Trade Ministry moves to speed up food import clearance

Colombo, June 27 (Daily Mirror) - A high-level discussion was held at the Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development Ministry recently to address delays in the inspection and release of imported food items by government institutions.

The meeting, chaired by Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe, focused on issues faced by food importers, including delays in inspections carried out by the Sri Lanka Standards Institution, Plant Quarantine Unit, Food Control Unit and other agencies involved in the import process.

Senior ministry officials, representatives of Sri Lanka Customs, the Department of Import and Export Control, the Sri Lanka Ports Authority and other relevant institutions attended the discussion.

Importers directly raised their concerns with officials, following which several decisions were taken to improve the efficiency of the import clearance process.

During the meeting, the Minister highlighted an instance where two different laboratory reports had been issued for the same rice sample and instructed that laboratory testing be expedited, evaluated and standardized to ensure consistency.

Minister Samarasinghe also noted that delays in releasing food containers from ports result in financial losses for importers, costs that are ultimately passed on to consumers.

He instructed officials to establish a joint mechanism to improve document verification procedures carried out by multiple institutions, with the aim of reducing unnecessary delays and costs in import and export operations.

The Minister said that while affordable food imports are important, imported food must also meet high quality standards. He further urged food importers, through their associations, to ensure that food products unfit for consumption are not brought into the country.