Much discussed anti-dumping law cleared for Parliament

• Local industry representatives caution Govt. on FTAs, appeal for anti-dumping law
• Govt. says new legislation could be presented to Parliament by next month 
• Assures no FTAs without safeguards

 Sri Lankan industries have been assured that proposed Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) will not affect them adversely or result in an imports dump as the Government is working to introduce anti-dumping legislation, the Trade and Commerce Ministry said in a statement yesterday.

In fact, the much sought after anti-dumping legislation has been cleared by the Attorney General and is ready to head to the legislature, it added.  Addressing the 26th AGM of Industry Association of Sri Lanka (IASL) at the Cinnamon Grand on 27 September, Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen said the draft of the anti-dumping bill will soon be presented to Parliament. 

Joining the event were IASL Chairman Dinesh Dharmadasa, Assistant Secretary General of Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Rohan Casiechetty, Vice Chairman IASL Bandula Egodage and the Immediate Past Chairman of IASL Nilam Jayasinghe.

“Industries operate in challenging environments but with the help of government agencies, including the Ministry of Trade, some of these have been overcome,” said Dharmadasa.

“FTAs to be signed by Sri Lanka could bring forth numerous new challenges. We thank the Government for starting a dialogue with the industries and hope these dialogues will continue to facilitate viable operations of Sri Lankan industries once the FTAs are signed and open up new opportunities for our members. We like to mention that any further liberation of trade must be done after a few basic safeguards like anti-dumping legislation and the lowering of duties of raw materials for the local manufacture of finished products,” he added.

Responding to Dharmadasa, Minister Bathiudeen said: “Our industries appear to be worried about the impacts of FTAs and dumping. The unity government will not enter into such agreements without consulting local industries and without protecting them first. I am also pleased to say that we are looking at new steps on anti-dumping and my officials are studying issues on this. The Department of Commerce is a key institution working in this regard. In fact we are planning to present the draft Anti-Dumping Bill to the Parliament in the coming two to three weeks. The policy of the Unity Government of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is to support the development of industries.”

IASL Chairman Dharmadasa and other members praised Minister Bathiudeen on the speedy progress of Sri Lanka’s anti-dumping framework.

Last year, Minister Bathiudeen, joining Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickrama, proposed the anti-dumping legislation to the Cabinet and received the go-ahead to proceed. Being cleared by the AG, the bill is now being translated to be presented to Parliament. The key focus of this anti-dumping bill is to counter unfair trade practices.