Friday May 29, 2026
Friday May 29, 2026
Thursday, 28 May 2026 06:07 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The Cabinet of Ministers earlier this week approved a proposal to make it mandatory for all fresh fruit and vegetable exports to the EU to be sourced and processed through and certified under Sri Lankan Good Agricultural Practices (SL-GAP) guidelines, along with registered exporters and approved processing and packaging facilities following concerns raised by European regulators over excessive agrochemical residue levels in some local exports.
The move comes after the European Commission’s Health and Food Safety Regulatory Authority reported that pesticide residue levels in certain fresh vegetables and fruits exported from Sri Lanka had exceeded the EU’s permitted ‘Maximum Residue Levels’ (MRLs) to what authorities described as a highly risky extent.
EU Member States operate under a harmonised food safety framework that strictly regulates pesticide and chemical residue content in imported food products, with non-compliance posing risks of shipment rejections, tighter inspections, or trade restrictions.
Against this backdrop, the Government has identified an urgent need to strengthen testing systems, traceability mechanisms, and food safety standards for export-oriented agricultural products in order to safeguard continued market access to the EU and other key international destinations.
Officials said the measure is intended to improve quality assurance, ensure compliance with international food safety standards, and enhance traceability throughout the agricultural export supply chain.
The decision is also expected to place greater pressure on producers and exporters to adopt safer agrochemical usage practices and internationally accepted cultivation standards as Sri Lanka seeks to protect the competitiveness of its agricultural exports in high-value overseas markets.
The proposal to this effect was submitted by the Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation Minister K.D. Lalkantha.
The EU remains one of Sri Lanka’s key export destinations for several agricultural and food products, making compliance with evolving sanitary and phytosanitary standards increasingly critical for maintaining trade access and export earnings.
Exports to the EU, which represent 25.5% of Sri Lanka’s total merchandise exports, increased by 4.97% year-on-year (YoY) to $ 224.42 million in April 2026, whilst exports for the cumulative period from January to April increased by 4.62% to $ 996.72 million.
During the first four months of 2026, Sri Lanka exported a total of $ 27.5 million worth of fruits and vegetables.
