However, as always a faction continued on the lines that importation would kill the local plantations and wipe out most of the trade.
On the contrary, if tea importation is allowed and with structured promotions exporters can effectively market tea from two nations.
Sri Lanka is already the largest tea exporter, exporting around 20 per cent of the worlds tea requirement, followed by India and Kenya.
However, Sri Lanka quotes retu is less than 3 per cent of the over US $ 27 bn in eaings generated from tea sales worldwide and growing at about 5 per cent every year.
Attributed to a lack of brands, the local industry has recently initiated a series of moves to steer the industry into a brand-oriented industry.
In addition, a number of leading exporters and even plantation companies have launched tea packs under their own brand name.