The National Spices Corporation has taken steps to sign a tripartite agreement together with SGS Institute of Singapore, which has international recognition.

Accordingly, from next December, it is mandatory for all the small and medium-sized spice producers in Sri Lanka to obtain this standard certificate, said Mrs. Kumudini Arya Gunasena, the Chairman of the National Spices Corporation.

National Spices Corporation, Hatton National Bank and SGS Institute are going to sign this tripartite agreement together

A discussion on spice standards certification programme was held yesterday (15) afternoon at the Ministry of Plantation Industry. The Minister of Agriculture and Plantation Industries Mahinda Amaraweera, Secretary of the Ministry Janaka Dharmakeerthi, and a group of officials from the Ministry of Plantation Industries also participated in the event.

Spices such as pepper, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon are the main plantation spices in this country and are used by people in many countries of the world. But the minister said that Sri Lanka Spice brand has been seriously damaged due to the export of substandard spices by some fake traders.

Therefore, this spice certification scheme will be implemented after the signing of the relevant tripartite agreement in the second week of December, and after that the certificate can be obtained by the producers at a concessional price.

Also, since this certificate is an internationally recognized certificate, small and medium scale spice manufacturers in Sri Lanka will be able to export their products to the international market without any hindrance.

(Excerpts : Dailynews.lk)