Kenya, Iran forms joint committee to lift tea export ban in 60 days
By Shelmith Gelas
Kenya and Iran have agreed to set up a joint committee to deal with trade obstacles, laying the foundation for the lifting of the ban on tea export to Iran within 60 days.
This decision was reached during the 7th session of the Kenya-Iran Joint Commission for Cooperation (JCC) held in Nairobi and chaired by the Prime Cabinet Secretary of Kenya, Hon Musalia W. Mudavadi and Dr Gholamreza Nouri Ghezalcheh, Minister of Agricultural Jihad of Iran.
This move comes in the aftermath of the criminal trade malpractice involving a Kenyan company, Cup of Joe Limited, that imported a low-grade tea, blended it and re-exported it to Iran as a top-end tea bringing about diplomatic issues and the ban on tea export. The company has been deregistered by the Tea Board of Kenya and is set to face prosecution.
The Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said that both Kenya and Iran had agreed on drafting rigorous measures to ward off such criminal activities in future and safeguard the integrity of the Kenyan tea.
“Kenya tea sector is one of our largest foreign exchange earners, and we must protect it from unscrupulous traders who damage our reputation” said the CS, Mutahi Kagwe.
Iran is amongst the top importers of Kenyan tea with statistics showing that over the past 5 years exports from Kenya to Iran have increased at an annualized rate of 18.9%, growing from $20.2M in 2018 to $48M in 2023. In 2024, data collected by Tea Board of Kenya shows they imported 13million kgs worth 4.26 billion, led by Pakistan, maintaining its position as the lead importers of tea, accounting for 34.7% of the total exports volume worth 70 billion.
The joint committee have been tasked with developing a framework to win back the trust, ensure conformity to quality standards and ultimately resume the tea export before the completion of the 60-day period.