Bangladesh Tea Board

The Tea Ordinance- 1977

The Ordinance was  published on 29th July, 1977  (ORDINANCE NO. XXXVIII OF 1977). It was issued to ensure the the expansion of Tea Export, establish new Tea Gardens, rehabilitate derelict Tea Gardens and generally for the promotion of the Tea Industry. The Ordinance is comprised of following four chapters.

Important Issues of  The Tea Ordinance- 1977

Functions of the Board

The functions of the Board shall be-

1.     to regulate, control and promote the cultivation and export of tea;

2.     to regulate and control the sale of tea;

3.     to fix grading standards of tea and provide for training in tea tasting;

4.     to take measures to improve the quality of tea;

5.     to collect statistics from growers, manufacturers or dealers of tea or other persons on any matter relating to tea and tea industry;

6.     to organize and assist in special research connected with tea cultivation and tea industry;

7.     to promote co-operative efforts amongst growers;

8.     to undertake, assist or encourage scientific, technological, and economic research and maintain and assist in the maintenance of demonstration farms and manufacturing stations for promotion of tea and other economic crops;

9.     to issue registration of estates; and to grant licences to the owners of estates and to the manufacturers, brokers, tea waste dealers, persons dealing in tea as bidder, importer, wholesaler and retailer and persons engaged in the business of blending tea;

10.  to undertake such business, or to acquire, takeover or manage the business of such concern, as the Government may direct;

11.  to establish new tea gardens, to acquire and rehabilitate derelict tea gardens in accordance with such schemes as may be approved by the Government, and generally to render assistance to the existing tea gardens and to improve their production;

12.  to take measures for proper utilisation of the land available in the tea gardens in excess of the area under tea cultivation;

13.  to undertake welfare measures for tea garden labourers and employees; and

14.  to take such measures as may appear to it to be advisable in

15.  the interest of tea industry of Bangladesh and to perform such other functions as the Government may, from time to time, direct.

Export Allotment

1.     The Board may, by notification in the official Gazette, fix the export allotment of tea for each tea year, that is to say, a year commencing on the first day of January and ending on the thirty- first day of December.

2.     The export allotment fixed under sub-section (1) may be exported from out of tea purchased in tea auctions in such manner as the Board may, from time to time, determine.

Tea Auction

1.     The Board may direct that all tea intended for export as well as for internal consumption other than those sold ex-gardens shall be sold in auction to be held for this purpose.

Export of Tea

1.     All tea purchased in the auction other than those for internal consumption shall be exported by or on behalf of the purchasers within a period of four months from the date of the purchase and every such purchaser shall have the right to obtain an export license required under section 20 for the quantity to be exported.

2.     The Board may, in special circumstances, permit a purchaser to export in lieu of tea purchased in auctions an equivalent quantity of tea purchased otherwise than in such auctions.

Control of export of tea and tea seeds

1.     No tea shall be exported except under a licence issued by or on behalf of the Board in such form and in accordance with such conditions as may be prescribed.

2.     No tea seed shall be exported except under a permit issued by or on behalf of the Board.

3.     The breach of the provisions of this section shall be punishable as if it were an offence under item No. 8 of section 156 of theCustoms Act, 1969 (IV of 1969), and the provisions of section 157 and Chapter XVIII of that Act shall apply accordingly.

Prohibition to manufacture of tea except in a registered factory

1.     No person shall manufacture tea except in a registered tea factory and no person shall possess, store, buy, sell, or agree to buy, or offer for sale, any tea except tea manufactured in such factory.

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