Dissanayake said that the industry should have a quality charter right from the producing of tea to the factory process, right up to branding and packing of tea. This will be in place within three to four months.

The minister said they had just initiated the fertilizer subsidy to smallholders to the tune of Rs 2.1billion. As far as initiatives that need immediate action the minister assured that they will move very quickly to solve those matters.

Dissanayake said some insurance companies were very hesitant to pay tea sector claims but they moved those companies to pay and the insurance companies were in the process of making the payments now.

The minister said a more productive model that is linked to labour productivity should be introduced to the tea industry. “One obvious policy difference is the tea hub concept as there is no consensus for this yet in the industry. But this must be discussed and encouraged,” he said.

Dissanayake said that they have to implement the Tea Act of 1952 and therefore will enforce the letter to the law on adulteration of tea and will not waive his policy on been strict on adulteration of tea.

“The quality of our tea is constantly coming down. We cannot compromise on the quality of Sri Lankan tea. The industry wants in one voice that adulteration of tea should stop. That is up to the Tea Board. We want to enforce this,” he said.

The minister said the industry has lost some of premier markets and have to find new markets such as china and Iran which are very strong. With regard to the payment issue with Iran the minister said they were moving very quickly to solve the issue. (CDN)