SRI LANKA TO JOIN OPEC LIKE
TEA FORUM TO SEEK SOLUTIONS FOR PRESSING PROBLEMS OF THE INDUSTRY
By Walter Jayawardhana
Sri Lanka, the producer of Ceylon Tea, will join other manufacturers
of the ingredient of the world’s most popular beverage in forming
International Tea Producers Forum (ITPF) that will be fashioned like
the OPEC, the global forum of the petroleum producers.
Lalith Hettiarachchi , the island nation’s Tea Board chirman said
recently the country’s Plantation Industry’s Minister will
be seeking the ratification of the cabinet for Sri Lanka to become a
member of the global forum.
The proposed forum is expected to have Kenya, India , Sri Lanka, Bangladesh,
Indonesia, Tanznia, Malawi and Zimbabwe as its members.
But sources said, China the world’s biggest green tea producer
will not be a member of the forum.
The memorandum of understanding to form the forum was agreed upon by
the Inter Governmental Group of the Tea Producing Countries of United
Nations Food and Agricultural Organization which was held some time
ago in China.
At the meeting they drew up plans to prepare the MOU on the lines of
the International Coffee Organization, International Pepper Community,
and Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Tea, the second most sought after drink, after water, has faced many
problems, global in nature, despite its popularity. Though , during
recent months tea has experienced soaring prices it has the industry
has failed to enjoy a consumption that has kept up in pace with its
increased production.
The rapidly increasing cost of production due to the price increases
in fuel and labour has become another major problem the industry has
to face .These are some of the problems the global forum is going to
address in the coming months.
Ceylon Tea Board chairman thinks the necessity for a form to address
these challenges had been there for some time.
He said, “ The formation of the international tea producers forum
was something which we really pushed through at the Nairobi meeting
of the IGG (inter government group) in November 2006. In-between we
had other meetings, one here in Colombo and another in India which was
not well attended. But at the third meeting in China major tea exporting
nations met outside the IGG to finalise draft agreement and agenda for
the forum.”(
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