The Hon. K.V. Samantha Viddyarathna - Minister of Plantation and Community Infrastructure
Oil palm cultivation remains prohibited under Extraordinary Gazette No. 2222/13 of 05.04.2021, so no applications have been made to import seeds. The Minister stated that while certain palm oil imports are restricted under Gazette No. 2312/77 of 01.01.2023, licences are permitted for palm stearin and crude palm olein, with imports costing Rs. 8,067.3 million in 2023 and Rs. 11,079.66 million in 2024. He added that the main obstacle to cultivation is the continuing ban, and that a committee report on a reconsidered Cabinet decision regarding limited cultivation on Regional Plantation Company lands will be submitted for a policy decision.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, I table the answer.
¶ 02 (a)(i) Oil palm cultivation in Sri Lanka is prohibited by Extraordinary Gazette No. 2222/13 of 05.04.2021. Accordingly, no grower has applied to import seeds.
¶ 03 (a)(ii) Under Extraordinary Gazette No. 2312/77 of 01.01.2023, imports of crude palm oil and palm oil in containers of 210 litres or less are prohibited. However, import licences are allowed for palm stearin and crude palm olein at room temperature. As per the Coconut Development Authority Monthly Bulletin (December 2024), Sri Lanka spent Rs. 8,067.3 million in 2023 and Rs. 11,079.66 million in 2024 on various palm oil imports (including palm olein, crude palm olein, palm kernel, palm stearin).
¶ 04 (a)(iii) The main obstacle is that the Gazette 2222/13 (05.04.2021) prohibiting oil palm cultivation has not yet been rescinded.
¶ 05 (a)(iv) A prior Cabinet decision (No. AMP/24/19417/601/084-1 of 13.09.2024) to allow limited oil palm cultivation on lands managed by Regional Plantation Companies has been directed by Cabinet on 30.09.2024 to be reconsidered. A committee appointed accordingly has prepared a new report to be submitted to Cabinet for a policy decision.
¶ 06 (b) Not applicable.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Wednesday, 22 October 2025 ·No. 22638 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. K.V. Samantha Viddyarathna - Minister of Plantation and Community Infrastructure. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 22 October 2025. No. 22638. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/12326