Tea broker in hot water; licence suspension looms

A licence suspension is likely to be enforced on at least one of the eight tea brokers active in the Colombo Tea Auction for aiding or actively engaging in mixing refuse tea with tea leaves intended for consumption.  

“There is a tea broker who has got into some trouble, and there is an inquiry going on, which has still not been completed,” Sri Lanka Tea Board Chairman Rohan Pethiyagoda told Mirror Business on the sidelines of the 150 years of Ceylon Tea press briefing held last week. 
He said that he is ethically bound not to divulge information on the suspected broker since the inquiry is ongoing.

Industry sources however said that another tea broker has also been under investigation.
While industry sources initially said that the infringing broker is most likely to be slapped with a fine, Pethiyagoda noted that given the severity of the wrongdoings so far uncovered, a license ban would be the most likely outcome, once the inquiry is completed and a formal case is made.
“The view of the Tea Board directors is that they should be suspended for a substantial time,” he said.
Directors at the Sri Lanka Tea Board consist of public officials, as well as private sector trade association heads, including representatives from the tea brokers, exporters and manufacturers.

 “I think it (the inquiry) will go on for a while, because there’s a lot of evidence and we have to check records which the broker has been providing which are irregular, because they seem to have falsified some of their records and to check them, it will be a long and complex inquiry,” he said.
Annually, nearly 300,000 kilograms of refused tea intended for export are detected by the Tea Board, which is mandated with maintaining the image of Ceylon Tea as the world’s finest.
Usually, fingers are pointed at small scale tea factories and dubious exporters for tarnishing Ceylon Tea’s image. 
Industry sources noted that while action may have been taken against brokers in the past for unethical behaviour, this may be the biggest infraction yet, which threatens the integrity of the world’s oldest tea auction. (CW)