Iran to monitor import of poor quality tea from India

Dubai, Jun 13 (UNI) Iran would closely watch the quality of tea being imported from India and other South Asian countries.

Recently, it sent back a tea cargo back to India because of its poor quality.

An official with the Iran Standardisation and Industrial Research Institute (ISIRI) said in the beginning of March 21 - Iran's New Year - it returned to India and Sri Lanka five cargos of tea due to low quality.

''In the previous year we imported 49 cargos of tea of which six cargos were sent back as they did not meet our standards,'' Tehran Times quoted the official as saying.

''Since March 21 this year we have imported 87 cargos of which five have been sent back,'' he added.

Indian Tea Board, which has set an export target of 200 million kilograms for the current financial year, has identified Iran as one of the focus countries for its export drive.

Earlier, there was a ban on import of Indian tea by Iran, which preferred buying mostly Assam's orthodox tea.

UNI XC DKS HT1700