President Maithripala Sirisena hailed Sri Lanka’s diplomacy with Russia as ‘exemplary’ and also expressed his gratitude to Moscow for its cordiality after the country agreed to lift the restriction on the imports of agriculture products including tea from Sri Lanka.
“Sri Lanka’s diplomacy with Russia has always been exemplary. The way the tea exports issue is yet another example of this friendship. Prompt action by government has paid off. This is also a time to thank Russia for cordiality,” the President tweeted.
Russia had placed temporary restrictions on imports of tea and all other agricultural products from Sri Lanka from Dec. 18 after a beetle was found a tea consignment.
A delegation from Sri Lanka, comprised of representatives from the Ministry of Plantation and Ceylon Tea Board, left for Russia last week for discussion on lifting the ban.
A meeting was held on Monday (25) between officials from both countries at the Russian Plant Quarantine institute in Moscow.
Russia’s agriculture safety watchdog today confirmed that it will resume imports of tea from Sri Lanka from December 30.
