'Position Pure Ceylon Tea to be the cleanest in the world'

On the total export of Rs. 91 billion the Sri Lanka's value added Teas which were at a dizzy height of forty-eight percent of the total exports in 1997, dropped to 36.2 percent in 2006.

To drive this segment harder, a cross functional team consisting of industry experts representing all stakeholders was put together, that resulted in the Tea sector getting a boost with the Industrial Development Board teaming up with the Sri Lanka Tea Board where an innovative solution by way of pooling of funds Rs.70 million was raised to purchase a Liquid Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer that can check the quality of tea for ingredients, flavours and chemical residue including pesticides so that Sri Lanka can enter the global markets that are stringent on quality as well as increase the competitiveness of the value added tea's of Sri Lanka globally.

Chairman, Tea Advisory Committee Rohantha Athukorala said, "Sri Lanka can now position Pure Ceylon Tea to be the 'Cleanest Tea in the World and become the tea nation of the world."