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Port and Aviation Levy on milk powder imports up by 10% from tonight
The Finance Ministry has taken a decision to increase the Port and Aviation Levy (PAL) on imported milk powder by 10 percent per kilogram from tonight, Trade, Commerce and Food Security Minister Nalin Fernando said.
Addressing the media, he said the decision was taken considering the huge profits gained by the milk powder importers. With the increase of the Port and Aviation Levy, none of the milk powder importers will be allowed to increase the price of the packets of milk powder.
The Minister said the responsibility of increasing the tax will be taken by him, and the tax will be credited to the government.
Taxing the milk powder will help protect the local milk farmer and encourage them to increase their production, the Minister added.
"The import of milk powder was stopped with the collapse of the country's economy. But during the past few months milk powder imports have increased. Considering the low prices in the international market, the Ministry held several discussions with the milk powder importers, and later the local retail price of milk powder packs was reduced several times," the Minister said.
"However, it was reported that the milk powder importers were gaining a huge profit from the imported milk powder. Therefore, the Ministry had informed the Finance Ministry to impose a tax on milk powder imports as the huge profit they gain will not pass on to the consumers," Minister Fernando said. (Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama)
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