Amid the current national crisis, many foreign countries, governments, organisations and individuals have expressed strong willingness to provide financial and material assistance for those affected by the disaster. With the aim of establishing a rapid mechanism to ensure the swift and efficient clearance of such relief items, a special discussion was held yesterday (29) at the Presidential Secretariat.
The discussion focused in depth on the processes required to expedite customs clearance of donated goods, such as tax exemptions, necessary inspections and approvals, through an integrated mechanism involving key agencies responsible for taxes and regulatory oversight.
Accordingly, foreign assistance received by Sri Lanka was categorised into four main groups: aid from multilateral agencies, non-governmental organisations, foreign businesses and individual donors.
The Government of Sri Lanka has already published a list of urgently required items on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website. According to the issued guidelines, donors must specify the Sri Lanka Disaster Management Centre as the recipient. When this is done, the donated items can be cleared without customs duties or Value Added Tax (VAT), enabling faster and more organised distribution.
If the Disaster Management Centre is not named as the consignee, the donations must be cleared through the standard customs process with applicable payments.
To ensure efficient distribution of relief supplies to affected communities, it was decided to issue guidelines, including the address and necessary details of the Disaster Management Centre, so donors can prepare in advance and facilitate rapid clearance procedures.
All coordination related to this process will be carried out by the Director General of Customs, Mr Seevali Arukgoda.
Minister of Ports and Civil Aviation Anura Karunathilake, Secretary to the President Dr Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, Secretary to the Ministry of Finance Dr Harshana Suriyapperuma, Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism Aruni Ranaraja, Director General of Customs Seevali Arukgoda, Senior Additional Secretaries to the President Roshan Gamage and Russel Aponsu, along with officials from the Sri Lanka Customs and the import–export sector, participated in the discussion.
