International tea producer's forum set up

Bangalore : The world's leading tea-growing countries have decided to launch an International Tea Producers' Forum (ITPF), the equivalent of the Organisation for Petroleum Exporting Countries, the International Coffee Organisation and the Association of National Rubber Producing Countries.

The decision to set up ITPF was taken in principle on the sidelines of the just concluded International Tea Convention in Colombo. The meeting was attended by the 14 leading tea-producing nations, including India, China, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Indonesia, Malawi, Tanzania and Japan. The modalities and the by-laws will be finalised at the India International Tea Festival in Guwahati this November.

Tea Board vice-chairman and United Planters' Association of Southern India (Upasi) president J K Thomas told on Monday that one of the key objectives behind the setting up of ITPF was to address the problem of a global surplus, expected to continue till 2014 by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization's Inter-Governmental Group on Tea.

ITPF is looking at boosting demand in both producing and populous markets, particularly developing nations like India (which has a per capita consumption of 690 gm) and China (below 600 gm), compared to 1.4 kg in Sri Lanka and 1 kg in Pakistan. India's present annual consumption is around 725 million kg and a production of 950 million kg. ITPF will seek to enhance consumption through generic promotion and by emphasising the health benefits of tea.

ITPF will also look at the possibility of curtailing expansion. ITPF will try and recommend other alternative crops to tea, depending on the cultivation pattern in each tea- producing country.

ITPF will also focus on the stringent maximum residue levels (MRLs) for pesticides and chemicals adopted by leading tea-importing markets like the EU, the US, Canada and Japan. Canada is even said to be considering a zero-tolerance MRL norm for tea imports. Some tea-producing nations have pointed out that the MRLs for tea are much lower than for other produce like fruit and vegetables in these very markets.

Source: The Economic Times