GMP certification made compulsory for Ceylon Tea exports

• Part of effort to maintain quality 
• Certification mandatory for next year 
• Currently only 80% have GMP

By Charumini de Silva

In an effort to standardise and maintain the quality of Ceylon Tea, the Sri Lanka Tea Board has made it mandatory for tea factories to obtain Good Manufacturing Policy (GMP) certification for next year.

The GMP certification provides minimum requirements that a manufacturer must meet to assure that their products are consistently high in quality, from batch to batch, for their intended use. 

The rules that govern each industry may differ significantly; however, the main purpose of GMP is always to prevent harm from occurring to the end user.

At present, only 80% of tea exporting factories have GMP certificates and the initiative is aimed at encouraging the export community on effective use of a quality management system.

“The industry was informed of the compulsory GMP certification in 2019 and it has now been made compulsory for next year. Upon renewal of licenses for next year, it has been made mandatory for export factories to obtain the GMP certification,” Sri Lanka Tea Board Tea Commissioner E.A.J.K. Edirisinghe told the Daily FT.

He said that the assessment process had already started in several parts of the country. The factories will be assessed and only those which score more than 80% of marks in a standards test would be given permits to export tea. 

Noting that there is only an administrative cost involved, he said the assessment process would be completed under the supervision of the officials from the Sri Lanka Tea Board.

Edirisinghe pointed out that quality could not be controlled without strict maintenance of standards.

“Given the pandemic, these certifications are now more important than ever before. These standards and quality certifications also provide traceability for both markets and consumers,” he added.