The Hon. (Dr.) Harsha de Silva
Hon. (Dr.) Harsha de Silva referred to vehicles imported under irrevocable letters of credit and said Sri Lanka Customs had been urged not to require re-export but to allow release on payment of an additional duty. He noted that while a decision had been taken to levy additional duty and release the vehicles, registration issues remained due to an Imports and Exports Control Department rule, even where bank guarantees were provided. He requested that vehicles be released either on cash payment or on a bank guarantee with an added interest component, noting that 17 had been released and about 870 remained.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Just briefly: About those vehicles—we urged Sri Lanka Customs two months ago not to insist on re-export where irrevocable LCs exist; to find alternatives, such as levying an additional duty and releasing. A decision was taken yesterday to levy additional duty and release. We suggest allowing registration upon cash payment; however, an Imports and Exports Control Department rule prevents registration even with an irrevocable bank guarantee. Our Committee recommended that, upon encashment of a bank guarantee, interest be added. Some 17 vehicles were released on cash; around 870 remain. If cash can be paid, take cash; otherwise, accept a bank guarantee with an interest component and release. We request cooperation to implement this. Thank you.
Provenance
- Source
- Hansard, Wednesday, 3 December 2025 ·No. 23332 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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- not yet extracted — page/column anchors are not in the current dataset; the source PDF is the citable location.
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/lk/speeches/19368
Cite as: The Hon. (Dr.) Harsha de Silva. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 3 December 2025. No. 23332. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/19368