reputation of Darjeeling tea,” he said.
The DTA has also written to the FSSAI chairperson maintaining that the FSSAI standards have not been followed in the tea imports from Nepal.
“We write to seek your intervention in the matter and a direction for strict 100'% testing and compliance of the FSSAI standards on import of tea from Nepal. We also request the immediate withdrawal of recognition for theacceptance of the testing certification from the National Food & Feed Laboratory, Kathmandu in respectof the product tea in India,” said the DTA.
In its letter to the Tea Board of India deputy chairman, Kolkata, the DTA has sought a ban on sale and distribution of imported tea in loose format. The association further requested for publication of a caution notice for compliance of labelling guidelines of sale and distribution of imported tea in packed format under Tea Distribution Export Control Order 2005.
The alleged misuse of ‘Darjeeling’ in sale and distribution of imported tea from Nepal has also been highlighted with the board.
“It is matter of public knowledge that Nepal tea is passed off in the retail markets as Darjeeling tea to consumers which has been continuously flagged by us seeking stringent action andregulation. It is also a well-known fact that many packers have been using imported teas in their packetswithout proper markings of the correct origin,” said Bansal in the letter.
The DTA chairman claimed that public records available show about 16 million kg of tea were imported from Nepal last year and among them, 5 million kg were of the orthodox variety. “However, we have never come across any packet or any kind of distribution or sale of tea as Nepal tea in the domestic market, which clearly suggests passing off,” he said.
