Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2020-06-17

Temporary suspension of the Tea Promotion and Marketing Levy imposed on the tea exports

Continuous maintenance of the operational activities of tea factories, relative decline of the procurement power of most of the countries that import tea, supply chain management issues as well as continuous maintenance of quality in the products are the major issues that were faced by the tea industry amidst the COVID 19 pandemic conditions, prevailing within the country at present. Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal forwarded by the Minister of Plantation Industries and Export Agriculture to temporarily suspend the tea promotion and marketing tax of Rs.3.50 already charged on each kilogram of tea exported from the registered exporters, for a period of 06 months as a financial relief granted to stabilize the tea industry amidst the said difficulties.