ITA chairman C. K. Dhanuka (left) and commerce secretary S. N. Menon in Calcutta on Thursday. Picture by Kishor Roy Chowdhury

Calcutta, Feb. 17: The government will introduce certification for tea entering the country to rein in the rising imports of cheap varieties to India.

The certification will mainly be on origination and quality. It will also be applicable for tea being exported to the global markets.

Talking to newspersons here today after a meeting with the members of the Indian Tea Association, S. N. Menon, Union commerce secretary, said: ?The issue of quality is a major area of concern to us. We will shortly introduce certification for imports and exports. The Tea Board will be the nodal agency for introducing the certification.?

The total import figure in 2004 was 30 million kgs. Out of this, nearly 25 million kgs is cheap tea from Indonesia and Vietnam, which is imported into the country for re-export.

?This cheap tea is being exported to global markets as Indian tea and is tarnishing its image,? said C. K. Dhanuka, chairman of ITA. In 2004, India exported 177 million kgs of tea.

Menon said the Indian tea industry needs to change the production pattern from CTC to orthodox if it has to survive in the global markets and remain competitive.

?Out of our total produce of 850 million kgs nearly 70 per cent is CTC and the rest is orthodox. This ratio needs to be changed. India will have to produce more orthodox tea to cater to the global markets,? he added.

The tea industry has been clamouring for release of funds that have accumulated under additional excise duty (AED) with the Centre. The government charges Re 1 per kg AED from the Indian tea industry.

The fund will be utilised for increasing the production of orthodox tea and generic promotion of tea.

Menon said the funds are likely to be released within a month. The industry is pressing for a release before the new season commences.

Union commerce minister Kamal Nath had announced last September that a special fund will be set up for replantation and rejuvenation of old bushes.

But the fund is yet to be formed as the banks are not willing to give loans to the tea industry at a soft rate of interest.

The commerce secretary said the matter is being discussed with Nabard, public sector banks and the Indian Banks? Association (IBA).