Tea Export Remains Disrupted; Entrepreneurs Demand Intervention from Prime Minister

May 16, Kathmandu – Tea exports from Nepal to India have completely come to a halt over the past two weeks.

This disruption began after the Indian Tea Board introduced a new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) effective from April 30, imposing stringent new regulations on tea imports into India.

Under the new directive, every truck and consignment of Nepalese tea entering India must undergo individual laboratory testing, placing significant strain on Nepal’s tea industry, including producers, entrepreneurs, and farmers.

Despite continuous diplomatic efforts by Nepal’s Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies and the Nepali Embassy in New Delhi, no resolution has yet been reached.

Entrepreneurs report that although the embassy has regularly communicated with officials from India’s Ministry of Commerce and the Indian Tea Board, appealing for removal of these restrictions, the Indian authorities continue to enforce the new regulations without exception.

With diplomatic and administrative efforts yielding no tangible results, uncertainty has grown within the Nepalese tea community.

Consequently, tea producers, businessmen, and farmers are calling for direct and high-level intervention from the Prime Minister to resolve the export hurdles.

Recalling past occasions when former Prime Ministers directly contacted their Indian counterparts to swiftly address such barriers, they emphasize the need for a similar level of political dialogue now to resolve the issue.

They argue that the current diplomatic attempts at lower levels are insufficient to resolve the problems created by the new Indian regulations and urge Prime Minister Balendra Shah to take immediate, decisive action to safeguard Nepal’s key agricultural export market.

Previously, one sample test report was valid for 15 days or up to 10 trucks, but India has discarded this provision.

Now, every individual truck must pay a testing fee of INR 11,120 (Indian Rupees) and await test results, which can take at least two weeks, creating a costly and cumbersome process.

Senior Vice President of the Nepal Tea Producers Association, Shivkumar Gupta, confirmed that this stringent policy has effectively halted exports for the past half month.

During this time, Indian buyers have only taken an extremely limited quantity of tea at their own risk, approximately 10-12 tons from the Terai region and 4-5 tons from the hills, transported via just two trucks.

“Although the tea season is just beginning and major business losses have not yet occurred, with recent rainfall the production is expected to increase sharply within the next 10 days,” Gupta said. “If exports remain blocked during that period, producers and farmers will face storage shortages and significant losses.”

Similarly, Kamal Mainali, President of the Nepal Tea Association, highlighted the increased risks that the new Indian regulation imposes on entrepreneurs.

He warned that delays of 15 days at the border risk degrading tea quality, while failure to pass lab tests requires destruction of the product.

“Selling is not allowed until the test report is received. If the tea fails testing, it must be returned to Nepal, but government regulations presently do not permit return shipments,” he explained. “Returning tea entails paying 40% customs and 13% VAT, resulting in significant financial losses for businessmen.”

Given that diplomatic and administrative measures alone have proved ineffective, Mainali has called for high-level political intervention.

“In the past, when such challenges arose, former Prime Ministers Girija Prasad Koirala and Pushpa Kamal Dahal directly called their Indian counterparts to remove the barriers,” he noted. “Prime Minister Balendra Shah should now undertake similar high-level efforts to ensure a long-term solution for the tea export issues.”

He also stressed the importance of seeking alternative markets, warning that recurring difficulties with India undermine Nepal’s tea industry.

“Our tea should not be limited to a single market like Vietnam or Kenya,” he added. “If India continues to create problems, the government should explore new markets such as Pakistan or Middle Eastern countries for Terai CTC tea, and Europe, the US, and Russia for orthodox tea from the hills.”

Director and spokesperson of the National Tea and Coffee Development Board, Deepak Khanal, said that a meeting was held two days ago involving the Commerce Ministry Secretary Krishna Bahadur Raut, around 30 tea entrepreneurs from Ilam, Jhapa, and Kathmandu, and representatives from eight associations to address the export difficulties.

He said the Secretary was briefed about all the existing issues and expressed commitment to facilitate solutions.

“We are pursuing resolution efforts on technical, diplomatic, and political fronts,” Khanal said. “A key focus is advocating for India to recognize lab reports issued by Nepal’s Food Technology and Quality Control Department. If India accepts our official lab reports, the problem with India will be permanently resolved.”

According to statistics, Nepal exported 15,598,660 kilograms of tea in the fiscal year 2081/82 (2024), earning approximately NPR 459 crore (4.59 billion) in foreign exchange revenue.