Suryodaya Municipality in Ilam has urged the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to immediately initiate high-level diplomatic engagement with the Government of India to remove ongoing barriers affecting Nepali tea exports.

In a letter to the ministry, Acting Mayor Durga Kumar Baral said Nepali tea exports have once again been disrupted due to procedures imposed by the Tea Board of India.

The letter states that the obstruction has raised serious concerns, as tea is one of Nepal’s key cash crops and a major source of foreign currency earnings.

Earlier disruptions also took place just two weeks after India relaxed testing requirements for Nepali tea exports

According to the municipality, exports were earlier disrupted for 21 days after the Tea Board introduced a new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in mid-April, which mandated compulsory laboratory testing. Exports resumed from May 20 after India relaxed testing requirements, allowing random sampling instead of testing every truckload.

However, the municipality said the Tea Board has now introduced another layer of inspection, under which samples are collected from every bag of Nepali tea at the importer’s warehouse in Kolkata for laboratory testing.

The letter states that more than a week has passed since sampling began, but no laboratory report has been issued so far, and sales and distribution have been halted until results are released.

The municipality estimates that around 50,000 kilograms of Nepali tea are currently stuck in warehouses in India, raising concerns over quality deterioration and financial losses.

It warned that such non-tariff barriers could severely damage Nepal’s tea industry, disrupt the livelihoods of thousands of farmers and workers, and negatively impact the national economy.

The municipality has called on the government to urgently engage with India at a high diplomatic level to resolve the issue and ensure that Nepali tea exports resume under previously agreed arrangements.

Nepal exports nearly 90 percent of its orthodox tea to India, making the country highly dependent on its southern neighbour. Only a small share reaches third-country markets.

Nepal produces around 7,838 tonnes of orthodox tea annually. Exports to third countries account for only 11.4 percent of total orthodox tea exports. Organically certified orthodox tea has performed relatively better, with 21.63 percent of production reaching overseas markets.

Tea exports have already been on a downward trend this fiscal year. According to the Trade and Export Promotion Centre, Nepal exported 11,393 tonnes of tea worth Rs3.35 billion during the first 10 months of the current fiscal year until mid-May, down from 14,030 tonnes worth Rs3.97 billion during the same period last year.

In the last fiscal year, Nepal exported 15,598 tonnes of tea valued at Rs4.59 billion.

The recurring testing issue has become a major concern for Nepali exporters despite recent progress in bilateral recognition of food testing certificates.

In April last year, India's food safety authority recognised certificates issued by Nepal's National Food and Feed Reference Laboratory for eight products, including juice, jam, pickles and instant noodles. Nepal has been seeking similar recognition for tea and other export products, but the sector continues to face periodic quality-related restrictions and testing requirements from India.