The Hindu : Business : Kenyan Tea Board keen on e-auction

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Saturday, Nov 07, 2009
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Kenyan Tea Board keen on e-auction

Indrani Dutta

KOLKATA: A four-member team of officials involved with the Kenyan tea industry, made a two-day visit to India to hold discussions on various aspects of the functioning of the Indian tea industry showing particular interest in e-auction, costs of production and tea promotion in the domestic market. Kenya is one of India’s closest rivals in the international tea arena exporting an average of 90 per cent of its crop. The team was led by the assistant director of the Kenyan Ministry of Agriculture, Greville Kiplimo Melli.

Four-member team

Two officials from the Tea Board of Kenya were also part of the team. They were: Ogola O. Samuel, Technical Services Manager of the Tea Board of Kenya, and Phrasiah W. Mwangi, Finance and Administrative Manager. The team met with officials of the Tea Board of India, the main industry association, the Indian Tea Association and the Calcutta Tea Traders Association. Sources said that just like their Indian counterparts, the Kenyan tea industry was also facing pressures on their cost of production. This was mainly on account of fuel availability, wage costs as well as social costs.

On e-auction, it was revealed that unlike the Indian scenario where the cause is being championed by the regulator, the Tea Board, in Kenya, the call is that of East African Tea Traders.

However, both the tea-producing countries face a degree of resistance to the change that they were either trying (in the case of India) or planning (in the case of Kenya) to usher in. India has made some progress, with a partial roll-out (the entire dust catalogue is being sold through this route) and is hopeful of completing the process by early 2010.

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