The briefing is the desk research conducted by THIRST to address the lack of information available on tea production, the conditions of workers and smallholder producers in East and South-East Asian countries. This research was conducted in May and June 20020 and included academic papers, news articles and other media resources, as well as reports and documents written by NGO’s, international organizations and national government agencies. Because of the scarcity of information, the resources drawn on for the review include literature with a principal focus on tea worker conditions and rights as well as literature in which these issues are mentioned only briefly. The sections cover the recurring themes and most serious issues arising in the literature. It should be noted that the research revealed no information about the conditions of tea workers in Burma, Laos and Taiwan.