India and Sri Lanka sign import deal
India and Sri Lanka, two of the world's largest tea exporters, have reached an agreement on tea imports coming into both countries. The mutual recognition agreement for tea trade was signed between the Tea Board of India and Tea Board of Sri Lanka in Calcutta, India. The deal will allow free flow of tea between India and Sri Lanka without having to go through the process of testing (recognising tea tasting in the laboratories of the two countries) and will aim to facilitate blending, value-addition and re-export for their respective growers and manufacturers. Sri Lanka's orthodox tea exports were worth $1.2 billion last year, whereas India's total tea exports amounted to about $500 million in the same period.