"Misinformation' in tea controversy

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 34026, 15 December 1975, Page 10

"Misinformation ' in tea controversy

The recent controversy over the condition ofl tea-plantation workers in Sri Lanka—triggered by the Television One, screening of a “World in Action” documentary, “Tea: The Deadly Cost” —was marked by an unfortunate degree of misinformation, according ( to a New Zealand journalist who has looked into the matter. An Auckland freelance! journalist, Mr Terry Bell,; who was commissioned by the New Zealand Tea Council to investigate independently the allegations made in ‘ and after the documentary, has written a report that is now being studied by CORSO and the Tea Council. Mr Bell criticises the inability of groups concerned to analyse available! published material before; making pronouncements.

In particular, he points to allegations made about the auction of tea and the alleged collusion among a small group of big companies to fix prices. “There have been several authoritative and independent inquiries in the past into allegations like these. The most recent investigation, which covered all aspects of tea marketing, was undertaken by a three-man Indian team and was published earlier this year,” said Mr Bell.

This investigation found no! evidence of collusion or price! fixing. Mr Bell said that after' his investigation he found that it was a highly-; competitive industry, beset by' sometimes chronic financial! difficulties. Income lesss “Tn its simplest form, what it boils down to is a situ-; ation where tea supply has' most frequently equalled or' outstripped demand. This has! resulted in a steady erosion i in prices for tea. In real terms, tea producers are get-! ting less for their tea today than thev did 20 years ago,”: said Mr Bell. This had been a major con-; tributary factor to the de-i cline in living standards and; the high degree of poverty in| such countries as Sri Lanka. Mr Bell felt that part of the blame rested with the ini ability of producing coun-i

! tries to reach agreement on '|a floor price or quota system: which had been discussed under the auspices of the United Nations for the last j 12 years. “Where the ultimate blame: lies—if it can be apportioned' in this way—must be a matter for subjective political analysis. The realitv is that, we have a free enterprise | system in operation. And,: ! within the framework of that i system, it certainly cannot! be shown that any groups or! individuals —big companies or otherwise —are operating in an unfair or unreasonable way,” he said. Tea drinkers in the developed world demanded tea as a cheap beverage, and a. ‘variety of companies catered: Tor this demand. Therefore all. as individuals, were: ; guilty of assisting in holding) down tea prices. ‘Out of context’ : Mr Bell also says that the:; position regarding the TamilL

tea estate workers in Sri, Lanka is further complicated) by the fact that they comprise a largely voiceless min-, ioritv in Sri Lanka, having) ibeen disfranchised by the'Sri Lanka Government in the) year after political indepen-j .dence from Britain. It was obvious that the {“World in Action” team had! i taken the situation com-! ipletely out of context. It had now been condemned by Bri-! tain’s Independent Broadcast-) ing Authority for its lack of impartiality. “There is certainly poverty, squalor, and starvation: m Sri Lanka. But the number ;0f inaccurate statements, iabout the situation and its; ! alleged causes has merely! helped to cloud the matter.This is not only unfortun-i .ate, it is quite tragic,” said! iMr Bell.