Gazette issued on release of vehicles held by Sri Lanka Customs

A new gazette has been issued introducing fresh conditions for the release of vehicles currently held by Sri Lanka Customs.

This gazette notification, signed by Sri Lanka President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development, came into effect yesterday (October 24).

Although permission to import vehicles was granted in February 2025, more than a thousand vehicles have remained detained at Sri Lanka Customs.

This situation arose because those vehicles were imported in violation of the regulations under the Imports and Exports (Control) Gazette Notification No. 02 of 2013.

According to the new gazette notification, permission will be granted to release nearly a thousand vehicles from the ports that were imported under cross-border letters of credit (LCs) opened in countries other than the country of import.

Accordingly, this gazette outlines several conditions applicable to the release and registration of such vehicles.

The gazette notification issued by the President is as follows: