Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Industry on Monday (09 Feb) hosted the third round of talks with World Bank representatives Richard Walker and Anna Twum on the country’s upcoming tariff reform.
Deputy Minister of Industries and Entrepreneurship Development Chathuranga Abeysinghe said the new policy, set for 2026, will remove para‑tariffs such as Cess and PAL and introduce a streamlined four‑tier import tariff framework.
“Sri Lanka is preparing for the largest and most decisive shift in its economic transformation, with a new tariff policy set to be implemented in 2026 to better integrate our economy into global value chains. Under this reform, para-tariffs such as Cess and PAL will be removed, and the country will transition to a new import tariff framework consisting of four main categories,” he said in a post on ‘X’.
He further said that during the discussions with the World Bank representatives, who are providing technical assistance to Sri Lanka for this reform, the Ministry of Industry emphasized the need for strong institutional involvement in driving these critical transformational changes, the importance of implementing them gradually within a defined timeline, the establishment of national standards for imported goods, and the necessity of prohibiting the import of under-invoiced and low-quality products.
This new tariff policy is considered a fundamental prerequisite for enhancing Sri Lanka’s competitiveness in the export sector and for enabling the country to enter into international trade agreements, he noted. (Newswire)