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The Centre is taking a re-look at its recent order that asked bought-leaf factories to mandatorily route 70 per cent of the annual produce though auctions, according to a Tea Board official.
The Ministry of Commerce had, in May, issued a notification to this effect under the Tea (Marketing) Control Amendment Order (TMCO), 2015.
Talking to newspersons on the sidelines of the annual general meeting of the Tea Association of India on Monday, S Soundararajan, Director – Tea Development, Tea Board, said that the review of the order is under consideration.
“Meeting between the people concerned in the Ministry and stakeholders of the tea industry has been done and the (TMCO) order is under review,” he said.
According to him, in an effort to simplify the procedures, the Board has already abolished the compulsory notarised declaration over cultivation practices, standards and management of personnel from tea gardens. This is replaced by self-attested declarations.
Relooking the TMCO order Earlier at the AGM, Vijay Dhandhania, President, Tea Association of India, rooted for ‘re-look’ into the order.
“The Provision of Tea Marketing Control Order in the matter of pricing of green leaf may perhaps require a re-look. The probable anomalies that would rise in the stipulation of offering 70 per cent of the produce by the bought leaf factories in auction centres under the order have been raised before the Tea Board,” he said.
The present auction system, according to Dhandhania, is incapable of handling such huge inflow of tea.
Jute bags for packaging Jute Commissioner Subrata Gupta, who was present on the occasion, said the option of using jute bags to package tea could be explored in the coming days.
Talking to newspersons, Gupta said, “food grade packing material” for coffee and cocoa has already been developed and options can be explored to extend the same to tea.
Under the prevalent Jute Packaging Act, 1987, the use of jute bags is mandatory for packing foodgrains and other materials weighing beyond 25 kg (a package).
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