Sri Lanka Tea Board To Tighten Standards On Exports

The Sri Lanka Tea Board is seeking new laws to tighten quality control on exports and prevent shipments of what are considered teas below a certain minimum standard, a senior official said.

Sri Lanka Tea Board chairman Lalith Hettiarachchi said national legislation was required to enforce the ISO 3720 standard on tea exports. Major tea producing countries last month agreed to stick to ISO 3720 as a minimum quality level to prevent oversupply from depressing prices, he said.

The agreement came at the Intergovernmental Group on Tea of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations meeting in Hangzhou, China.

"Some countries which were not happy with the ISO 3720 quality standard have now come around and all now have agreed, except Vietnam which is not in the IGG," Hettiarachchi told the annual general meeting of the Colombo Tea Traders' Association Friday.

Sri Lanka Tea Board has been insisting that exporters ship only teas that meet the ISO 3720 standard.

Last year some shipments were allowed after lobbying by certain exporters but these were subsequently halted by the Tea Board.

"Sri Lanka needs national legislation to enforce minimum standards. We will establish standards by regulation very soon," Hettiarachchi said.

"Legislation is a must," he added. "Now the Tea Board itself is facing problems. At this moment, we're fighting battle with certain buyers and sellers who would in the long run squander the good name of Ceylon tea which we have been guarding."

Hettiarachchi said the ISO 3720 standard was required to be enforced to prevent the export of substandard teas that could tarnish the reputation for quality earned by Ceylon tea.

Sri Lanka is one of the big tea exporting countries that has been campaigning to ensure producer countries only ship teas that meet the ISO 3720 standard, to prevent a glut of low quality teas that could bring down prices.

Tea producer countries have been trying to curtail supplies because of fears of a glut in supply.

Imposing a minimum quality standard should automatically curtail the quantities that are exported, industry officials say.

Source: Lanka Business Online