A few days ago, on May 21, International Tea Day was celebrated by people around the world. Many may not be aware that this day is actually the result of a dedicated, multi-year diplomatic effort initially led by India.
Archival records from the Tea Board of India (TBI), FAO Intergovernmental Group (IGG) meetings and memorandums submitted by small tea grower organisations show how the campaign gradually evolved over the years. What started as a labour rights initiative eventually became an officially recognised United Nations observance.
The Origins of International Tea Day
The idea of International Tea Day (ITD) originated in 2005, when trade unions and small tea grower organisations came together to address the problems the tea industry was facing at the time. The mid-2000s were a particularly difficult period for the tea industry due to global price volatility. Small growers were the most vulnerable because they did not have the financial cushion of large corporate estates.
This pressure led local grower associations and trade groups to realise that they could not work in isolation. They needed to organise and find structural solutions to challenges such as unpredictable crop prices, protect the livelihoods of small farmers and ensure that the entire tea sector could grow sustainably.
The 1st International Tea Day
The first International Tea Day was observed on December 15, 2005, following deliberations held during the World Social Forum meetings in Mumbai (2004) and Porto Alegre (2005). In a Small Grower Statement, small grower organisations described International Tea Day as “a day to affirm the rights of small tea growers and tea workers — those who produce tea.”
In the lead-up to the observance, an international consultation was organised in New Delhi with representatives from Bangladesh, Indonesia, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Malawi, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda and Vietnam. Delegates adopted the “New Delhi Declaration on the Rights of Tea Workers and Small Growers”, which called for fair trade practices, labour protections and greater recognition of small tea producers.
The Tea Board of India recognised the growing importance of small tea growers (STGs) in India’s tea sector and supported the idea of International Tea Day. With approval from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Indian government decided to turn it into a formal diplomatic proposal to be presented at the FAO Intergovernmental Group (IGG) on Tea.
In a 2016 proposal addressed to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Tea Board Chairman Santosh Sarangi referred to discussions held during the FAO Intergovernmental Group on Tea meeting in Milan in October 2015, where India proposed the creation of an International Tea Day to “increase awareness about tea and its health benefits globally and to promote its consumption”.
The Journey on the Global Stage
During the October 2015 FAO Intergovernmental Group (IGG) meeting in Milan, Italy, India formally proposed setting aside a special day for tea. The FAO Secretariat asked India to take the lead, gather support from other Asian tea-producing nations and begin moving the proposal through the official channels.
By May 2016, India had built a solid administrative foundation for the initiative, and the proposal had entered formal diplomatic circulation through the FAO framework. A year later, in August 2017, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, several countries joined hands to create a powerful coalition. Co-chaired by Kenya, India, China and Indonesia, the group secured formal commitments from other key tea-exporting countries, including Argentina, Japan and Malawi, to submit letters of support and accelerate the approval process.
Shifting the ITD Date
A major turning point came during the 23rd Session of the FAO Intergovernmental Group on Tea, held in Hangzhou, China, from May 17 to 20, 2018. Until that point, the day had been informally recognised on December 15. However, the Chinese delegation suggested moving the date to May 21 instead. The FAO approved the date change and officially forwarded the proposal to the United Nations.
The Final UN Step and What It Means Today
The campaign achieved its final milestone on November 27, 2019, when the United Nations General Assembly officially adopted the resolution recognising May 21 as International Tea Day.
Today, this global decision actively benefits local communities. One example is the Karbi Anglong district of Assam, where small farmers are using this international recognition to build community-run factories for processing high-quality green tea. International Tea Day has proven to be more than a successful diplomatic initiative; it has become an observance whose impact translates into real financial security and sustainable livelihoods for the people who grow tea.
The evolution of International Tea Day demonstrates how trade unions, small growers’ collectives, national institutions and multilateral organisations collectively shaped an observance that now carries both economic and cultural significance worldwide.
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