Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2015-11-05

18. Introduction of a New Protective Label (sticker) for all Liquor Bottles manufactured in Sri Lanka or imported to Sri Lanka

- Since liquor is heavily taxed by the Government, illegally blended and packed liquor evade tax and enter into the market. In the circumstances, many consumers resort to more harmful liquor. Furthermore, since the liquor produced after paying taxes is expensive, the availability of a substitute in illegally produced liquor adversely affects Government's revenue. Therefore, in order to prevent counterfeit products being brought to the market, the proposal made by Hon. Ravi Karunanayake, the Minister of Finance, to make it mandatory to affix a protective label (sticker) on every legally manufactured liquor bottle, under the supervision of the Department of Excise and also to make the importers aware that it is mandatory to affix protective labels on imported liquor within the Customs itself prior to issuance to the market, was approved by the Cabinet.