COLOMBO: President Maithripala Sirisena has written to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, requesting Russia to lift a temporary ban on tea imports from the island.
The official request comes days after Russia announced temporary restrictions on imports of all agricultural products from Sri Lanka including tea. Last week, Russian agricultural safety watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor said the decision was taken after it found an insect, known as the Khapra beetle, in the packaging of one consignment of tea from Sri Lanka, news agency Reuters reported from Moscow.
After promising action on the exporter, Sri Lanka said it would send two senior ministers to Moscow to persuade Russia to lift the ban. Addressing a public meeting in Haputale in Sri Lanka’s Uva Province, which is home to several tea estates, President Sirisena said he was confident that Russia, “a long-standing friend” of Sri Lanka, would respond positively to the request.
Commenting on the development, Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen said: “This ban is not a refusal of Sri Lanka by Russia but only a temporary stoppage of one export product from us. Only reason for our concern is that nearly 80% of our exportsto Russia is Ceylon Tea.”
Sri Lanka’s exported $ 114.18 million-worth Ceylon Tea exports to Russia from January to August this year, according to the Ministry.
