Nepal, July 6 -- Nepal's tea industry, which supports thousands of jobs and earns billions of rupees in foreign exchange, continues to face uncertainty. Poor government support for quality improvement and recurring export barriers imposed by India have disrupted the sector for years. The problem usually peaks during the main harvest season, when tea leaves are at their best.

The same dispute resurfaced this year. During the first flush, the most valuable harvest of the year, India delayed imports of Nepal's processed tea for nearly two months. The Indian Tea Board introduced a Standard Operating Procedure, or SOP, requiring quality tests on every shipment before it could be sold. Since more than 90 percent of Nepal's processed orthodox ...