1. Up to 10 kilograms (kg) of tea can be sent out of Sri Lanka, as a sample, without lodging a CUSDEC or acquiring a Tea Export Permit. 2. All other tea exports need an Export Permit from the Tea Board. In order to do this, the exporters need to first send a Blend Sheet to the Tea Board (electronically). A Blend Sheet is a list of all the teas that constitute a specific shipment and the document contains details such as date of sale, lot number, broker’s code, invoice number, garden number, grade, weight, price and value. The system automatically generates a lodgement number almost immediately. 3. Once this is received, the exporter prepares the CUSDEC, which includes the lodgement number of the Blend Sheet application and submits the CUSDEC to the Tea Board (electronically). 4. The Tea Board then checks and compares the Blend Sheet and the CUSDEC and informs the exporter (electronically) whether the consignment has been selected for random sampling or not. 5. After that, the Tea Board sends the CUSDEC to the Customs Department (electronically) with the Export Permit for the consignment of tea. 6. In the event a consignment is selected for random sampling, a Tea Board sampling officer will visit the warehouse to take a sample and send it to the Tea Board laboratory for testing. In the CUSDEC there is a space to specify when and where the sampling can be carried out, if selected for sampling. 7. The tea company then calls the Tea Board to find out if the testing has been completed. When it is, the tea exporter takes the CUSDEC and gets a “shipment authorized” seal from the Tea Board, which allows them to continue with the shipment. 8. This sampling/testing process can be completed in about 24 hours. A sampling officer usually comes the day after the request is made and the approval can be acquired the same evening.
