Sri Lankan Importers and Exporters should change their work times and pattern to suit the 24X7 Customs operation, which is a giant step in trade facilitation, says the Import section of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.

The Import Section of the CCC says, this would give the trade enormous gains in terms of cost and time and urge the importers and exporters to make use of these facilities and maximize their cost savings.

“The trade should align their working pattern and times to suit the SL Customs and SLPA work patterns, thus supporting the Government’s commitment to ease the Customs clearance process during peak hours”, said Mr. Dinesh De Silva, Chairman of the Import Section of the CCC, during a recent seminar held in Colombo under the title of ‘Customs 24 X 7’. The seminar was organized by the Import Section of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.

The Import Section says, with the latest move introduced by the Honorable Minister of Finance Mr. Ravi Karunanayake, the trade is in the process of experiencing a huge change in the way of working in terms of customs clearance and other port related transactions.

The import section believes, the move paves the way for a new era in the import and export sectors and will also heavily support to improve the country’s ease of doing business ranking.

Sri Lanka has implemented this progressive step, when several other countries are struggling to take initiatives of such nature. Hence the trade should move from an incremental growth to an exponential growth.

“We in the trade should grab when the opportunities are available. All those who are involved in the trade should be fully aware of constrains that we faced due to not having flexibility in these process and should be ready to change whether you are Importing goods for production or for re-export or for local market needs” further said De Silva.