Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2017-08-01

Importation of Raw Cashew

- Although the annual cashew demand in Sri Lanka is 20,000 MT, the local production of cashew is around 10,000 to 12,000MT. The scarcity of cashew prevalent in the local market has adversely affected the livelihood of a large number of families engaged in cashew production. As such, the following methodology proposed by Hon. Duminda Dissanayake, the Minister of Agriculture, Hon. Kabir Hashim, the Minister of Public Enterprise Development and Hon. Daya Gamage, the Minister of Primary Industries jointly to fulfill the need of the cashew in the local market, was approved by the Cabinet.

* permission to import 6,000MT of raw cashew annually, for the local market and 15,000MT for re‑export by value addition under the Temporary Import and Export Programme (TIEP) annually, in accordance with the regulations under the Plant Protection Act, complying with the quarantine regulations, on a permit issued by the Director General of Agriculture on the recommendations of the Ministry of Public Enterprise Development, to the Ministry of Agriculture.

* the raw cashew imported under the TIEP scheme to carryout the value addition process in an identified port or at a place close to the port identified by the Department of Agriculture as appropriate for the purpose and for the Department of Customs to ensure that the entire quantity so imported are re‑exported.

* implementation of an accelerated cashew cultivation programme to achieve self sufficiency in cashew production by 2020.