The Committee on Public Finance (CoPF) approved the Regulations under the Tea (Tax and control of export) Act, No. 16 of 1959.
This approval was given at the CoPF meeting held on recently in Parliament under the chairmanship of MP Dr. Harsha de Silva.
Accordingly, officials stated that a license fee of Rs. 3/- per kilogram of tea is expected to be charged, and that this license fee is intended to be utilized for the development and promotion of tea cultivation and the tea industry.
It is expected that the collected funds will be credited to the capital fund established by the Sri Lanka Tea Board.
Through this initiative, opportunities will arise to improve the productivity of tea estates by engaging in replantation, initiating plantations, and cultivation of abandoned estates, as well as enhancing the efficiency of tea factories and the quality of production, officials of the Sri Lanka Tea Board further stated.
Meanwhile, concerns were raised regarding the revenue generated from the cess imposed on tea, which is an export crop, not being allocated for the development of the industry.
However, the officials informed the Committee that these funds are not received by their Board.
Accordingly, the Committee Chair emphasized the importance of ensuring that the revenue generated from the said cess imposed for the purpose of export development should be allocated for the promotion of the respective industries.
In the meantime, the Bills of Exchange (Amendment) Bill, intended to amend or repeal outdated provisions of the Bills of Exchange Ordinance No. 25 of 1927, was also discussed and approved by the Committee.
Officials informed the Committee that through this amendment to the Ordinance, it will be possible to impose criminal liability on issuers of fraudulent and erroneous cheques, to facilitate the lawful use of Bills of Exchange in day-to-day commercial activities, and to provide for procedures related to the electronic presentation of cheques.
Moreover, with the agreement of the committee, a pilot test of a secure AI platform to modernize the system for preparing Hansard reports and minutes of committee meetings in Parliament was also successfully conducted at this meeting held.
The meeting was attended by State Minister Chathuranga Abeysinghe, MPs Harshana Rajakaruna, Dr. Kaushalya Ariyarathne, and Champika Hettiarachchi, while Mps Nimal Palihena and Wijesiri Basnayake joined via Zoom technology.
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