FBR makes electronic production monitoring mandatory for tea manufacturers by December 10

The Federal Board of Revenue has ordered registered tea makers, blenders and packers to bring electronic production tracking online by December 10, 2026. Under STGO No. 35 of 2026, each retail pack must be recorded before it leaves the factory, with scanners and sensors installed on every packing line and production data sent to the FBR in real time.

The directive applies to 14 identified businesses, including Tapal Tea, Mezan Tea and Kohistan Foods, and covers tea varieties, premixes and every retail pack format. Each product combination of brand, blend, weight and packaging needs its own machine-readable barcode; product details must be registered with an authorised vendor, and new or changed items must be filed at least seven days before packing. The FBR says the initiative addresses a sales tax collection gap estimated at more than Rs3 trillion.