The largest grouping of local importers called for more clarity over the impending FTA with China as a precautionary measure to ensure it would not adverselyaffectthe Indo-Lanka FTA.

“We all know that the FTA between India and Sri Lanka was more beneficial to India because the industry wasn’t consulted before they went ahead with it. When it comes to the China FTA there is no document which has been made public, so we are still unaware of what’s happening. When these agreements are in their initial stages, they should discuss all relevant issues with manufacturers. What we feel is it is arbitrary and manufacturers have not been taken into consideration,” the CCC Import Section’sImmediate Past Chairman Kevin Edwards said.

Noting that proper qualities should be maintained when FTAs were signed, he said that Sri Lanka should not be a dumping ground for any product.

Moreover, he stated that the Indo-Sri Lanka Economic Cooperation Agreement had been circulated in the industry and had resulted in a positive outcome. 

CCC Chief Economist Anushka Wijesinha highlighted that the new agreement with India which is in the making has an entire section termed ‘early harvest’ to quickly resolve grey areas in the FTA.

“The section basically says ‘let’s quickly resolve some of the issues that plagued the FTA so that confidence is built in the next round’. This will be especially regarding the trade imbalance which isn’t on par with the FTA imbalance, which we will look into very attentively.”

“In the first round of the CEPA negotiations, operational issues that persisted in the FTA were taken up,” he added.