The Hon. (Dr.) Harshana Suriyapperuma - Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, responding on behalf of the Minister of Finance and Planning:

¶ 02 Currently, about 1,600 containers are imported daily through the Port of Colombo. After weekends or long holidays, daily arrivals increase sharply. The number varies. Through the Customs Risk Management System, about 40% are selected for Customs examination.

¶ 03 There are three examination yards with a combined maximum capacity of 500 containers per day. Thus, current capacity is insufficient to examine all selected containers. On ADB recommendations, Sri Lanka Customs had informed the then Government to establish a new Container Examination Centre at Kerawalapitiya, but it was not implemented. Hence, congestion has worsened. The Ceylon Association of Shipping Agents reports some vessels have bypassed Colombo due to congestion. The Government is already implementing short-, medium- and long-term measures to resolve this.

¶ 04 Regarding reports that 323 containers were released without examination: to minimize congestion and extra costs to importers, industries and businesses awaiting imports, Sri Lanka Customs adopted several measures. One such measure—since July 2024—was that, from among the containers selected by the Customs IT system for examination, a portion was selected according to defined criteria by a committee of senior and experienced officers for release. This process operates under post-clearance audit. Provisions for this exist under the Customs Ordinance.