Imposed Customs duty surcharge had favoured brand-new vehicle importers: Importers

Colombo, May 22 (Daily Mirror) - The Vehicle Importers Association of Sri Lanka (VIASL) has raised concerns over the impact of the government's recently imposed 50 percent surcharge on Customs Import Duties for most imported motor vehicles, claiming that the measure might have been abused by brand new vehicle import agents, even though the government has done it in good faith.

VIASL Vice President Arosha Rodrigo alleged that irregularities existed in the vehicle import process despite the government's efforts to limit imports.

According to Rodrigo, there is a key difference when opening of LCs for used vehicles by parallel importers and opening LCs for brand new vehicles by agents.

He said used vehicle importers are required to purchase and secure the vehicle before opening the letter of credit, whereas brand-new vehicle importers are able to open bulk LCs for vehicles even without orders.

He claimed that agents of brand-new vehicles could place large-scale orders for vehicles that may not yet be in production.

"The agents for brand-new vehicles can place unlimited orders sufficient even for the next two or three years while using a single LC or opening bulk LCs," he said.

Rodrigo further called on the government to investigate the opening of a large number of Letters of Credit (LCs) in the weeks prior to the implementation of the 50 percent Customs surcharge.

"The government had planned to limit vehicle imports, but its advantage was drawn by brand-new importers in a very unethical manner disregarding the crisis situation. Used vehicle importers have to wait until the availability of requested vehicles," he said.

He urged authorities to examine whether the intended objective of limiting vehicle imports had been effectively implemented across all sectors of the industry.