In a major boost for Sri Lanka’s tea exporters, Russia has stated that Sri Lanka no longer needs to fumigate empty containers prior to stuffing tea for shipment to Russia, a mandatory requirement which had made Ceylon Tea less competitive in the Russian market. Since December 2017 due to the alleged detection of a "Kappra Beetle" in the outer packaging of a container of Ceylon Tea to Russia, the two nations took a mutual decision to fumigate each and every empty container prior to stuffing of tea from Sri Lanka for shipment to Russia. This mandatory requirement was strictly enforced by the Plant Quarantine Division of the Ministry of Agriculture in Sri Lanka for almost two years. This was a costly exercise and time consuming (minimum 72 hours of quarantine necessary prior releasing the empty container for stuffing) for the export trade in Sri Lanka, a major handicap for Ceylon Tea in a highly competitive Russian market dominated by local Russian Brands. Furthermore, although the fumigation process was undertaken by Sri Lanka from January 2018 until September 2019, not a single "Khappra Beetle" or such traces were found. This decision to relax the requirement was reached when experts from Sri Lanka Tea Board and Embassy of Sri Lanka in Moscow concluded a strategic meeting with a team of officials from Federal Services for Veterinary & Phytosanitary Surveillance of the Russian Ministry of Agriculture in accordance with the advice of Minister of Plantation Industries Navin Dissanayake. “This intervention is considered as an encouraging success and a positive boost for the exporters of Ceylon Tea to the Russian Federation. Further, achieving this breakthrough on the background of the launch of the Ceylon Tea Global Campaign in the Russian Federation is a significant achievement, particularly due to the hard work put through by the Tea Promotion Division of the Sri Lanka Tea Board,” the Ministry of Plantation Industries said in a media communiqué. The meeting was held on the sidelines of the recent Global Campaign launch for Ceylon Tea in Russia. In this connection the Federal Services for Veterinary & Phytosanitary Surveillance in Russia issued a circular to the Russian Custom Posts and all other relevant authorities to implement the agreed decision from 1st of October 2019.