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Sri Lanka
10th Parliament· 154 sittings on record · 30,475 speeches · latest 10 June 2026

Sitting of Wednesday, 5 February 2025

10th Parliament· 19 debates· 240 speeches· 52 speakers

Source: Hansard PDF (parliament.lk) ↗ ·No. 1739175806099814 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard

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Order of business

Speeches load per item. Summaries shown here are AI-generated and labelled; verbatim text is on each speech page.

  8. 8 Oral question Oral Question: Coconut Oil Import Policy (Q.291/2024) 6 speeches
    • The Hon. S.M. Marikkar SJB

      AI summary Hon. S.M. Marikkar questioned the Prime Minister on the Government’s policy regarding the import of refined and unrefined coconut oil and the applicable tax regime. He asked whether the provisions of the Gazette dated 01 January 2024 apply to such imports, whether VAT and the Social Security Contribution Levy are payable when unrefined coconut oil is imported, refined, and sold locally, and what procedure the Government uses to collect those taxes.

      Public FinanceAgriculture Full speech →
    • The Hon. (Dr.) Harini Amarasuriya JJB

      AI summary Hon. (Dr.) Harini Amarasuriya responded to questions on coconut oil imports, stating that refined and unrefined coconut oil are subject to the Special Commodity Levy under Act No. 48 of 2007, at Rs. 150 and Rs. 125 per kilogram respectively, with no other import duties applied. She said no relevant Gazette dated 1 January 2024 could be identified without a Gazette number and requested that it be provided for a precise reply. She further explained that refining imported unrefined coconut oil is treated as manufacturing, making local sales subject to VAT and SSCL, with Customs collecting the SCL at import and Inland Revenue administering VAT and SSCL.

      Public Finance Full speech →
    • The Hon. S.M. Marikkar SJB

      AI summary S.M. Marikkar raised concerns over alleged non-payment of VAT on large volumes of unrefined coconut oil imported in 2024, citing correspondence between a company, the Department of State Finance Policy, and the Inland Revenue Department. He stated that more than Rs. 5.8 billion may be recoverable from four companies and asked whether the Ministry of Finance would instruct the Inland Revenue Department to collect the outstanding taxes.

      Public FinanceCorruption & Governance Reform Full speech →
    • The Hon. (Dr.) Harini Amarasuriya JJB

      AI summary Hon. (Dr.) Harini Amarasuriya thanked the Member for raising the matter and requested that the related information be provided for investigation. She said the Government would look into whether a similar irregularity had occurred under the previous administration, referring to past issues such as the sugar and garlic scams.

      Corruption & Governance Reform Full speech →
    • The Hon. S.M. Marikkar SJB

      AI summary Hon. S.M. Marikkar raised concern that coconut oil imports initiated under Hon. Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s Government had continued under the current Government, stating that over four million kilograms had been imported in the past three months. He said he would submit supporting details and copies of relevant letters to the Prime Minister, while indicating he would not ask a further supplementary question.

      AgriculturePublic Finance Full speech →
    • The Hon. Speaker procedural
      Full speech →