Sri Lanka Customs is about to reach a historic milestone with a revenue of Rs 1 trillion within a few days, said Sri Lanka Customs Director General Sarath Nonis. He expressed this at the 40th Annual General Meeting of the Spices and Allied Products Producers and Traders Association held at Hilton Residencies Colombo recently.
The Director General said that export earnings are critical in improving the country’s economy. The Chief Guest also highlighted that exporters should focus on producing value-added items to gain more export revenue.
“In this economically and socially challenging period, the export earnings play a crucial role in improving our current fund situation. As we transition from a primary service-oriented economy, the government is implementing policy measures to ship towards export-oriented production. This transformation aims to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in bureaucratic processes, attract greater foreign investments and technology and bolster low-cost industries. By entering into numerous trade agreements, the government is working to secure preferential access to new and larger markets for our exports”.
“In light of these developments, it is essential for exporters to seize these opportunities by focusing on value-added products By adopting international best practices with customs called great facilitation. Then, the Department has not only secured revenue for the State but also ensured social and environmental protection. In 2023, customs achieved a historic milestone by recording the highest ever tax revenue of Rs 972 billion.”
“This year our target is about Rs 1.5 trillion. Up to August we reached Rs 963 trillion, we are passing Rs 975 trillion within a few days and we can reach Rs1 trillion for the first time in history within a few days,” said Nonis.
Speaking about the spice trade he mentioned that Sri Lanka has a very low share in the European Spice Market. Also, most of the products exported by Sri Lanka lack value addition and need to improve the value addition to compete in the lucrative markets.
“As of 2023, our spice market penetration reveals that approximately 32 per cent of our exports are directed to India, 24 per cent to Mexico, 10 per cent to the USA and 5 per cent to Peru with minimal proportions going to other countries. For instance, while the European spice market is projected to reach around USD 7 billion by 2025, our share is currently around 0.6 per cent.
This suggests that we have not yet achieved significant success in penetrating higher-value markets where consumers are willing to pay a premium for product quality, brand advocacy and value-added features. It also indicates that a considerable portion of our exports may remain in a non-value-added stage. Lacking the attributes necessary to complete effectively in these lucrative markets.”
“Further studies are needed to create a deeper understanding of both the volumetric and foreign earnings performance of exports as well as the value addition causes supported by customers under export-oriented industrial facilitation schemes such as tea, and by the BOI under their respective schemes.”
The customs are taking the necessary steps to avoid malpractices during the export process and they also plan to prevent corruption.
“Our efforts have been significantly improved with the detection of commercial fraud and smuggling activities effectively deterring bolsters and generating substantial additional revenue through fines and forfeitures. These measures have played a crucial role in bolstering our reputation in international trade particularly within the export market. We have further strengthened our processes for innovative and high-standard approaches such as interactive automated list management initiatives for cargo clearance. These enhancements minimize human intervention and improve trade compliance facilitation.”
“Code of conduct and integrity are central to our organizational development and achieve focus of our strategic plans. A strategic plan for the next five years has been looked into.”
Christopher Fernando of Malwatte Valley Plantations PLC was elected President.
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