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Sri Lanka Tea Board makes Good Manufacturing Policy mandatory for local tea factories

Sri Lanka Tea Board makes Good Manufacturing Policy mandatory for local tea factories

The Sri Lanka Tea Board has reportedly made it mandatory for local tea factories to obtain Good Manufacturing Policy (GMP) certification for next year. This move is aimed at standardizing and maintaining the quality of Ceylon Tea.
The GMP certification provides minimum requirements that a manufacturer must meet to assure that their products are consistently high in quality, from batch to batch, for their intended use, local media report stated. 
The rules that govern each industry may differ significantly; however, the main purpose of GMP is always to prevent harm from occurring to the end user.
At present, only 80% of tea exporting factories have GMP certificates and the initiative is aimed at encouraging the export community on effective use of a quality management system.
“The industry was informed of the compulsory GMP certification in 2019 and it has now been made compulsory for next year. Upon renewal of licenses for next year, it has been made mandatory for export factories to obtain the GMP certification,” Sri Lanka Tea Board Tea Commissioner E.A.J.K. Edirisinghe has told the Daily FT.
He has said that the assessment process had already started in several parts of the country and the factories will be assessed and only those which score more than 80% of marks in a standards test would be given permits to export tea. 
Noting that there is only an administrative cost involved, he said the assessment process would be completed under the supervision of the officials from the Sri Lanka Tea Board.
Edirisinghe pointed out that quality could not be controlled without strict maintenance of standards.
“Given the pandemic, these certifications are now more important than ever before. These standards and quality certifications also provide traceability for both markets and consumers,” he has added.

OSL take:

Sri Lankan authorities are focused on Ceylon Tea regaining the top slot in the international tea market. Tea grown in Sri Lanka have been recording a gradual pick up in the tea market with Ceylon tea being sold at high prices. The government of Sri Lanka has planned many incentive schemes to uplift the local tea industry. This has opened up many business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s tea industry. Also, The many trade agreements as well as trade concessions enjoyed by the country would help further boost Sri Lanka’s tea industry.  

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Article Code : VBS/AT/17122020/Z_1

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