Lankan tea industry ‘sips’ on President’s remarks

Ceylon Tea has became a talking a point among its exporters over the weekend in the wake of President Maithripala Sirisena calling for a ban on tea re-exports.
“We discussed this issue internally among our membership and we were in touch with the Sri Lanka Tea Board as well,” on the President’s remarks, Tea Exporters Association (TEA) President Jayantha Karunaratne told TimesOnline on Monday. The President's comments were made at an election rally.
He noted that officially there seemed to be no move by the Tea Board (SLTB) or any other government organization banning imports of tea for re-export purposes.
However, Mr. Karunaratne explained that they needed to get more details about the President’s declaration and pointed out “we will have to wait and see.”
The industry has discussed that this matter needed careful attention and a detailed study by all sectors before any move towards banning imported teas for re-export could be implemented in the country.
Sri Lanka imports less than 8 million kg of tea (that which are unavailable in the country like CTC and green tea) for re-export purposes.
The industry is to meet with SLTB officials tomorrow afternoon regarding the recent issues on contamination of teas exported to Japan. (Sunimalee)