Sri Lanka tea trade online transactions on the rise

The Hapag-Lloyd delegation including, Capt. Prateek Gandhi – Director Operations, Hapag-Lloyd, Regional Office, Dubai,Mr. Faheem Mir – Manager - Operations, Hapag-Lloyd, Regional Office, Dubai,Mr. Lalith Witanachchi – Vice President, Hapag-Lloyd Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, Mr. Mindaka Dassanayake – General Manager, Hapag-Lloyd Lanka (Pvt) Ltd.,Mr. Rohan Ranasinghe – Terminal Operations Manager, Hapag-Lloyd AG and Mr. Iqram Cuttilan – Managing Director, Aitken Spence Shipping Ltd poses for a pic with SLPA’s Chairman -Admiral Sirimewan Ranasinghe and the Managing Director - Eng. Ganaka Hemachandra. SLPA's Vice Chairman - Eng. Herath M.P. Jayawardhana, Director (Operations) - Mrs. G. Zavia Miskin and Director (Marketing and BD) - Mr. H J K U Kumara are also present.

April 04, 2008 (LBO) – The volume of transactions on Sri Lanka's automated tea export document processing system is on the rise but the number of exporters using it is still limited, a senior Tea Board official said. . Tea commissioner N. Udugampola said the electronic data interchange system started last August speeded up transaction time for exporters and reduced costs.

Of the 231 registered tea exporters who exported 295 million kg last year and earned over a billion dollars, only 31 or 13 percent came through the online documentation system, he said.

"That means 200 exporters are not using the EDI system," he told an awareness seminar on the island's logistics automation initiatives and benefits of EDI.

"But on a positive note, people who used the EDI system have stuck with it, except for one who left.

"More and more exporters need to use the system," he said.

However, he said the number of transactions was on the rise.

Of the total number of 2,035 'cusdecs' (customs goods declarations) received in January this year, 829 came through the EDI system, which amounts to 40 percent, Udugampola said.

"The number of users remains the same, but the number of transactions is increasing