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Sri Lankan importers pay up millions of rupees in penalties every month by not knowing about import regulations, says Customs Department.









Sri Lankan importers pay up millions of rupees in penalties every month by not knowing about import regulations, says Customs Department. “Sometimes importers pay around Rs 2 million a month on penalties, due to lack of basic knowledge about import regulations,” said Superintendent of Customs, M R Rajmohan, speaking at a trade seminar for local companies, organised by the Hatton National Bank on Wednesday.

Sri Lankan importers pay as much as Rs 25 million per year, only on nominal penalties, that could have been avoided, if they read the import regulations.

“90 percent of these mistakes are due to the lack of basic knowledge of import regulations,” says Rajmohan.

All imports into Sri Lanka are subject to import controls – through the two main import regulations - the Import Export Act of 1969 and the Special Import License Regulation of 1979 - and through various other laws, permits and prohibitions.

“Imports can be forfeited without question, at the time of landing, i