The Hon. Lal Premanath
Hon. Lal Premanath raised concerns that the refuse tea trade is affecting smallholder incomes and has developed both domestic and international demand despite being substandard and subject to seizures by Police and Sri Lanka Tea Board officials. He asked whether the Government would consider a lawful mechanism to supply such teas to consumers who seek them, or alternatively introduce and enforce stronger laws to stop illegal trafficking in refuse tea.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, my second supplementary question is this.
¶ 02 The refuse tea issue in the tea industry severely affects the income of the smallholder. In addition to quality teas produced by factories, a large group has built a domestic and international market at a substandard level. We see this when refuse tea is seized by Police and Sri Lanka Tea Board officials. I feel that there is consumer attraction domestically and internationally for such refuse teas and hence a market exists. Some factory owners also state this. As a Government, considering national income, are you willing to allow a lawful mechanism to provide such teas to those consumers who are attracted to them? If not, given the serious impact on smallholders’ incomes, should we not bring in and enforce stronger laws to stop this trafficking? I would like to know your view.
Provenance
- Source
- Hansard, Tuesday, 8 July 2025 ·No. 1752482630017444 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Lal Premanath. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 8 July 2025. No. 1752482630017444. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/10869