Beetle in a teacup or more than that?

Russia placing temporary import restrictions on tea and other agriculture products from Sri Lanka, according to top government sources, appears to be a ‘tit-for-tat’ reaction to the island nation’s move towards banning chrysotile asbestos, a key export product of the largest country in the world.

Repeated requests to reconsider the chrysotile ban falling on deaf ears is said to have erred the Russian government, resorting to this retaliatory action.

While Russia remains the world’s largest producer of chrysotile asbestos and caters to more than half of the world’s demand for roofing tiles, it is one of the largest export markets for Ceylon Tea, accounting for about 12 percent of the total tea exports.

Russia imported 141,300 tonnes of tea worth US $436 million in the first 10 months of 2017, according to Russian customs data.

Thus, the restriction will have negative implications on the export earning of the country, given that Sri Lanka has made little progress in diversifying into new markets.

Reliable government sources commenting on the basis of anonymity shared with Mirror Business that a Russian delegation was in the country to discuss with the political establishment and key officials about the possibility of revoking the asbestos ban.

The sources said the delegation was not given a chance to present their case and in some instances . Appointments had not been given to them to meet with the key political decision makers to discuss the matter. „Sources say asbestos ban may have had a hand in Russia imposing restrictions on Lankan tea supplies „Shoddy treatment to Russian delegation would have contributed to tea export suspension „Tea industry stakeholders urge authorities to identify “real issue” and remedy it before things get out of hand „Official version remains as the discovery of Khapra beetle in the packaging of a consignment of tea from Sri Lanka