Sri Lanka Customs

The Sri Lanka Customs (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා රේගුව Shri Lanka Reguwa) is a non-ministerial government department, which performs the duties of collecting customs duties and other taxes and levies in Sri Lanka, under the oversight of the Ministry of Finance. The executive responsible is the director general, currently Major General Vijitha Ravipriya, appointed in February 2020.[2]

Sri Lanka Customs
ශ්‍රි ලංකා රේගුව
இலங்கை சுங்கச் சாவடி
Sri Lanka Customs Logo
Agency overview
FormedJune 1806 (1806-06)
JurisdictionGovernment of Sri Lanka
Headquarters40 Main Street, Colombo 11
6.935534°N 79.848110°E / 6.935534; 79.848110
Employees2078 (2016)[1]
Annual budgetLKR 2.21 Billion (2017, estimate)[1]
Agency executive
  • Major General (Retired) Vijitha Ravipriya, Director General
Parent agencyMinistry of Finance
Key document
Websitecustoms.gov.lk

Formally known as HM Ceylon Customs from 1947 to 1972, the department can trace its roots to 1806.[3] Formally, the agency as it exists today was formed under the Customs Ordinance No. 17 of 1869, to which 51 amendments have been made to date. Being a center for trade in the Indian Ocean since antiquity, however, the history of collection of customs duties in Sri Lanka dates far back as 2nd century BC.

The department works with the powers vested under the Customs Ordinance, as well as through several other related enactments. The major functions of the department include the collection of government revenue as customs duty and other levies on behalf of several other government authorities and securing the nation's ports of entry with relation to the import and export of both commercial and personal goods. As such, it has limited policing powers, such as in the areas of the arrest and detention of possible suspects contravening customs and import/export laws, as well as the confiscation of contraband.

See also

References
  1. Budget Estimates 2017: Volume 1, Fiscal Year 2017. Ministry of Finance, Sri Lanka. November 2016. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
  2. "Rtd. Major General Ravipriya appointed Customs DG". Dailymirror.lk. Daily Mirror Sri Lanka. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  3. "International Customs Day". The Island. 26 January 2004. Retrieved 19 March 2011.


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