This will come into effect by September this year, that is our expectation and we are trying to speed it up, N C Magedaragamage, Acting Director General of Commerce told LBO on Wednesday.
The tariff cut, agreed to by both sides and due in April, has been slowed down due to delays in getting the changes through Parliament.
Sri Lanka™s bilateral trade agreement with India allows for a phasing out of tariffs over eight years, for goods not on a sensitive list.
Under the Indo-Lanka Free Trade Agreement, tariffs are to come down this year to not less than 70 percent of the general customs duty rate.
That means, for imports of finished goods from India, tariffs will drop from 28 percent to 8.40 percent and from 2.5 percent to 0.75 percent for industrial raw materials and machinery.
For semi-processed raw materials, rates will come down from six percent to 1.8 percent and for intermediate inputs, from 15 percent to 4.50 percent.
Commonly traded items from India includ