The Hon. K.V. Samantha Viddyarathna - Minister of Plantation and Community Infrastructure
The Minister provided a written reply on tea cess, confirming current rates on bulk tea, value-added packs, exports, and imports. He stated that total tea cess revenue collected in 2024 was Rs. 1.618 billion, almost entirely from exports, and that Customs remits these proceeds to the Consolidated Fund rather than transferring them to the Tea Board, Tea Research Institute, or Tea Small Holdings Development Authority.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, the answer is as follows:
¶ 02 (a) (i) Yes. (ii) Current cess: - Bulk tea (packages over 10 kg): Rs. 10 per kg - Value-added packs (≤10 kg): Rs. 48 per kg - For exports: for every 100 kg of tea, Tea Medical (cess) at 35% - For tea imports: 10% of CIF value as cess (iii) As per Sri Lanka Customs, total 2024 tea cess revenue: Rs. 1,618,237,620 - Imports: Rs. 8,538,154 - Exports: Rs. 1,609,699,466 (iv) Cess is collected by Customs and remitted to the Consolidated Fund. No cess proceeds are transferred to the Tea Board, TRI, or Tea Small Holdings Development Authority. (v) Not applicable.
¶ 03 (b) Not applicable.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Wednesday, 22 January 2025 ·No. 1739261035021938 ·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 January 2025. No. 1739261035021938. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/5670