The tea subsector is one of the biggest contributors to Uganda’s GDP and export earnings and has significantly earned between US$70 million and US$85 million annuallyBy Prisca WanyenyaParliament has granted Igara West MP Cohen Amanya leave to introduce a Private Member’s Bill, the National Tea Bill, which seeks to register all tea farmers and traders and impose a levy on all tea importers into Uganda.The decision followed the tabling of a motion seeking leave of Parliament during the plenary sitting on October 28, 2026. Amanya defended the Bill, citing tea as Uganda’s fourth largest agricultural export after coffee, fish and maize, with total area under cultivation estimated at between 41,000 and 45,000 hectares, comprising both large commercial estates and smallholder farmers.“The tea subsector is one of the biggest contributors to Uganda’s GDP and export earnings and has significantly earned between US$70 million and US$85 million annually, with earnings of US$93.8 million in 2018. However, recent annual export values declined to around US$55.8 million by 2022 due to global price volatility,” Amanya noted.According to data from the Uganda Tea Association, Uganda produced approximately 60 million Kgs in 2025, 58 million Kgs in 2024, 71 million Kgs in 2023, 77 million Kgs in 2022, 81 million Kgs in 2021, 76 million Kgs in 2020 and 72 million Kgs in 2019 and 2018.Key Proposals in the BillClause 26 proposes restrictions on tea importation. Under the proposal, a person shall not import tea into Uganda except under a licence. Anyone who contravenes the section commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment not exceeding three years or a fine not exceeding 5,000 currency points (UGX100 million).Clause 9(l) proposes the establishment of a national register of tea farmers. Government would be required to maintain an electronic register containing particulars of every tea farmer, including full name and address, and where the farmer is a member of a farmers’ group or association, the name and address of the group.Clause 22 seeks to tighten tea trade. A person who blends tea produced in Uganda with any tea produced outside Uganda shall declare the percentage of tea produced in Uganda on the packaging and on the blend sheet. Contravention attracts a penalty of up to three years imprisonment or a fine of UGX100 million.Why the Bill is NeededAmanya argued that the tea sector has largely operated under a liberalised market system with no dedicated policy or law to guide its development and regulate production, marketing, export, grading and pricing, exposing it to systemic vulnerabilities, weak institutional oversight and diminished competitiveness.“The lack of a specific regulatory framework has hindered the realisation of its full potential. The subsector is currently characterised by production of poor or medium quality tea which earns Uganda US$1 per kilogramme compared to higher-priced Kenyan and Rwandan tea that yields almost US$4.5 to US$5. There is lack of value addition which has resulted in the export of raw material without packaging, branding or processing,” he said.He added that the Bill proposes that sub-county agricultural officers act as tea inspectors and supervisors, and proposes that Uganda establishes its own tea auction instead of relying on Mombasa.“What is happening is that when we take our tea to Mombasa the price is determined there. We are saying let our tea be sold here like all the other countries have been doing. Tea is the only crop which is not seasonal, you can get money from January to December. So, we have to regulate this sector for us to be able to move globally,” Amanya explained.MPs Support the BillMethuselah Kasukaali (Mwenge Central) seconded the motion, saying tea as a cash crop requires intentional management throughout the value chain, from selection of seedling species, planting methods, agronomic practices like weeding, fertiliser application, pruning and plucking methods.“All these steps require not only careful management but also being intentional to regulate them right from the farm up to the market. Unfortunately, the tea sector being solely in the hands of the private sector has been handled in a way each handler deems fit. This has compromised the standards of the final product which is the made tea, commonly known as black tea,” Kasukaali said.He noted that Uganda’s highest earnings from tea were US$88 million in 2018, but even when Uganda produced about half that amount in 2024, exports fetched only US$55.8 million due to quality decline.“If we increased our quality with increased production, we have capacity to go beyond US$120 million in foreign exchange. The tea industry is an enterprise that can turn around within one or two seasons, apply fertiliser in two consecutive seasons, you will double the quantity,” Kasukaali said.John Bosco Kariisa (Buhweju West) also seconded the motion, saying the sector is managed under fragmented regulations with no legal framework.“We intend to bring in this Bill to improve tea quality from the seedling to the cup. This is how we can get good quality tea that will fetch good prices both on international and local markets,” Kariisa said.Government ResponseState Minister for Agriculture, Desire Muhooza, informed Parliament that the Ministry of Agriculture is already at an advanced stage of tabling a similar Bill and consultations with private sector players are ongoing. She asked Parliament for more time to finalise it.“This House is aware that most of the confusion that members have talked about in the tea sector came up especially during the time when NAADS was rationalised. The Ministry had already started working on a national tea regulatory framework and disruptions happened when rationalisation came in, but we have resumed and we are working on them,” Muhooza said.“I have been inviting Cohen but he is a stubborn fellow. I have been inviting him to the Ministry to come and sit with us. As the line Minister, tea is under crop and I have been inviting him to come with his team so that we can take them through how far we have gone. We also invited them to give us their input. So as Ministry of Agriculture, we are already working on the same things that you have just proposed, so we shall work with you and harmonise,” she added.The post National Tea Bill: Gov’t to Register All Tea Farmers, License Importers in Move to Rescue Sector appeared first on Business Focus.