Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2017-07-11

The proposed revision of duty on Soya Beans and Soya Poonac

- Taking into consideration a proposal made to grant import tax relief for the promotion of Soya Bean cultivation and the Soya Bean based food production, the Cabinet granted approval for the implementation of the following recommendations made by the Minister of Finance and Mass Media further to discussions with the relevant stakeholders, on the request made by the Cabinet:

i. to continue with the existing duty structure on the importation of the Soya Bean seeds.

ii. waiver of Customs Import Duty on the importation of Soya Been seeds for established for Soya Bean Value-added manufacturing purposes or the seedling for cultivation purposes based on the recommendation of the Department of Agriculture.

iii. to continue with the existing duty structure with the exemption of Customs Import Duty on the importation of Soya Poonac by the animal feed producers.

iv. to create a level playing field between the Soya Bean based Value-added product manufacturers and the animal feed producers and also to provide the relief required for the Soya cultivators.