President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has instructed a complete ban on the import of palm oil with immediate effect.
Accordingly, the Secretary to the President has instructed the Controller of Imports and Exports to issue the relevant gazette notification today (05).The Director General of Customs has also been instructed to suspend the issuance of imported palm oil.
In addition, the cultivation of Oil palm will be completely banned.
Orders have also been issued to enforce the President’s directive to ban oil palm cultivation completely. Six months ago, the President had instructed to stop the cultivation of palm oil in the country.
It has been advised to uproot 10 percent of the existing oil palm cultivation in 10 stages and replace it with rubber or other eco-friendly crops.
