Overview

• Four industry bodies — AASTGA, ABLTMA, BCP and NETA — met in Dibrugarh and agreed to act together on shared problems.
• They called for fixation of a Minimum Support Price for green leaf and enforcement of a Minimum Benchmark Price until it is set.
• The groups sought restructuring of the Tea Board and its agencies, transparent import and export data, controls on cheap tea imports, and prior NOC for raw-leaf movement.
• Industry representatives said many samples are failing FSSAI tests for pesticides such as acetamiprid and imidacloprid, and warned factories may halt procurement due to the lack of any green-leaf testing lab in Assam.
• Separate protests in Jorhat spotlighted prices of Rs 15–16 per kg against a reported Rs 22 cost of production, with a Tea Board official citing oversupply and weak demand.