Russia’s agriculture safety watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor plans to discuss restricted tea imports with Sri Lanka at the end of December, it said in a statement on Tuesday.
Russia placed temporary restrictions on imports of tea and all other agricultural products from Sri Lanka from Dec. 18 after a beetle was found in a tea consignment.
The watchdog met a delegation led by Sri Lanka’s ambassador to Russia in Moscow on Tuesday and requested information about steps being taken in Sri Lanka to secure the safety of tea intended for export to Russia.
The insect, known as the Khapra beetle, was discovered in the packaging of the consignment of tea from Sri Lanka, which has said it was an isolated case and that it would work with the Russian authorities to resolve the issue.
Russia was the second largest buyer of Sri Lanka’s Ceylon tea after Iran in 2016 with $143 million worth of purchases, according to Sri Lanka’s Industry Ministry.
Sri Lankan tea accounts for 23 percent of the Russian market, with other supplies coming from India, Kenya, China and Vietnam, according to Rusteacoffee association.
(REUTERS)
Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala told Parliament today that the suspect in the rape of a lady doctor at the Anuradhapura teaching hospital has been identified as an army deserter and he will be apprehended shortly.
Police have arrested the suspect connected to the sexual assault on a female doctor at the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital today morning in Galnewa.
The Dutch Public Prosecutor suspects two companies of paying bribes in the construction of hospitals in Sri Lanka, according to an investigation by FD, the Dutch financial newspaper.
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Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe said today he wholly rejects the Batalanda Commission report and that it was appointed wholly with the intention slinging political mud at him.
Leader of the National People’s Party (NPP) and one time Propaganda Secretary of the JVP Wimal Weerawansa accused the Government of bringing back the “Batalanda Commission” for a media spectacle instead of a genuine concern for those who suffered during the 1988-1990 period.
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