India: Tea Board on pesticide

The Tea Board of India has constituted a national committee on the minimum residue level (MRL) of pesticides in tea. The committee will focus on both domestic and export segments.

The committee is seeking to "integrate the isolated efforts" of the tea industry to tackle the MRL issue.

"This is the first such initiative and it would be a policy-making committee engaging the industry, regulators and other authorities and would formulate a policy regarding MRL in tea," C. S. Bedi, committee chairman, said.

"India, being the largest producer of black tea, would work with other major producers of the commodity like Sri Lanka and Kenya for joint generation of data," said Bedi, who is also the chairman of the Tea Research Association. "The tea industry feels that international action is required to bring about a sensible, practically attainable legislation that ensures protection of the consumer."

Iran: Euros for tea

India will receive euros rather than US dollars for the tea it sells to Iran, according to Tea Board of India chairman Basudeb Banerjee, who visited Iran for three days last January.

"In Tehran we met officials of Asian Clearing Union (ACU) headquartered there [and] it was decided that due to payment-related problems, Iranian importers would start dealing in the euro from January 15," Banerjee said.

Iran imports between 11-12 million kg of tea annually.

Tea hit by weather

Kenya's tea production declined by 6.4% last year due to poor climatic conditions, according to the Kenya Tea Board, who noted that output fell to 345.8 million kg, down from 369.6 kg million the previous year.

Dry weather conditions, lower rainfall, even frost all contributed to the decline in production in the first half of the year. Most tea producing countries, particularly in Africa, experienced lower production," the Tea Board said in a statement. However, Kenyan tea exports rose 10% to 383 million kg from the previous year's 345 million kg.

Kenya: Coffee exports to grow

Favorable climatic conditions and better agronomy are expected to contribute to increased coffee output?for the 2008/09 coffee crop, with estimates indicating production of 60,000 tons, up from 42,000 tons last year, according to the Coffee Board of Kenya.

Exports are also expected to rise, with Kenya Coffee Traders Association (KCTA) statistics indicating 57,800 tons of coffee will be exported in 2008/09, 38% more than the 42,000 tons exported last year.

Meanwhile, the Coffee Board of Kenya has initiated a rebranding exercise with a view to expanding its market share.

The project, which has financial support from the EU, will help a wider international recognition of Kenyan coffee's unique qualities and increased demand for, and income from, all classes and grades of coffee from all Kenyan coffee-growing regions. This is expected to increase its demand, and as a result improve prices across the board for all classes and grades from the country.

Output down

Two of southern Ethiopia's major coffee-producing regions that produce 60% of the nation's high-quality washed coffees, including the Yirgacheffe and Sidama favored by Starbucks, are expected to see a drop of 58% in production because of disease and water shortages, according to Berhanu Gezahegn, an official at the agriculture ministry's coffee development office, quoted by Bloomberg.

"Output in Sidama region fell as much as 55% and in Gedeo by 62%, Gezahegn said. "There's a big reduction in washed coffee. There was a moisture shortage in the third flowering and a big infestation of coffee berry disease and coffee wilt disease."

Ethiopia: Coffee on commodity exchange

Coffee exports earned Ethiopia US$525 last year, about one-third of its total revenue from exports. Now, in attempts to see more of that money channeled to farmers and to help boost bean quality, coffee is being traded on the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECE).

In theory, the move, which enjoys government support, will replaces the middleman-oriented informal trade arrangements that existed up to now, and farmers should now benefit economically through having direct access to current market prices.

ECE has already established a warehouse network for coffee beans, and the government is pinning its hopes on the new electronic exchange system's ability to help thwart malpractices such as falsely upgrading bean origins to attract a higher price.

Although the largest growers and co-operatives will be able to continue to sell directly to the global coffee firms, everyone else will have to use the electronic exchange.