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| Tuesday, 27 April 2004 |
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Over production of tea globally in four years could hit Lanka by Steve A. Morrell "Within the next four years there will be over production of tea globally, and Sri Lanka which is still dependent on tea as its main net income earner, will find it difficult to sustain itself if tea is hit", said Niraj de Mel, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tea Association of Sri Lanka (TASL) in an interview with the Daily News last week.
World tea production is increasing 2.3 to 2.5 % annually but consumption by only 1.5%, which has caused concern. At a recently concluded tea conference in Geneva for Registration for Geographical Identification, The Deputy Director Tea Board of Kenya, Agnes N. Nyaga said that Kenya produces nearly as much tea as Sri Lanka, but Kenyan tea is mainly two leaves and a bud, and produced on land tracts roughly 50% less than land under tea in other producing countries. "We have this information, but the stark fact of Kenya having overtaken us was shocking. I was at this conference with the Director Tea Board Hasitha de Alwis (Representing Sri Lanka) and the outcome was that the tea Industry here required a holistic approach for improvement and sustenance", De Mel said. TASL was set up to unify the industry to maintain its international image and to be competitive in the global environment. "Tea has been classified as a food industry, and not a beverage. This would entail that exacting standards have to be maintained at all levels of production and marketing", he said. The Planters' Association of Ceylon (PA), has been mainly instrumental in initiating the formation of the TASL, with The Colombo Tea Traders' Association (CTTA), as an apex body to meet the expected challenges in future. This could not be achieved unless all sections of the industry were absorbed. The Tea Small Holdings Development Authority (TSHDA) which has observer status, and two private estate owner members have been brought in as members. De Mel said that although this new organisation was formed in October 2002, its mandate was wide and varied, and expectations were that grey areas would be identified and dealt with through the dictates of their current level of importance. Under the Plantations Reform Project (PRP), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) facilitated financial inputs of US$ 1.8 million for administrative costs and incidentals, for a limited period of six years, and thereafter the TASL would have to be self-financing, De Mel said. The inter-stakeholder were the Producers, Brokers and Exporters. The organisation with Inter-Institutional links included The Tea Research Institute (TRI), The Tea Board, and the National Institute of Plantations Management (NIPM). De Mel said that labour unions were a priority area, because foreign buyers are now concerned about adequate worker welfare measures being put in place for salutary consideration for buying their tea requirements. This is being done through a grant aid package from project financing under the Plantations Development Support program funded by the Netherlands and Norwegian Governments. "Trade promotion, policy formulation, implementing and managing the quality certification process has been our first area of input so far, the entire value chain must be certified to add recognition to the garden mark", de Mel said. There are now 660 or more tea factories of which around 5% have achieved ISO certification. He said that the TASL is keen to have more production points certified, but the constraints are that the fluctuating market conditions have brought about a condition of lack of finance to effectively accelerate the program. "This certification will have to be a national effort and its importance could not be adequately underscored", he said. Manager Promotions Kiru Jayatillaka said that TASL would in time be attuned to even the slightest change in consumer trends and would take pre-emptive action to arrest a slide in market movements. |
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