The Hon. K.V. Samantha Viddyarathna - Minister of Plantation and Community Infrastructure
The Minister responded to questions on refuse and reprocessed tea, stating that removal from factories is permitted only with Sri Lanka Tea Board approval for reprocessing or instant tea manufacture, and that exports of refuse tea are not legally permitted. He said the Tea Board allows export only of tea identifiable under Code 115 after testing, while Colombo Tea Auction lots are sampled and unsuitable tea is barred from sale. He further stated that possession, transport and sale of refuse or reprocessed tea require licences under the Tea Control Act, No. 51 of 1957, and illegal activity is addressed with the Police and Special Task Force.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, the answers are as follows:
¶ 02 (a) (i) Yes. (ii) Yes. With the approval of the Sri Lanka Tea Board, such tea may be removed from factories to tea reprocessing centres and to instant tea manufacturing factories. (iii) No. Measures are taken to ensure that the removal process is carried out 100 per cent in compliance with the law. (iv) Activities carried out in contravention of the law are identified with the involvement of the Sri Lanka Police and the Special Task Force, and appropriate legal action is taken. (v) No. It cannot be done legally. (vi) Samples of lots sold through the Colombo Tea Auction are examined and only suitable tea is permitted to be sold.
¶ 03 (b) (i) The Sri Lanka Tea Board does not grant approval for the export of refuse tea. (ii) Only tea that can be clearly identified as tea with the specific code number 115 is permitted for export by the Sri Lanka Tea Board.
¶ 04 I am aware. The Sri Lanka Tea Board at all times permits export only of tea identifiable under Code 115 as tea. Under all exports approved by the Sri Lanka Tea Board, tea is permitted for export after relevant testing.
¶ 05 Possession, transportation and sale of refuse/reprocessed tea are carried out under the provisions of the Tea Control Act, No. 51 of 1957. A licence is mandatory for possession, transportation and sale of refuse/reprocessed tea. Possession, transportation and sale without a valid licence is a punishable offence under the said Act.
¶ 06 (c) (i) Permission is not granted to export refuse tea. (iii) Export of refuse tea is not permitted legally.
¶ 07 Not applicable.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Tuesday, 8 July 2025 ·No. 1752482630017444 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. K.V. Samantha Viddyarathna - Minister of Plantation and Community Infrastructure. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 8 July 2025. No. 1752482630017444. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/10866