COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s premier business chamber, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce welcomed the more concise second version of the National Trade Policy (NTP) prepared by the Ministry of Development Strategies and International Trade (MODSIT). The Chamber submitting its comments on the second version of the NTP said the latest version has avoided the lengthy articulation of the history of Sri Lanka’s international trade policy, its FTAs, and other extensive background issues. The new version has successfully overcome the over-emphasis on FTAs/PTAs that was in the first version and rebalanced towards a focus on other issues, including global supply chains, the Chamber’s report said.
The Chamber noted that the new version while contains some emphasis on trade facilitation focuses too narrowly on customs procedures, which the CCC suggests to expand to include all border agencies that get involved in exports and imports. “Modern trade facilitation (including establishing a National Single Window) requires a much wider focus, beyond just customs automation. This must be recognized in the NTP,” the Chamber said. The Chamber’s Economic Intelligence Unit, with overall inputs from the CCC’s Steering Committee on Trade Liberalisation and Main Committee, submit the following comments on the latest version of the NTP dated 24th February 2017.
