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).