High Standards

July 04, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka's freight forwarders are seeking new rules to improve standards in the trade after winning a court order that quashed a set of regulations proposed by government. "We did not see much policing in the proposed law," Kadawatharatchie said. "There's a need to punish rule breakers." Niral Kadawatharatchie, chairman of the Sri Lanka Freight Forwarders' Association (SLFFA), said the rules were required to set and maintain standards in what is an international business that needs international standards.

"Regulations are required to establish minimum standards for us to practice," he said.

"If we do the same old freight forwarding, we'll never make Sri Lanka a logistics hub."

The association, which represents all stakeholders in the freight forwarding trade, has now re-opened talks with the authorities on drafting a new set of regulations, called the Freight Forwarders Licensing Act.

With the freight forwarding business in the island now 30 years old, Kadawatharatchie said, the industry believes it is mature enough to require stringent rules to prevent deterioration of the quality of services provided.

The government plan to license freight f