North Eastern Tea Association about current issues as they arise pertaining to Assam's tea industry, besides making various suggestions to the government for the betterment and the upscaling of the industry sector. The organization has made numerous suggestions to the Government of Assam for the upscaling the tea industry in the region. NETA has recently suggested to move the Tea Board of India's head office to Guwahati on the basis of the fact that the other five statutory "Commodity Boards" under the Department of Commerce, Govt. of India – Tea, Coffee, Rubber, Spices and Tobacco are headquartered in the State where the product is
Fermented tea abandoned it for fear of contamination. The next year, nearby villages suffered from dysentery, and decided to drink the abandoned mildewed tea in desperation. The legend concludes that the tea cured those suffering, and quickly became popular. More historical accounts attribute the production of dark tea to the Ming Dynasty in the 15th and 16th centuries. It may have been first traded by tea merchants much earlier than the legends state, in areas on the borders of China and Tibet. Fermented teas can be divided according to how they are produced. Piled teas, such as the Chinese post-fermented teas, and