Tea Board
- Tea is one of the industries, which by an Act of Parliament comes under the control of the Union Govt. The genesis of the Tea Board India dates back to 1903 when the Indian Tea Cess Bill was passed.
- The present Tea Board set up under section 4 of the Tea Act 1953 was constituted on 1st April 1954. It has succeeded the Central Tea Board and the Indian Tea Licencing Committees which functioned respectively under the Central Tea Board Act,1949 and the Indian Tea Control Act, 1938 which were repealed.
- The activities of the two previous bodies had been confined largely to regulation of tea cultivation and export of tea as required by the International Tea Agreement then in force, and promotion of tea Consumption.
Organisation of Board
- The present Tea Board is functioning as a statutory body of the Central Government under the Ministry of Commerce.
- The Board is constituted of 31 members (including Chairman) drawn from Members of Parliament, tea producers, tea traders, tea brokers, consumers, and representatives of Governments from the principal tea producing states, and trade unions.
- The Board is reconstituted every three years.
- Foreign Offices: Currently the Tea Board has only one office located in Moscow. This foreign office of the Board is designed to undertake the various promotional measures to boost up export of Indian tea. This office also acts as a liaison office for interaction between importers of Indian tea of the respective region as well as Indian Exporters.