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Finance Minister lashes out at lack of unity among biz chambers

From left: Secretariat of the Import Section of the CCC, Manori Dissanayake, CCC CEO, Mangala P.B Yapa, Minister Ravi Karunanayake, Dinesh de Silva, Chairman Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), Dr. Lakdas Panagoda, Immediate Past Chairman Import Section of CCC, Kevin Edwards and Vice Chairman Import Section of CCC, Nishan Nanayakkara
Pic by: Samantha Perera



The import community of the country came up with a whole heap of trade woes blocking the country’s foreign trade and its competitiveness and urged the government to provide solutions forthwith before them being snowballed into much larger economic issues hampering the country’s foreign trade.  

According to the Chairman of the Import Section of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Dinesh de Silva, failure to provide faster solutions to these issues not only will increase the cost of imports and thereby increasing the cost of living but also will hamper the competitiveness of exports.

“We are aware that quite a lot of work has already been done having started many years back and some having started recently as well. But all these have to be fast tracked and we cannot move on and on without seeing some light at the end of the tunnel,” de Silva said at their 80th Annual General Meeting (AGM)
on Friday.

He further said redress to these issues was only short term but the lack of policy consistency and the confidence on the market continue to remain as the key concern for them. “While these can be considered as short term, importers in the trade expect the government policies to be more long term and consistent. Trade needs the market confidence to make decisions on investments and to implement business expansion strategies,”
he added.

Meanwhile Finance Minister, Ravi Karunanayake who was the Chief Guest at the event while assuring policy consistency post-general election, hit out at the importers of their lack of togetherness and collectiveness in standing for their trade
related issues.

“The intention of the chamber is to bring a sense of unanimity among all the importers. But let me first question whether that exist among the importers.
I don’t see that sense of harmony among the importers as much as the chamber would like to see. This is a malaise that is there in not only at the importers’ chamber but in all other chambers that are there,” Karunanayake remarked.

He urged the trade chambers to unify and exert collective bargaining power which  can bring any government to its knees as seen in some
other countries.

Karunanayake—who also has a freight forwarding background—l responding to some of the issues raised by de Silva said the Customs 24x7 operation is currently being integrated with other related authorities. The whole integration process is expected to be fully completed by the end of September 2015 as the system migration is currently happening in relation to the Inland Revenue Department.

Further in response to the issue of cargo scanners, he said the process would be in place by the end of this year to enable the faster scanning of full containers starting from January 2016 onwards which will also enable faster clearing of goods from the port.

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Key issues & system improvements required

•     Cargo de-stuffing delays due to equipment shortages
•     Shortage of warehouse space
•     To formalize clearing of dangerous cargo within 24 hrs
•     Bottle-necks at the gates for cargo to move out freely
•     To Increase cargo scanners for faster movement of goods out of the port  
•    To formalization of customs 24hr operation with other connected authorities
•     To establish 24hr online payments to customs & SLPA with access to all banks
•     To have clear guidelines on ‘Delivery Order Fees’
•     To establish high powered committee to handle trade disputes
•     Eliminate grey imports which hamper genuine imports
•     To establish transparent & hassle free valuation system
•     To implementation of single window concept
•     Submission of electronic manifest to customs/SLPA supporting advance shipment clearance
•     Amendments to the customs ordinance & SLPA ordinance
•     Acceptance of e-signatures & overall supporting e-commerce