[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.

"[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 the customhouses of various ports of entry.

"[citation needed] The Board of Tea Appeals was a United States federal agency under the jurisdiction of the Food and Drug Administration.

From its establishment in 1897 until its abolishment in 1996, it adjudicated the claims of tea 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.