Fairtrade NAPP Conducts Third HREDD Workshop for Tea Estates in India on Risk Validation and Environmental Risks
An Initiative under the 'Enabling Compliance of Fairtrade Supply Chains with New EU Regulations' Project, supported by GIZ. Twenty-five managers and representatives from Fairtrade certified tea estates across India met online on 7 July 2026 to verify the human rights and environmental risks they had identified and to prepare for drafting their own due diligence policies.
From identified risks to verified evidence
Tea estates across India are moving from identifying human rights and environmental risks to verifying them. On 7 July 2026, managers from Parry Agro Industries, The United Nilgiri Tea Estates, Chamong Tee Exports, Makaibari Tea Estate, Warwick Estate and other Fairtrade certified estates met online for the third workshop in the series. The Fairtrade Network of Asia and Pacific Producers (Fairtrade NAPP) organized it as part of the 'Enabling Compliance of Fair Trade Supply Chains with New EU Regulations' project, supported by GIZ, and Fairtrade Germany which works with Fairtrade certified organizations to put Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence (HREDD) into everyday practice.
An independent check before any action is planned
Risk validation was presented as a distinct step in HREDD: confirming that identified risks are real, accurate and urgent before resources are committed. The method is designed for estates to run themselves. A group of 10 to 20 workers and officials, with a balanced mix of women and men and independent of the original assessment, reviews each rights area and votes using a green, yellow and red traffic light system. When the top three to six risks match the formal assessment, the estate holds a verified, documented basis for action that buyers and auditors can rely on.
“We appreciate your effort to train us in conducting the risk assessment and risk validation and related to HREDD sessions.”
-Mercy Metilda, Management Representative, Warwick Estate, India
A single record that turns priorities into plans
Each prioritized risk is now captured in one table setting out the problem in context, the people most affected, likely causes and consequences, and possible solutions. The format gives estate management a direct starting point for remediation planning. The estates already have a solid foundation to build on: grievance mechanisms are in place across the participating organizations, and 89 percent of respondents rated theirs effective or highly effective. The workshop positioned complaints and grievances as an early signal of new or changing risks.
The tea garden through an environmental lens
The second session mapped the environmental risks most relevant to tea: land use change and biodiversity, water use and agrochemical run-off, soil erosion on hillside plantings, and shifting temperature and rainfall patterns that affect yield, quality and pest pressure. Worker exposure to agrochemicals linked these risks directly to the people on the estates. The Fairtrade Risk Map, UNDP Business and Human Rights resources and ISO 14001 were introduced as tools for scoring and prioritizing, with the Risk Map and the Fairtrade Risk Assessment Tool rated among the most useful elements of the day.
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“Workshop 3 provided practical insights that strengthened my understanding of risk assessment and environmental due diligence. I am confident now.”
- Amarnath GP, Management Representative, Parry Agro Industries Ltd (Mango Range Group), India
Clarity on which European rules reach Indian tea
Estates selling into Europe increasingly supply buyers covered by laws such as the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and the German Supply Chain Act. An introductory session on the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) set out the direction of European sourcing requirements, while making clear that tea is not among the commodities it currently covers. Eighty-three percent of participants reported confidence that HREDD is relevant to their day-to-day work, and 89 percent rated the workshop 8 out of 10 or higher for usefulness.
Next stop: estate-level HREDD policies
The validated risks will feed directly into the fourth workshop, which focuses on drafting organization-specific HREDD policies. In the meantime, Fairtrade NAPP plans to follow up with each estate to review its findings, gather further evidence through consultations with workers, and shape remediation plans for priority risks. Estates are at different stages of their HREDD journey, and requests for live demonstrations, tea-specific case studies and in-person sessions will inform the next workshop. Bringing more women managers and workers into the series remains a priority.