1. Short title, extent and commencement.―(1) This Act may be called the Tea Act, 1953.
(2) It extends to the whole of India:
Provided that it shall not apply to the State of Jammu and Kashmir* except to the extent to which the
provisions of this Act relate to the control of the export of tea from, and the cultivation of tea in, India.
(3) It shall come into force on such date3
as the Central Government may, by notification in the
Official Gazette, appoint.
2. Declaration as to expediency of control by the Union.―It is hereby declared that it is expedient
in the public interest that Union should take under its control the tea industry.
3. Definitions.―In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,―
(a) “Board” means the Tea Board constituted under section 4;
(b) “broker” means a broker of tea;
(c) “cess” means 4
[the duty of excise] imposed by section 25;
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[(d) “Commissioner of Customs” means a Commissioner of Customs as specified in clause (b) of
section 3 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962);]
(e) “dealer” means a dealer in tea;
(f) “export” means to take out of India by land, sea or air to any place outside India other than a
country or territory notified in this behalf by the Central Government by notification in the Official
Gazette;
(g) “export allotment” means the total quantity of tea which may be exported during any one
financial year;
(h) “Fund” means the Tea Fund referred to in section 27;
(i) “manufacturer” means a manufacturer of tea;
(j) “member” means a member of the Board;
(k) “owner”―
1. This Act has been extended with modifications to Goa, Daman and Diu by Reg. 11 of 1963. s. 3 and Sch (w.e.f. 1-8-1965).
2. Subs. by Act 21 of 1967, s. 2, for “levy a customs duty on tea exported from India” (w.e.f.13-8-1967).
3. 1st April, 1956; see notification No. S.R.O. 943, dated the 17th March 1954, Gazette of India, Extraordinary, 1954, Part II,
s. 3.
4. Subs. by Act 21 of 1967, s. 3, for “the customs-duty”.
5. Subs. by Act 22 of 1995, s. 86, for clause (d) (w.e.f. 26-5-1995).
*. Vide notification No. S.O. 3912(E), dated 30th October, 2019, this Act is made applicable to the Union territory of Jammu and
Kashmir and the Union territory of Ladakh.
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(i) with reference to a tea estate or garden or a sub-division there of the possession of which
has been transferred by lease, mortgage or otherwise, means the transferee so long as his right to
possession subsists; and
(ii) with reference to a tea estate or a garden or a sub-division for which an agent, is
employed means the agent if, and in so far as, he has been duly authorized by the owner in that
behalf;
(l) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
(m) “standard export figure” means such quantity as the Central Government may, by notification
in the Official Gazette, specify pursuant to any international agreement in this behalf.
(n) “tea” means the plant Camellia Sinensis (L) O. Kuntze as well as all varieties of the product
known commercially as tea made from the leaves of the plant Camelia Sinensis (L) O. Kuntze
including green tea;
(o) “tea seed” includes seeds, roots, stumps, cuttings, buds, and any living portion of the plant
Camellia Sinensis (L) O. Kuntze which may be used to propagate that plant.