COLOMBO, Sri Lanka—A key working group of the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries met recently in Columbo, according to the Sri Lankan government website.
The Working Group on Natural Price Stabilization held its third meeting at a dinner hosted in Colombo by Navin Dissanayake, Sri Lankan minister of plantation industries, according to a news release. ANRPC Secretary General Sheela Thomas attended the meeting, as did several other Sri Lankan officials, the release said.
The topic at the meeting was the continuing low prices for NR and the establishment of a sustainable mechanism to alleviate the problems of small NR farmers, according to the release.
Members of the working group agreed to submit a report to the ANRPC Executive Board and, after receiving the board's approval, to ANRPC member governments, it said.
At present, all the rubber-producing countries are facing the issue of low rubber prices, which affect millions of vulnerable people, the release said.
The International Rubber Research & Development Board and the Sri Lanka Rubber Research Institute has a mission to identify effective mechanisms to cope with low rubber prices, according to the release.