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| Long title | An Act to prevent the importation of impure and unwholesome tea. |
|---|---|
| Enacted by | the54th United States Congress |
| Effective | May 1, 1897 |
| Citations | |
| Public law | Pub. L. 54–358 |
| Statutes at Large | 29 Stat. 604 |
| Codification | |
| Titles amended | 21 U.S.C.: Food and Drugs |
| U.S.C. sections created | 21 U.S.C. ch. 2 § 41 et seq. |
| Legislative history | |
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Tea Importation Act of 1897 was a United Statespublic law forbidding theimport oftea into the United States with excessive levels offluoride,heavy metals,oxalate, andpesticides. TheAct of Congress established a uniform standard of purity and quality while attempting to achieve the optimalhealth effects of tea andphenolic content in tea.[citation needed] The statute declared it unlawful to import into the United States "any merchandise as tea which is inferior in purity, quality, and fitness for consumption to the standards kept at customhouses..."[1] For nearly a century, Congress provided that no imported tea could enter the United States unless federal tea-tasters decided that it measured up to preselected standard samples. The law restricted theInternational trade ofcamellia sinensis.[citation needed]
The 1897statute superseded the Spurious Tea Importation Act of 1883.[2][3]
The act was on the books for 99 years before its repeal in 1996.[4] After repeal, theFood and Drug Administration still regulates the quality of tea imported to the United States under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938.[1]
The United States statute had twelve sections and authorized theUnited States Secretary of the Treasury to implement the law.
As codified just before its repeal, the Act instructed theSecretary of Health and Human Services each year "to appoint a board, to consist of seven members, each of whom shall be an expert in teas, and who shall prepare and submit to him standard samples of tea."[5] In accordance with the board of experts' recommendations, the Secretary was instructed to "fix and establish uniform standards of purity, quality, and fitness for consumption of all kinds of teas imported unto the United States" and to deposit samples of these standards in thecustomhouses of various ports of entry. Tea importers were required to submit samples of their product for comparison with the standard samples kept at the customhouses. The imported samples were then tested "by a duly qualified examiner," who would test "the purity, quality, and fitness for consumption of the... [imported tea samples] according to the usages and customs of the tea trade, including the testing of aninfusion of the same in boiling water and, if necessary, chemical analysis."[citation needed]
The Board of Tea Appeals was aUnited Statesfederal agency under the jurisdiction of the Food and Drug Administration. From its establishment in 1897 until its abolishment in 1996, it adjudicated the claims oftea importers whose products were denied entry into the United States by federal tea-tasters. The Board was authorized to permit delivery or order destruction or exportation of substandard teas.[6]
The Tea Importation Act of 1908 amended the 1897 public law permitting the import of tea siftings, tea sweepings, or tea waste for theextraction ofcaffeine or theine, and otherchemical products.[7] The 1897 Act was repealed with the United States 104th Congressional session enactment of the Federal Tea Tasters Repeal Act of 1996.[8][9]
The twelve sections of the original act: