Fresh from a disruption to tea export to India, a government task force report has suggested focussing attention on improving the commodity's quality apart from exploring newer markets, officials said Friday.
After Indian authorities introduced strict regulation for testing Nepalese tea, export to India had halted since May 1. With diplomatic efforts by the Nepal government, the Indian authorities agreed to loosen its regulation and the export resumed from June 30.
The episode has been a learning experience for Nepal, which exports almost 86 per cent of the tea produced in Nepal to India.
The task force formed by the government to address the issues related to disruption of tea export to India, has in its report suggested exploring alternative markets for Nepalese tea besides India, said sources at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forest and Environment. The report has not yet been officially released.
"We have now focused our attention to improve tea quality and diversify the market," Deepak Khanal, director, National Tea and Coffee Development Board of Nepal, said. "We have asked the tea producers to further enhance the quality of their products."
China, Pakistan, the US and Europe can be the alternative markets for Nepalese tea, Khanal, who is also the spokesperson for the board, Khanal told PTI.
He, however, said that the Indian market cannot be ignored so far as the export of Nepalese tea is concerned.
Apart from exporting almost 86 per cent of tea to India, Nepal's tea gardens, located mainly in Ilam and Jhapa districts of Koshi Province of southern Nepal bordering India, mostly hire senior Indian technicians for processing tea, according to Khanal.
Nepal currently produces 26.5 million kgs tea annually, both CTC and orthodox combined together, which directly employs 60,000 plus labourers, Khanal added.
After two months of stricter testing that had disrupted tea export to India, as per the new regulation, only 20 per cent of consignments dispatched to India will be tested for getting approval for export now.