The Hon. (Dr.) Anil Jayantha

¶ 01 Madam Presiding Member, regarding the claim that 300–400 vehicles are detained at the port, clarification is needed. They are at the port, but not due to inefficiency or some other problem—it is clearly because regulations have been violated.

¶ 02 Importers did meet me in various ways and presented points similar to those you stated. Historically, there have been practices whereby vehicles were released despite regulation breaches. Having examined matters, our 2025 Gazette makes it clear that imports under cross-border LCs are not a problem. For used vehicles, however, certification and deregistration—the Certificate of Cancellation of Registration—are required. That cannot be obtained in some cases. Mistakes happened in the past. We should not repeat them. Those who imported understand that a regulation violation has occurred and are seeking a way out. We have observed the situation and state clearly: there is a regulatory violation.