Friday Jul 24, 2026
Friday Jul 24, 2026
Friday, 24 July 2026 00:25 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
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| Opposition MP Dr. Harsha de Silva |
Opposition MP Dr. Harsha de Silva yesterday cautioned that the Government’s latest import control regulations risk imposing additional compliance costs on legitimate businesses while failing to address the institutional weaknesses that enabled approximately $ 715 million to leave Sri Lanka through fraudulent advance import payments.
Speaking during the parliamentary debate on new regulations issued under the Import and Export (Control) Act, Dr. de Silva argued that the primary failure lay in weak enforcement and poor coordination among State agencies rather than gaps in legislation.
“The problem lies within a system called the Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA) system. The ASYCUDA system cannot reconcile the Customs declaration document with the banking transaction document,” he told Parliament.
Dr. de Silva said investigations by Parliament’s Committee on Public Finance (CoPF) had shown that intelligence generated by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka’s (CBSL) Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) on trade-based money laundering risks had not been effectively acted upon by relevant agencies.
He said the Committee had also uncovered serious weaknesses in implementation, including banks processing transactions without properly recording mandatory Tax Identification Numbers (TINs) and shell companies being incorporated with little or no meaningful verification of their ownership or operating addresses.
“Because there is no coordination, these thieves slip through the cracks. And when thieves slip through, instead of enforcing the existing law, you bring in new laws,” Dr. de Silva said.
He warned that requiring importers to register separately with multiple State institutions would add administrative costs and delays for compliant businesses without necessarily preventing fraudulent transactions.
The regulations, presented by Finance and Planning Deputy Minister Dr. Anil Jayantha Fernando, require importers making advance payments to register with Sri Lanka Customs before banks process remittances. Banks must also obtain additional information, including beneficiary details, a Unique Identification Number (UIN), and the importer’s TIN, which Customs officials allege some banks failed to provide even after the rules were gazetted.
The measures follow investigations by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which found that approximately $ 715 million had been remitted overseas between 2023 and 2026 through advance payments for imports that never materialised.
