Sri Lanka imposes new import tax on milk powder

Sri Lanka government has increased the import tax of the milk powder with immediate effect.

Accordingly, an import tax of 15% or Rs. 92 is to be imposed on a kilo of imported milk powder.

Government sources say that the aim of the tax is to discourage use of imported milk powder and give a boost to local milk food production. 

Earlier the government had imposed a 30% or Rs. 125 per kilo import tax for milk powder. But the government removed the tax to prevent the increase of the milk powder prices in the market.

However, the government did not explain how it aimed to popularize locally produced liquid milk instead of imported milk powder. Similar Cess taxes imposed for various purposes such as discard the batteries of the mobile phones environment friendly are also under questioning and the critics say that the government made use of dairy farmers' protests to levy taxes from the people.


Meanwhile, People's Liberation Front (JVP) MP Anura Kumara Disanayaka charged that the government was trying to privatize the state-owned milk food company Milco with recently imported milk powder machines as well. 


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