“Anslem Peiris steps down with mixed feelings”
With reference to the article under the above heading which appeared on Sunday August 18, the following corrections need to be made as pointed out by Mr. Anselm Perera:
1. The outgoing Chairman of the Colombo Tea Traders Association (CTTA) is Anselm Perera.
2. Japan had only temporarily suspended Ceylon Tea imports into Japan in view of the residue levels of MCPA and Hezaconazole detected in the teas.
The Russian issue came about as a retaliation to the country’s irrational banning of chrysotile used in the product of asbestos supplied to Sri Lanka by Russia. Here again the ban was irrational as it should have been for blue asbestos and not chrysotile.
Russia mentioned that they discovered a Khapra Beetle outside a tea container from Sri Lanka which resulted in a temporary ban on Ceylon Tea into Russia and you will notice that in my presentation I have mentioned how our Minister, Chairman Tea Board and our ambassador in Russia at the time Dr. Saman Weerasinghe managed to overcome the problem with the right kind of negotiation. Therefore, please note that our teas are already back in the market in Japan and Russia both.
Business Times: We regret the errors.