With Russia imposing a temporary ban on tea and agricultural imports from Sri Lanka, the export value and volume will have an adverse effect in the short run, National Chamber of Exporters (NCE) chief warned.
“We are cautiously following the developments of the recent situation where tea exports to Russia have been banned. The matter should be handled carefully and the authorities need to have a concerted effort to resolve the issue without much delay,” NCE President Ramal Jasinghe said.
The Tea Board and other authorities should work towards a favourable solution for Sri Lanka and as the NCE, we fully support their initiatives, said Jayantha, a member of the Tea Traders Association and also a member of the NCE. By and large the NCE views are reflected in the efforts taken to resolve the matter, he said.
Jasinghe said, “We as the NCE, fully appreciate the steps taken by the government to mitigate the situation and to resume tea and agricultural exports to Russia. The high level delegation that visited Russia recently negotiated the matter further and the long standing diplomatic relationship between the two countries will be made good use to arrive at an amicable solution.”
“There is a problem regarding agricultural exports to Pakistan and the NCE is watching the situation carefully. We concerned of these developments and the effect they have on the export sector. We are optimistic that these issues will be resolved soon,” he said.