The newly appointed Kenyan ambassadors visited the EATTA and the tea trade in mombsa on Tuesday 13th July 2010. The 15 ambassadors who will represent Kenya in various foreign missions visited the EATTA, where they had a meeting with the EATTA management and Board Members.
They later visited the Mombasa Tea Auction to experience first hand the trading at one of the biggest International tea auctions in the world. Later they visited warehouses, and buyer members.
EATTA has been invited by the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture to present its case about the Tea Amendment Bill (2010) populary known as the Kones Bill. EATTA has been invited together with KTDA the only two bodies that have expressed opposition to the Bill and forwarded their petitions to the Clerk of the National Assembly.
The Bills Committe on Agriculture will meet on Monday 28th June 2010 at 2.00 p.m., EATTA delegation will be led by Mr. Brian Ngwiri (Marketing Manager) and the advocay consultants (AGSEC Consultants).
EATTA has several objections to this Bill and will use this case to further the interest of the tea trade.
KRA REVERSES DIRECTIVE ON EXPORT ENTRIES DOCUMENT. The directive from Kenya Revenue Authority requiring export entries to have the container number has been reversed. The Commissioner of Customs Services was in Mombasa last week and she committed that as a permanent solution tea exporters will not be required to fill in the container number when lodging the C17B form. You can start lodging your export entries and if you encounter a problem get in touch with the secretariat.
Kephis have agreed to reduce the inspection charges for teas with multiple custom entries going to one consignee from Kshs. 20,000 to 10,000. For purposes of this levy, multiple custom entries consist of more than one. Whilst it would have been better if the charge was reduced back to the Kshs. 5000, Kephis MD (Dr. Onsando) said that the gazette notice authorizing the increment was first published in 2001 and it has been pending implementation since then. According to the Kephis MD, the increase in the charge was as a result of their cost of operations increasing significantly without commensurate increase in support from the government. This is a matter that EATTA will take up with the government. The Kephis MD requested for an opportunity to meet the tea trade in Mombasa in an open forum to discuss concerns the trade may have with the organisation. EATTA will organise a forum very soon that the Kephis team will come to familiarize themselves with the Mombasa tea auction.
This development is a positive one achieved after alot of consultations and lobbying by EATTA. We strive to continue the advocacy agenda on behalf of the tea trade in eliminating bottlenecks that hinder the smooth running of the trade.
Report of the 19th Session of the IGG on Tea that took place in Delhi, India.
Find out more: http://www.fao.org/docrep/meeting/018/K7503E.pdf
The European Union through Pro-invest has appointed Mr. Phil Mumby as the consultant who will work with EATTA for the Strategy Implementation plan. This is a 7 months project funded by pro-invest whose specific objective is to provide technical assistance to support the tea sector by enhancing EATTA members capacities for value added tea products, marketing, promotion activities and business linkages.
The programme is meant to benefit member countries of the EATTA and improve the position of the African tea in the global market.
Phil Mumby holds a Bsc. Hons Food Science & Agricultural Economics from Reading University UK and has over 30 years experience in the tea industry. He works as an independent consultant in tea issues.
Phil has worked with Ringtons Ltd, Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) where he is the founding Director and its Interim chair. He has also worked with Premier Brands and held various Board positions besides working for Cadbury Typhoo where he began his career as a tea taster, buyer and blender.
Phil visited the EATTA Secretariat on Monday 7th June 2010 and met with the EATTA Management led by the MD Dr. Kipkirui Arap Lang'at and had healthy discussions with the team to get a better understanding on the expectations of the project.
EATTA welcomes Mr. Phil Mumby and wish his all the best and support to ensure the success of this project. We will keep you updated on the developments about this project as they unfold.
