Tea exports to Iran: Crisis brews over receipt of monies

The Sri Lanka Tea Board (SLTB) chairman yesterday said Sri Lanka faced a crisis over tea exports to Iran in terms of recovering monies, due to the economic sanctions imposed on Iran. 

The SLTB were discussing the matter with the European Union and US Government officials to establish a mechanism to ease the situation. Sri Lanka Tea Board Chairman Lucille Wijewardena said a discussion was held at the SLTB, among its higher officials on Wednesday on this matter.

Earlier, about 30 million kilogrammes of tea had been exported to Iran but it had been slowed down to some extent, Mr. Wijewardena said.

Though the exports were made, there were issues in obtaining monies in return. “We are now receiving money through undue means which is illegal, so we have to sort this out as soon as possible,” he said.

This situation has emerged since last December and before December, we received fuel instead of money for the tea exports. But issues are starting to crop up due to sanctions on receiving fuel from Iran, Mr. Wijewardena added. (Indika Sri Aravinda)