Forced labour goods ban awaits ministerial directives, says Customs

Anticipation remains for the receipt of the official set of instructions regarding the ban on importing goods produced using forced labour, Sri Lanka Customs states.

No official instruction regarding the implementation of this decision came from the relevant ministry so far.

The gazette notification relevant to banning the import of goods produced using forced labour was issued by the President dated the past 10th. That stood in accordance with an order made by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake as the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.

The gazette notification, stating that the importation of any goods fully or partially mined, produced, or finished by forced labour is prohibited, was issued to be effective from July 10, 2026.

Taking the decisions of the International Labour Organisation into consideration, the Minister may from time to time notify the goods or countries to which these regulations should apply, the notification states.

Accordingly, the documents required to confirm that the goods were not produced or finished by forced labour upon importation must be submitted to the Director General of Customs, the notification mentions.

The Director General of Customs was appointed as the main regulatory authority responsible for achieving the objectives of these new regulations.

Full power vests with the Director General of Customs to issue departmental orders prescribing the administrative procedures to be followed for the proper enforcement of these regulations in compliance with the existing Customs Ordinance, the notification states.

The United States government recently proposed to impose an additional import tax on 60 countries, including Sri Lanka, due to not taking sufficient measures to prevent the import of goods manufactured using forced labour, and the additional tax percentage proposed for this country stood at 12.5 percent.

However, the government declared a new regulation as a remedy for this situation, and accordingly, the importation of any goods produced or finished by forced labour into this country is completely prohibited henceforth.