After a 17 year long pursuit, Sri Lanka last week finally enacted two landmark pieces of legislation that significantly advances the country’s standing in global trade. The Anti-Dumping & Countervailing Duties and Safeguard Measures were passed by the Sri Lankan Parliament on 07th March 2018.
With this move, Sri Lanka also joins the league of WTO members who keenly look to offset possible adverse impacts on their domestic industries from trade liberalization processes, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce said in a statement.
The two new Bills will empower the Director General of Commerce of the Department of Commerce to initiate investigations relating to unfair business practices under these legislative provisions of Trade Remedy law and effect additional duties, counterveiling duties, safeguard action against imports which enter the country under unfair business practices. A high powered committee consisting of senior officials and ministers of relevant line Ministries would also be involved in the process.
The enactment of the two pieces of legislation is a milestone development and an initiative taken by the Department of Commerce of Sri Lanka (DoCSL) of the Ministry of Industry & Commerce (MIC) as a to fulfil the considerable need being felt by the trade and domestic industry to protect themselves against unfair trading practices and unforeseen surges of imports.