ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Thursday directed all registered persons engaged in tea manufacturing, blending, and packing to install electronic production monitoring systems by Dec 10, making it mandatory to record every retail pack produced before removing it from factory premises.
The decision will also apply to toll and contract packers. The order covers black tea, green tea, flavoured tea, tea bags, instant tea, tea extracts and premixes containing milk powder or sugar. It applies to all retail packaging formats, including sachets, pouches, cartons, jars, tins and bulk packs.
FBR has made electronic monitoring of production mandatory in several sectors to minimise the over Rs3 trillion gap in sales tax collection and potential.
Under the decision, manufacturers are required to install barcode scanners, counting sensors and other monitoring equipment on every packing line to electronically record production and transmit the information to the FBR in real time, as set out in the Sales Tax General Order (STGO) No. 35 of 2026.
The FBR has identified 14 registered manufacturers and packers. These include Tapal Tea, Mezan Tea, Islamabad Tea Company, Alpha Tea, Leader Tea, Top Tea Company, Kohistan Foods, Quality Products, Noor Tea Co., Ahbaab Impex, DK Products (Pvt) Ltd, Kamal Foods, Raaz Industries (Pvt) Ltd and Eastern Products (Pvt) Ltd.
Sets Dec 10 deadline for all packers
Chief Commissioners Inland Revenue have been directed to nominate dedicated focal persons to coordinate with manufacturers, authorised vendors and the FBR for timely implementation.
The production of packaged tea will be electronically monitored through the prescribed production monitoring system by installing appropriate hardware and software on every packing line of each manufacturing or packing facility, at the point after the retail pack is filled and sealed.
The system will read the barcode printed on each retail pack using industrial barcode scanners to identify its stock-keeping unit (SKU), count each pack using counting sensors, and record the count SKU-wise based on the approved SKU master data, using solutions provided by vendors authorised by the FBR.
The system will be deployed on all SKUs of packaged tea bearing a barcode, including packs, pouches, jars, tins and tea-bag cartons of every size and weight.
The FBR has given manufacturers 15 days from the date of the order to ensure that every product carries a unique, machine-readable barcode. Each distinct brand, blend, weight and packaging type must have a separate barcode.
Under the order, manufacturers and packers must print or securely attach a machine-readable barcode to every retail pack. Each product must have a unique barcode based on its brand, blend, weight and packaging type.
They must also register product details, including brand, weight, packaging type, retail price, barcode and photograph, with an authorised vendor for integration with the FBR system. Any new product or change to an existing product must be registered at least seven days before packing.
Published in Dawn, November 13th, 2026
