Related documents
- Is amended by 24th Annual Supplement
- Amends Crops Act

LAWS OF KENYA
TEA ACT
CAP. 343
- Published in Kenya Gazette Vol. CXXII—No. 240 on 31 December 2020
- Assented to on 23 December 2020
- Commenced on 11 January 2021
- [Revised by 24th Annual Supplement (Legal Notice 221 of 2023) on 31 December 2022]
Part I – PRELIMINARY
1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Tea Act.2. Interpretation
In this Act—"auction" means a physical or electronic system where potential buyers place competitive bids for tea;"auction organizer" means a person, company or firm established for the purpose of organizing tea auctions in Kenya;"blending" means the art of mixing of teas of different types and grades to affect the flavour and characteristics of the tea for the purposes of packing and sale;"Board" means the Tea Board of Kenya established under section 3;"broker" means a person or company or firm established for the purpose of negotiating the purchase or sale of tea between tea growers or tea factories and buyers for a fee;"buyer" means a person, company or a firm engaged in acquiring made tea for sale in the local or export market, including export of imported tea;"Cabinet Secretary" means the Cabinet Secretary for the time being responsible for matters relating to agriculture;"commercial green leaf transporter" means a person, a firm or a corporate body contracted by a tea factory to provide green leaf transport services from the farm or leaf collection centre to the tea factory at a fee;"commercial tea nursery" means a person or firm who maintains not less than five hundred tea seedlings or tea planting material for sale;"county government" has the meaning assigned to it under Article 176 of the Constitution;"crops inspector" means a person appointed as an inspector in accordance with section 49 of the Act;"export" means to take tea or cause tea to be taken out of the Kenya customs territory or out of an Export Processing Zone;"exporter" means a person, a firm, or a corporate body engaged in the business of blending, packaging and exporting of tea in bulk or in value added form;"Foundation" means the Tea Research Foundation established under section 55;"Fund" means the Tea Fund established under section 54;"grower" means any person who is cultivating tea in an area;"green leaf agreement" means an agreement between a tea grower and a tea factory relating to the delivery of green leaf;"import" means to bring tea into or cause to be brought into the Kenya customs territory or into an Export Processing Zone;"importer" means a person, a firm, or a corporate body engaged in the business of importing tea into Kenya;"large scale tea grower" means a person cultivating tea in a parcel of land above fifty acres;"levy" means the levy imposed by the Cabinet Secretary on tea exports and imports in accordance with section 53;"licensee" means a person who holds a manufacturing licence issued under the Act;"made tea" means the derivative from tea leaf through a manufacturing process;"management agent" means any person that is appointed by a tea factory through a specific management contract or agreement to perform or offer professional services other than company secretary services;"manufacture" means the mechanical or chemical processing and conversion of green tea leaf into made tea or other tea products and includes the packaging, labelling, distribution of tea and tea products for sale;"manufacturing licence" means a licence issued under section 25;"medium scale tea grower" means a person cultivating tea in a parcel of land of between ten and fifty acres;"person" includes a firm, a company, an association, cooperative society or a corporate body;"small scale tea grower" means a grower cultivating tea in a parcel of land of less than ten acres;"specialty teas" means premium teas manufactured whole leaf, semi-aerated or non-aerated and includes green, purple, white, oolong and orthodox but does not include black curl tear and cut teas;"tea" means the plant botanically known as camellia sinensis and includes its seed, tea plants and the leaf, whether on the plant or detached therefrom, and in the latter case, whether green tea or manufactured tea;"tea block" means a block set out in the Third Schedule within which tea is grown;"tea dealer" includes a warehouse operator, buyer, exporter, importer, broker, packer, manufacturer, management agent, and auction organizer;"tea factory" means a factory that processes and manufactures tea leaf into made tea;"tea grower" means a person who grows tea or cultivates tea in Kenya;"tea packer" any person who blends, brands and packs tea into packets or containers holding not more than ten kilograms of tea intended for sale locally or for export;"value addition" means improvements on made tea through packaging, blending, flavouring, tea extracts, tea aroma and branding;"warehouse" means a premise used for the storage of made tea and specialty tea by a warehouse operator; and"warehouse operator" means a company registered in Kenya which is in the business of storing tea.Part II – THE TEA BOARD OF KENYA
3. Establishment of Board
4. Headquarters
5. Functions of the Board
The Board shall—6. Powers of the Board
7. Membership of Board
8. Term of appointment
9. Vacation of office
A person shall cease to be a member of the Board of Directors if such person—10. Committees of the Board
11. Delegation by the Board
The Board of Directors may, by resolution, delegate to any committee of the Board or to any member, officer, employee or agent of the Board, the exercise of any of the powers or the performance of any of the functions of the Board under this Act or under any other written law.12. Remuneration of members of the Board
The Board of Directors shall be paid such remuneration or allowance as the Cabinet Secretary shall, in consultation with the Salaries and Remuneration Commission determine.13. Chief executive officer
14. Vacancy
The chief executive officer shall cease to hold office if the person—15. Corporation Secretary
16. Staff of the Board
17. Common seal of the Board
The affixing of the common seal of the Board shall be authenticated by the signature of the chairperson and the chief executive officer or a person designated by the Board.18. Signing authority
All letters and instruments written or made by or on behalf of the Board of Directors, other than those required by law to be under seal, and all decisions of the Board of Directors, shall be signed under the hand of the chief executive officer or in the absence of the chief executive officer, a person authorized by the Board.19. Conduct of business of the Board
The business and affairs of the Board of Directors shall be conducted in accordance with the First Schedule.Part III – REGULATORY PROVISIONS
20. Role of national and county governments in the development of tea
21. Registration of small scale tea growers and medium scale tea growers
22. Board of directors of tea factory limited companies
23. Registration of large scale tea growers
24. Tea grower certificate
The manager of a tea factory shall issue a certificate of registration to a small scale tea grower, medium scale tea grower or a large scale tea grower in the form prescribed in regulations.25. Licencing of manufacturers
26. Register of manufacturers
The Board shall maintain a register, in such form as prescribed in regulations, of all manufacturers licensed under this Act and shall enter therein, in respect of each tea factory—27. Illegal manufacture, possession, etc
28. Registration of warehouse operator
29. Registration of tea packers
30. Registration of a tea buyer, exporter or importer
31. Tea imports
32. Registration of a tea broker
33. Registration of a management agent
34. Management agent agreement
35. Registration of a tea auction organizer
36. Auction process
37. Registration of commercial green leaf transporters
38. Registration of a commercial tea nursery
39. Considerations before registration and licensing and renewal
40. Conditions of a licence
41. Application for renewal of a licence
42. Revocation or alteration of a licence
The Board may revoke, alter or suspend a licence issued under this Act if in its opinion—43. Surrender of licence
44. Appeals to the High Court
45. Approval of fees charged
Any fee, commission or other dues charged by a broker, management agent or an auction organizer shall be subject to prior approval by the Board.46. Declaration of blended teas
47. Taxation of tea
48. Tea value addition
Part IV – APPOINTMENT OF CROP INSPECTORS
49. Appointment of crop inspectors
50. Entry and inspection
A person duly authorized in writing in that behalf by the Board may, at all reasonable times and upon production of such authority to any person so requesting—51. Powers of entry
52. Obstruction of inspectors
Part V – ESTABLISHMENT OF TEA LEVY AND TEA FUND
53. Establishment of Tea Levy
54. Establishment of a Tea Fund
Part VI – ESTABLISHMENT OF THE TEA RESEARCH FOUNDATION
55. Establishment of the Tea Research Foundation
56. Functions of the Foundation
Part VII – FINANCIAL PROVISIONS
57. Funds of the Board
The funds and assets of the Board shall consist of—58. Annual Estimates
59. Accounts and Audit
60. Annual report and publication
61. Financial year of the Board
The financial year of the Board shall be the period of twelve months ending on the thirtieth June in each financial year.Part VIII – COMPLAINTS AND INVESTIGATION PROCEDURE
62. Complaint and investigation against a licensee
63. Withdrawal of complaint
64. Decision on a complaint
65. Enforcement action
66. Interim directive
67. Enforcement measures
68. Confidentiality
Part IX – MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
69. Arbitration of disputes
A party who is not satisfied with the decision of the Board may, within thirty days, appeal to a Court of competent jurisdiction.70. Protection of members and staff from liability
Liability shall not attach to the Board or to any of its members, officers, agents or staff for loss or damage incurred by a person as a result of an act or omission done or made in good faith and without negligence in the performance or exercise or the intended performance or exercise of any duty or power imposed by or conferred under this Act.71. General penalty
A person who commits an offence under this Act for which no penalty is provided shall be liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding five hundred thousand shillings or a fine not exceeding twice the value of the tea or tea products or, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both.72. Offences relating to body corporate
73. Conflict of laws
If any conflict arises between the provisions of this Act and any other Act with respect to the development of the tea crop, the provisions of this Act shall prevail.74. Regulations
75. [Spent]
Part X – TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS
76. Transfer of assets and liabilities
All property, except such property as the Cabinet Secretary may specify in writing, which, immediately before the commencement of this Act, was vested in the Government for the use of the Tea Directorate of the Agriculture and Food Authority and the Tea Research Institute of the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization, shall, on the date of commencement of this Act, vest in the Board and the Foundation, respectively, subject to all interests, liabilities, charges, obligations and trusts affecting that property.77. Pending proceedings and claims
All legal proceedings and claims pending in respect of actions and activities to which this Act apply shall be continued or enforced by or against the Board and the Foundation in the same manner as they would have been continued or enforced by or against the Agriculture and Food Authority and the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization had this Act not been enacted.78. Reference to written laws
Any reference to the Agriculture and Food Authority in any written law or in any contract, document or instrument of whatever nature, in relation to tea, shall, on the commencement of this Act, be read and construed as a reference to the Board.79. Existing licences and registrations
All licences and registrations existing before the appointed day shall remain valid until their expiry, and subsequent licences and registrations shall be issued under this Act.80. Transfer of Staff
81. Interpretation
In this Part—"appointed day" means the day this Act comes into operation.History of this document
31 December 2022 this version
Revised by
24th Annual Supplement
11 January 2021
Commenced
31 December 2020
23 December 2020
Assented to
Cited documents 8
Act 8
1. | Fair Administrative Action Act | 1956 citations |
2. | Companies Act | 1553 citations |
3. | Statutory Instruments Act | 230 citations |
4. | Public Officer Ethics Act | 202 citations |
5. | Crops Act | 143 citations |
6. | Intergovernmental Relations Act | 123 citations |
7. | Public Audit Act | 116 citations |
8. | Certified Public Secretaries of Kenya Act | 17 citations |
Documents citing this one 15
Judgment 10
Gazette 4
1. | Kenya Gazette Vol. CXXIV-No. 113 | |
2. | Kenya Gazette Vol. CXXIV-No. 6 | |
3. | Kenya Gazette Vol. CXXV-No. 129 | |
4. | Kenya Gazette Vol. CXXVI-No. 203 |
Act 1
1. | Crops Act | 143 citations |