Harmony in a cup; promoting tea for people and planet
9TH - 11TH October 2024
Kigali Conference & Exhibition Village
Kigali, Rwanda
Pre-qualification of Suppliers Tender (2017-2018) - East African Tea Trade Association (EATTA) is in the process of compiling its list of suppliers for the period 2017/2018. Interested suppliers are invited to apply for per-qualification indicating the goods or services they can supply or offer.
On Tuesday 12th April 2016, EATTA hosted the Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture Hon. Willy Bett, the Acting Interim Head of Tea Directorate Mr. Samuel Ogola, and Member of Parliament for Makueni as well as member of the Parliamentary Committee for Agriculture, Livestock and Cooperatives Hon. Daniel Maanzo.
This is the first visit by the Cabinet Secretary since he was appointed to the position in December 2015. On hand to meet with the CS were EATTA Board members including Mr. Jacob Kahiu, Mr. Gideon Mugo, Mr. Simon Gikanga and Mr. Ben Gitonga.
In his remarks to those present, Mr. Bett said that he had not received the final report of the task force constituted to look into the tea industry. He said that the Government was keen to adopt the recommendations in the task force in as far as it would be of benefit to the tea producer. He said that he was looking into the recommendation that the Ad Valorem Levy be reduced from 1% to 0.75%. He asked for a confirmation that the benefit of the reduction of the levy would accrue to the producer.
The CS was informed that of fact that the Mombasa Auction was a multi origin market, any tax subjected to teas from one origin in exclusion to other origin teas will disadvantage that tea. A buyer will discount the cost of the tax on Kenyan tea to cover the amount they will need to pay.
The CS wanted to know why the prices had been declining since the end of January. It was explained to him that the decline in prices is as a result of the increase in volume offered that is up 19% compared to the same period in 2015.
The Secretary of State for International Development in the UK, Hon. Justine Greening, was in Mombasa to assess the progress of Kenya in terms of trade, investment and economic growth, supported by her government.
As part of the programme, she met key private sector players based in Mombasa to discuss on trade, economic policy and regulatory matters. She also sought to know more about transport infrastructure; doing business and investing in Mombasa; and priorities of the County of Mombasa. EATTA was represented in the meeting by the Trade Development Manager Mr. Brian Ngwiri. In the discussions held, Brian articulated the challenges faced by Mombasa based businesses caused by the poor road network, irregular and unreliable power supply and the Mombasa County Governments haphazard charging of cess and levies that are costly for the businesses based here. On tea specific issues that the tea industry is experiencing, Brian informed the Secretary for International Development that support for value addition initiatives including developing a common user facility would be a positive development. Brian gave the Secretary of State an update on the progress on automation of the Mombasa Tea Auction and the support from TradeMark East Africa. Brian, informed Ms Greening on the necessary support that would be welcome from TMEA for an end to end tea value chain intervention including capacity building in crop husbandry to ensure a better quality tea is produced upstream to capacity building to encourage SME’s develop necessary skills for developing new market opportunities.
Accompanying Ms Greening was the Principal Secretary for International Trade Dr. Chris Kiptoo and CEO of Shippers Council of East Africa Mr. Gilbert Langat. The Association was represented by Mr. Meshack Kipturgo of Siginon Group. Other organisations represented were KATO, KAM, Chamber of Commerce and Mombasa County Government.
East Africa Tea Trade Association once again invites you to the most iconic tea event held in Africa . The 3rd Africa Tea Convention and Exhibition.
An excellent panel of speakers will be on hand to ensure the convention will be one of the most important events you attend in 2016.
3rd African Tea Convention - Leaning Forward Through Innovation
26th - 28th October 2016
Leisure Lodge Beach & Golf Resort
Diani, Kenya
1.0. MEETING BETWEEN Kenya Revenue Authority and EATTA
In the last update from the secretariat we informed you that we had written to KRA seeking an appointment to raise concerns on various issues of concern to the tea industry. We obtained an appointment for 20th March 2013 and together with a few members of the trade, we went and met with the Senior Deputy Commissioner for Southern Region as well the Line Managers responsible for issues of concern to the tea industry.
The issues discussed in the meeting were;
The outcome of our discussion was as follows:
Delay in cancellation of VAT bonds
Some of our members have been following up with KRA for cancellation of bonds going back 7 years. KRA informed the people in the meeting that part of the problem maybe exporters who fill the certificates of exports documents manually instead of the required online process. The Deputy Commissioner in charge of port operations committed to look into the matter and in a further follow up meeting held on Thursday 4th April 2013 a way was found to sort out the outstanding bond cancellation for one of our members.
1.0. Meeting Between Kenya Revenue Authority and EATTA
In the last update from the secretariat we informed you that we had written to KRA seeking an appointment to raise concerns on various issues of concern to the tea industry. We obtained an appointment for 20th March 2013 and together with a few members of the trade, we went and met with the Senior Deputy Commissioner for Southern Region as well the Line Managers responsible for issues of concern to the tea industry.
The issues discussed in the meeting were;
The outcome of our discussion was as follows:
a). Delay in cancellation of VAT bonds
Some of our members have been following up with KRA for cancellation of bonds going back 7 years. KRA informed the people in the meeting that part of the problem maybe exporters who fill the certificates of exports documents manually instead of the required online process. The Deputy Commissioner in charge of port operations committed to look into the matter and in a further follow up meeting held on Thursday 4th April 2013 a way was found to sort out the outstanding bond cancellation for one of our members.
The East African Tea Trade Association is delighted to announce the 2nd Africa Tea Convention & Exhibition will be held on 28th - 30th August 2013 at the Kigali Serena Hotel - Kigali, Rwanda. This will be the second Tea Convention & Exhibition to be organized by East Africa Tea Trade Association and it is expected to be a global event for tea industry. The 1st event was very successful and was attended by major tea importers and consumers of the African tea all over the globe
East Africa Tea Trade Association and TMEA East Africa Inaugurated a Capacity building initiative of Tea Industries in East Africa to implement recognized International Standards(Food Safety Management Systems)
The East Africa Tea Trade Association is excited about this partnership with TradeMark East Africa which is expected to build the capacity of the tea industry in East Africa.
The annual Kenya Taxpayers week was officially opened on Monday 17th, at the KRA times towers ground. The event was opened by the Kenya’s finance Minister, Mr. Uhuru Kenyatta, who thanked the taxpayers for their continued support and compliance to tax regulations, pointing out that the taxpayers’ week was a clear demonstration of the positive mutual partnership enjoyed by KRA and the taxpayers which has seen the increase in tax collection since the inauguration of the event in 2003. He commended the taxpayers for actively contributing to the government’s development programs and assured citizens that the government was working to stabilize the economy.
The latest of SORWATHE’s many achievements is being adjudged the BEST OVERALL EXIBITOR 2010 at the 13th Annual Rwanda Trade Fair 2010 held recently and seen in the photo is Mr Cally Alles – Director General just after receiving the trophy.
At the beginning of 2010, Sorwathe was also adjudged as “Investor of the Year for 2009” at the prestigious Rwanda Development Board awards. This award which many aspire to achieve was based on the profitability, forward and backward linkages with local SME’s, job creation, demonstration of Innovation and Technology transfer, Corporate Social Responsible projects, being a role model and reinvestment into business to sustain growth. In addition to this main award we were placed as second runner-up in the “Exporter of the year-2009” category.
SORWATHE is currently the only ISO 22000:2005 and FAIRTRADE certified, ETHICAL TEA PARTNERSHIP participant and RBS – (Rwanda Bureau of Standards) product certified. It is also ISO 9001:2008 certified.
Sorwathe has many first time achievements in Rwanda, the main are as follows. We are the first to build a New Orthodox Tea Factory in Rwanda which is automated and could manufacture both Orthodox and Green Tea. In addition to this we have introduced technology to the Tea industry in Rwanda such as Fluid Bed Driers, Invertors, 3T Stalk Extractors, Enclosed troughs etc. We are also converting 116 hectares of tea into Organic Tea which is another first in the Tea Industry of Rwanda.
Tea Tourism is another of our projects and we have our Guest House with a panoramic view. We have introduced field and factory tours to those who are interested in learning more about Tea.
Sorwathe produces Black and Green Tea, both CTC and Orthodox and White Tea. Currently it is “In Conversion” for Organic. The Annual production is around 3 million kilos of Black Tea which is 15% of Rwanda’s production. In 2007 Sorwathe produced 3.66 million kgs of Black Tea.
East African Tea Trade Association is the premier body representing the interests of tea producers, tea buyers, tea brokers, tea packers and tea warehouses. EATTA has 167 members in 9 countries in Africa. EATTA runs the Mombasa tea auction that is the second largest tea auction in the world after the Colombo auction. Of the tea exported globally, 32% passes through the Mombasa auction.
The auction has grown by a remarkable 300% in the past 20 years, by offering teas from all the member countries. The tea task force report of 2007 made specific recommendations based on challenges facing the industry. EATTA has identified four areas that need urgent address by the Government of Kenya;
The tea trade in Mombasa made a donation of 10,300 kilograms of tea to the people of Pakistan on 3rd November 2010 at the EATTA Secretariat after the suffering and devastation caused by the recent floods and heavy rains. The tea was packed in water tight 5 kilogram bags. This donation is made in recognition of the good trade relations between the Association members and the great people of Pakistan. The good relationship was exemplified recently by the visit of the High Commissioner of Pakistan to Kenya HE Masroor Jumenjo in April 2010 to EATTA.
The 2010 Pakistan floods began in July 2010 following heavy monsoon rains in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Punjab and Baluchistan regions and affected the Indus River basin. At one point, approximately one-fifth of Pakistan's total land area was underwater. The floods directly affected about 20 million people, mostly by destruction of property, livelihood and infrastructure, with a death toll of close to 2,000.
Pakistan is an important market of East Africa. Pakistan buys all our grades of tea unlike other markets that buy particular grades. The Pakistan market being predominantly Islamic, takes tea as the beverage of choice. Many of our important tea markets are seasonal in the tea they purchase from the auction so that in some months demand for tea goes down; therefore Pakistan’s demand consistent throughout the year making it an ideal market.
