The Sri Lanka Tea Board was established on 1st January 1976 by amalgamating Tea Control Department-Tea Control Act No 51 of 1957, Tea Export Commissioner’s Department-Tea (Tax and Control of Export)Act No 16 of 1959, Tea Research Institute of Ceylon-Tea Research Ordinance 1925 and Ceylon Tea Propaganda Board-Tea Propaganda ordinance 1932 under the Sri Lanka Tea Board law No.14 of 1975 as amended by Act No.17 of 1985, No.44 of 1990, No.29 of 2003,No 44 of 2006 and No.13 of 2018 with the corporate objective of develop, regulate & promote Tea Industry in Sri Lanka.
As the regulatory body, Sri Lanka Tea Board is responsible for regulating the activities of tea industry, viz. production, increase of cultivation, replanting, rehabilitating old gardens, establishment of factories and monitoring their operations. The whole process has been monitored and evaluated from factory to the shipment to maintain the “Quality of Ceylon tea” and many actions have been initiated to intensifying the monitoring of quality standards of tea at the point of sale, pre-shipment, warehouses of brokers, blenders and exporters and providing advisory services on hygienic blending and storing.
Under development functions, SLTB facilitates the subsidies for upgrading factories and replantation of Tea, awareness programs on minimizing post-harvest damage and productivity enhancement and Certification of quality of tea through sensory and chemical analysis.
Promotional activities are covered the marketing and promotion of Ceylon tea in globally, collection and interpretation of tea statistics and delivering competency of the actual markets and ability to retain and expand Ceylon tea among leading markets.
- Offering advice and assistance to overseas tea buyers and tea brand owners
- Offering advice and assistance to tea exporters, traders, manufacturers and cultivators
- Defining, protecting and promoting the Ceylon Tea ‘brand’
- Defining, protecting and certifying the regional origins of Ceylon tea
- Monitoring and controlling the quality and purity of tea exported from Sri Lanka
- Promoting the sale and consumption of Ceylon tea worldwide
- Compiling and circulating market data and other information about the Sri Lanka tea industry
The functions of the Tea Board are carried out through six divisions. These are
- The Head Office in Colombo where the Board sits, and where planning, direction and co-ordination of its functions are carried out. Also located here are the administration, finance and internal-audit departments of the Board, as well as a comprehensive library and resource center.
- The Promotion Division, which promotes the Ceylon Tea ‘brand’ in the international as well as the domestic market, supplementing and supporting the advertising and marketing efforts of name-brand owners, exporters and distributors. This division also provides sales information and market intelligence to the Sri Lankan tea industry and undertakes retail sales and sampling among its other promotional activities. It also manages the Ceylon Tea Museum in Kandy.
- The Market Intelligence & Resources Division, which collects, collates, analyzes and disseminates statistical information concerning the market and the industry.
The Export Division, which carries out the Board’s regulatory functions with respect to the disposal, warehousing, packaging, exportation and importation of Ceylon tea.
- The Tea Commissioner’s Division, which carries out the Board’s regulatory functions with respect to the cultivation, manufacture and quality development of Ceylon tea. This division operates through a network of seven regional offices.
- The Tea Tasting Unit, which examines samples provided by traders, exporters and others to ensure their quality, meets the standards necessary to qualify them for the famous Lion logo that identifies pure Ceylon tea. The unit is made up of a panel of expert independent tasters.
- The Analytical Laboratory, which tests and certifies tea samples in terms of chemical, pesticide and microbial standards. The benchmark standard used by the laboratory is ISO/IEC17025.
This web site describes the activities of the Sri Lanka Tea Board in detail and provides access to much of the information and many of the services it provides. You can access these through the links in the main menu at the top of every other site page. More information is also available through links in the headlines and text on the Home and some of the other pages.
