IGG on tea asks Indonesia to form int'l tea society

IGG on tea asks Indonesia to form int'l tea society

JAKARTA (JP): The Intergovernmental Group on Tea (IGG on Tea),
a forum under the Food Agriculture Organization (FAO), has
appointed the Indonesian Tea Association to form an international
tea society in a bid to stabilize tea prices, the association
said yesterday.

The tea association's chairman Rachmat Badruddin said here
yesterday that the new grouping would serve as the only
international forum for tea producers and consumers.

The proposal for establishing the tea society was raised
during the International Tea Business Conference held in Bali
from June 30 to July 1, he said.

He said the proposal was approved during the IGG on Tea's 12th
meeting also held in Bali after the international tea conference.

At least 24 leading tea consumer and producer countries and
five international agencies, including the Common Fund for
Commodity, European Community, FAO, Islamic Development Bank and
World Bank took part in the conference.

"The IGG on Tea accepted the proposal and appointed the
Indonesian Tea Association to make the draft for the formation of
the society," Rachmat told a press meeting.

He said the draft would be presented at the 13th Meeting of
the IGG on Tea in Turkey in 1999 for endorsement.

Rachmat said the association would consult with various
parties, including experts, tea associations and governmental
officials, to form the society.

According to Rachmat, tea producers and consumers have so far
lacked a forum of communication where they could exchange ideas
and information or form a policy to protect tea prices from sharp
fluctuations.

Tea producer countries have set up a Tea Board to fight for
their own interest, while consumer countries established a Tea
Council to protect themselves, he said.

The Intergovernmental Group on Tea, which convenes every two
years, could not be expected to satisfactorily solve problems
related to tea business because its members were all governmental
officials.

According to Rachmat, there were several reasons which made
the assignment of Indonesia to form the tea society acceptable to
tea consumers and producers.

Indonesia was in good terms politically with all tea consumer
and producer countries, he said.

Major tea producers, like India, Sri Lanka, China and Kenya,
did not consider Indonesia a threat because it only accounts for
5 percent of the world's total output and 7 percent of the
world's total exports.

The London-based International Tea Committee data puts the
1996 tea world output at 2.61 million tons, compared with 2.58
million in 1995.

India ranked first in 1996 with an output of 779.9 tons,
followed by China with 593.3 tons, Sri Lanka with 258.4 tons,
Kenya with 257.1 tons, Indonesia 144 tons and Turkey 114.5 tons.

The International Tea Committee is a body funded by tea
consumers and producers to collect data on tea production and
consumption around the world, according to Rachmat. (jsk).