The Tea Board has said efforts should be made by the industry to gradually move towards adoption of highest quality standards as those prescribed by countries like the US and the European Union.
"It is a fact of life that the tea industry in India would have to move towards highest safety standards. The board would introduce these standards in a phased manner which the industry will need to adhere to," acting chairman of Tea Board Siddharth said at the AGM of Indian Tea Association (ITA) last night.
Greenpeace India recently said that Indian tea contained dangerous levels of pesticides harmful for human consumption.
"Tea Board had sent a rebuttal saying that Indian tea complied with Indian safety standards and not international safety standards," Siddharth said.
Tea Board had recently fixed the minimum residue limit (MRL) of seven pesticides. "More such are in the offing", he said.
He also urged the industry to adopt the Plant Protection Code (PPC) as prescribed by the board.
Siddharth also said that the industry should also give more thrust on exports.
Additional secretary with the commerce ministry R R Rashmi said that the importance of the small growers could not be wished away.
"It is them which had helped in the increase of production of tea in the country", he said.
