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The Tea Board of India (TBI) is readying a 'Tea Code' for the sector's. The industry body plans to roll it out on July 11 and give six months to all processing factories and plantation estates to adopt sector.
"The units involved in the tea value chain till the auction centres will be covered under this Tea Code. We are meeting with the stakeholders on July 11 and expect to launch the code the same day. Initially, it will be launched on a pilot basis and tested for a few months," TBI Chairman M G V K Bhanu told Business Standard when he visited Anand on Saturday.
Following its implementation on a national pilot basis, it would be adopted in its final form, with changes, if any, beginning next financial year.
The code, aimed at the overall development of the sector, will set uniform minimum standards for factories and estates.
"Companies will have to incur additional costs to comply with the code but that is not very significant. To begin with, around 500 companies are expected to adopt the code. Two key parameters are soil conservation and labour welfare," said an office bearer of the Federation of All India Tea Traders Association (FAITTA).
Besides improving the quality of tea produced at these estates and factories, the code will also help create a better image for the industry globally. It envisages boosting productivity, initiating labour welfare measures such as putting in place minimum age limits for labourers, maintaining strict safety standards at factories and setting limits for the use of pesticides in plantations.
"The minimum age criteria for labourers is likely to be set at 16 years, while globally it is 18 years," one FAITTA member informed.
"A uniform code will help foreign buyers understand the (Indian tea) industry better. Most tea exporting companies are likely to adopt it," said Chetan Patel, secretary, FAITTA.
TBI has developed the code in collaboration with IDH-Sustainable Trade Initiative, Solidaridad, Rainforest Alliance and Hindustan Unilever Limited.
Brewing A CHANGE
- Tea Board of India plans to roll out the 'tea code' on July 11
- It will be launched on a pilot basis and tested for a few months
- The code will set uniform standards for tea factories and estates
- Initially, around 500 companies are expected to adopt the code
- The code envisages boosting productivity and initiating labour welfare and safety measures
