by SUREKHA GALAGODA

Tea producer countries should get-together and form a consortium such as OPEC and promote it globally.

These were the views expressed by Bryan Baptist Joint Managing Director Bartleet Group of companies. He said "We should not think of producer countries as threats since threats to tea are from the beverage market."

Therefore, tea producing countries should get-together and form a consortium and promote the positive effects of tea globally. "At present all 25 tea producing countries are promoting it individually, but if we get-together, we can achieve more results," he said.

He said the Government is at present promoting tea in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States in the correct places while it has also extended a lot of encouragement to promote tea globally.

He was of the view that if the Government can initiate a meeting between tea producing countries it will definitely bring positive results since promotions can be done together.

"Members of SAARC should get-together and promote tea within the tea drinking member countries. While this will be a boost to the industry, it will cut down costs as well, since they are neighbouring countries." he said.

Baptist said that Pakistan imports 130 million kilograms of tea per year while Sri Lankan tea exports to Pakistan per year is a mere five to six million kilograms. He said that Sri Lankan tea should be promoted in Pakistan and said the proposed Sri Lanka-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement is a step in the right direction.

He said the two countries, Thailand and Philippines with a population of 110 million people import less than five million kilograms of tea per year.

If Sri Lanka can promote tea in these two countries highlighting its positive health effects, "I think that we can increase export volumes to these two countries as well " he said.

Baptist said "No other country in the world can match the variety of Sri Lankan tea. Therefore we should take advantage of the good quality and the health benefits of tea drinking and promote it vigorously in new markets."

According to the findings of many doctors and scientists around the world, including a study done by Professor Masashi Omori Otsuma of Womens University, Japan, drinking black tea has many health benefits such as preventing tooth decay and arteriosclerosis helping to loose weight, and relieving stress and eye fatigue.

Available statistics show that the tea crop for the year 2000 would be a little over 300 million kilograms while a further increase can be expected this year if weather conditions continue to be good.

"According to market forecasts, some think that there will be a over supply of tea, but there will always be a demand for quality tea since most buyers are quality conscious. Therefore, let us get-together and cater to the needs of the buyers," he said.

Speaking of low quality imports, Baptist said this should be avoided at any cost since it will ruin the name of Ceylon Tea. "If we are importing tea for blending purposes, it should be from a country producing best quality teas and not from a country producing low quality teas."

"Since Sri Lankan tea is of a very high quality, we can cater to a wide range of buyers in the world. Therefore, we should be very cautious when importing tea from other countries," he warned.

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