Regulations and Compliance

Services

Development and review of the regulatory framework for the tea sub sector;
Licensing of tea manufacturers and registration of tea dealers along the value chain;
Compliance monitoring, inspections/audits of tea factories and tea traders to enforce relevant laws and standards;
Surveillance inspections on illegal dealings in tea;
Development and review of tea Standards in collaboration with Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) and other international standards development bodies;
Tea quality analysis to enhance market access.
Capacity building and technical assistance to Counties.
Pre-import conformity assessment and approval of tea imports;
Dissemination of information to stakeholders on tea matters.
Consultation with tea industry stakeholders in the development of policies and regulations;

Tea Regulations and standards

The Tea sub sector is regulated by;

The Crops Act 2013
The Agriculture and Food Authority Act 2013
The Crops (Tea Industry) Regulations, 2020

The Crops Act and AFA Act and the tea regulations provide the regulatory framework for the development, promotion and regulation of the Tea industry for the benefit of tea growers and other stakeholders in the tea industry.

The enactment of Agriculture and Food Authority Act, 2013 and the Crops Act, 2013 necessitated the formulation of regulations for the tea sub sector to operationalize the Crops Act. The tea industry regulations were gazetted by the Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperatives Hon. Peter Munya, MGH on 22nd May 2020 vide gazette notice NO 97 of 2020.

Scope of application of the Tea Regulations

These Regulations shall apply with respect to tea produced and marketed in Kenya, and imported or exported into and out of Kenya.

Object and purpose of these Regulations.

The purpose of these Regulations is to guide the development, promotion, and regulation of the tea industry for the benefit of the tea growers and other stakeholders in the tea industry.

The purpose of the Tea Regulations is to provide for—

Procedures and conditions for registration of all players along the value chain;
Procedures, terms and conditions for the issuance of licenses and registration certificates under these Regulations;
Collection and maintenance of data related to tea; authentication and verification of tea exports and imports;
The promotion of value addition and product diversification of Kenya tea products to target diverse tea markets;
Compliance and enforcement of tea standards to ensure quality assurance and safety; and regulation of the tea sub sector.

Standards

The Directorate has developed comprehensive standards in collaboration with the Kenya Bureau of Standards(KEBS) and the Tea industry stakeholders. The overall objective of the standards is to guide the stakeholders to adhere to the best industry practices and facilitate trade. The Standards can be purchased from the Kenya Bureau of Standards.

The tea industry standards include:

Black tea –specifications
Orthodox tea-specifications
Purple tea –Specifications
Instant Tea- specifications
Flavored tea-specification
Tea industry code of practice
Herbal and fruit infusion standards
Green tea-specification
White tea- specifications

Regulation and compliance

NB. Applicants to apply for various licenses and registration certificates on the following link (IMIS).

Registration and Licensing procedure

The following steps shall be followed during the application and processing of the licenses;

The applicant should check and

Register on the AFA IMIS portal to obtain login credentials;
Login and upload the requisite documents;
The application will undergo various verification and approval processes by the Directorate.
The applicant will be required to pay the applicable fee and late application fee where applicable (50% of the fees payable) upon receipt of a notification from IMIS;
The Tea Directorate will issue or renew a license or a registration certificate to the successful applicant within 90 days from the date of receipt of a complete application;

The Crops (Tea Industry) Regulations 2020