Tea industry urges DGFT to regulate tea imports under AUS to safeguard India-origin tea in markets

Guwahati, August 7: Raising concern over lack of proper monitoring of duty-free tea imports under Advanced Authorisation Scheme (AUS) and SEZ provisions , the Tea Association  of India(TAI) has urged the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Ministry of Commerce and Industries, Government of India to review and regulate such tea imports for safeguarding the interests of Indian tea producers, protecting the authenticity of Indian-origin teas, and ensuring regulatory integrity in both domestic and international markets.

In communique issued by the TAI President Sandeep Singhania, it has been mentioned that Indian Tea Industry has been witnessing a steady growth in the quantum of tea imported to India as cited here:

Table: 1- Imports of Tea into India

Source: Tea Board of India

Moreover the actual export of Tea of Kenya to India in 2024 (as published by Tea Board Kenya) is huge which is 17.13 M.Kgs vis-à-vis 5.26 M.Kgs of tea in 2023 which is 226% ahead of last year and in 2025 Kenya’s exports  to India till March is 3.9 M.Kgs which is 117% higher than 2024 for the corresponding period.

The TAI has stated that in order to establish an equilibrium with regard to Supply and Demand situation , Tea Board of India issued the direction to curtail production w.e.f. November 30, 2024.  The Industry also passed through adverse weather conditions till the month of August, leading to a drop in production by about 110 m.kgs. in the year 2024. Despite the resulting drop in production as stated above, it was noted that post September 2024 a surge in import led to poor market sentiments leading to a drop in prices by an average of Rs.60, thus adversely affecting  the tea market sentiments , neutralizing the entire effort made by the Tea Board and industry to bring an equilibrium between demand and supply for the stability of the prices in tea market

“Therefore, there is enough ground to infer, that a co-relation exists in between the increase of the quantum of imported tea to India and decline in prices.

“There is also an apprehension that on one hand exporters are importing cheap teas duty-free, blending them with Indian teas, and exporting them as Indian-origin, misrepresenting the product and damaging the credibility of Indian tea exports and on the other hand a large share of duty-free imported teas is entering the domestic market, evading the 100% import duty and undercutting genuine producers with indistinguishable, cheaper blends.

“In fact, there’s no clear system to track how much was re-exported and how much ended up in the local market.

“ Apparently, that there could be a misuse of Advance Authorization Scheme and SEZ duty-free imports in distorting the domestic tea market and harming the global reputation of Indian teas,” the TAI has stated and  made the following representation through  its letter dated: 10.6.2025 to the DGFT :

• Disallow duty-free import of tea under Advance Authorization and SEZ provisions.
  Instead, allow imports only upon full duty payment, with duty refunds processed post-verifiable export, thereby creating a natural deterrent to misuse.
• Implement a robust SOP similar to Sri Lanka’s model, to ensure that:

1. • All tea imports for re-export are traceable and auditable;
   • Quality standards as per FSSAI norms are strictly enforced;
   • Domestic diversion of imported tea is prevented.