September 27, 2003	Saturday	Rajab 29, 1424

COONOOR, India, Sept 26: India, the world’s top tea producer, can easily boost exports to Pakistan through better marketing of its high-quality teas, a senior trade official from Pakistan said on Friday.

Indian tea industry officials say exports to the huge Pakistan market could soar seven-fold in five years if a fragile peace process between the two neighbours makes progress.

But Mohsin Saify, an executive committee member of the Pakistan Tea Association, said trade was hit by poor awareness about Indian tea, not political rivalry between the neighbours.

Pakistan is the third biggest tea importer and Indian trade is eyeing the 130-140 million kg a year Pakistani market.

“The tea trade is not aware of the quality and seasonal variations (in India)...,” Mr Saify, a general manager with Tapal Tea (Private) Ltd, told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of a planters conference.

He said Pakistan traders had established strong ties with Kenya, the main supplier of tea to Pakistan. “There is a benchmark of quality with Kenya which is high.”

In 2001, Pakistan imported 3.5 million kg of low quality tea from India but trade was halted when road and rail links were snapped by the Indian government.

Mr Saify was part of a team led by Saeed Ahmed Khawaja, chairman of the Pakistan Tea Association, attending the conference of the United Planters Association of Southern India (UPASI).

Mr Khawaja told reporters Pakistan was importing poor quality southern Indian tea for blending, and had asked UPASI to send samples of better varieties.

“People should know the names of your gardens,” he said, adding that trade was seeking lower import duty on tea.

But Mr Saify said the duty seen widely as the obstacle to Indian exports was not necessarily a key issue.

“That is not an obstacle,” Mr Saify said but noted that CTC grades, which was the main variety of tea sold in his country, needed more promotion and better awareness.

Pakistan levies a 20-per cent import duty on tea but levies, including a withholding tax and sales tax, take the effective rate to around 50 per cent. But teas from Nepal and Bangladesh enjoy duty-free status due to bilateral tea trade arrangements. —Reuters