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On account of health, safety, security, environment, and moral reasons, Sri Lanka imposes import restrictions on a range of products. These include: appliances for discharging gas; crackers that contain explosives; firearms; toy pistols; counterfeited coins; fish, grain, and other articles unfit for human consumption; meat (fresh or frozen) derived from any warm-blooded animal, if it consists of offal, scraps, trimmings and other pieces in such condition as to afford insufficient means of identification with a definite part of a carcass, or from which certain glands have been removed; road vehicles; and agricultural and construction machinery, more than ten years old ; guns designed to be disguised; weapons, ammunition, explosives, vehicles and equipment capable of being used by the armed forces, except by licence from the Ministry of Defence; jewellery or articles made out of ivory; and some medicaments and chemicals.

There is no automatic licensing in Sri Lanka. Non-automatic licensing is primarily for the purpose of safeguarding environmental, public security and public health interests. The system applies to goods originating and coming from all countries. (...)

(...) The accreditation scheme for certification bodies (CBs) covers systems, product and person certification, and is based on ISO/IEC 17021, and on ISO/IEC 17065 and ISO/IEC 17024. The certification provided by these CBs includes certification of quality management systems (QMS), environmental management systems (EMS), food safety management systems, certification of products (e.g. tea and textiles), certification of persons (e.g. non-destructive testing) and occupational health and safety management systems. Lastly the accreditation scheme for greenhouse gas validation and verification bodies (GHG V/VBs) covers GHG assertion of different technical sectors based on ISO/IEC 14065.

There are currently 34 domestic laboratories and institutions accredited for chemical testing , 17 for mechanical testing , three for electrical testing , 11 for biological testing , and six for calibration. Additionally, 20 medical laboratories, three certification bodies and 2 GHG validation/verification bodies are also accredited.

The importation of certain plants is prohibited, except for research. Imports of soil and living modified organisms (LMOs) are also prohibited. Imports of animals and animal products are only permitted from countries officially declared as "HPAI Provisional Free Status" by the OIE.

(...) Exports continue to be governed primarily by the Customs Ordinance. Other sector- and issue-specific legislation also affects exports. [33]

[33] These include (...) the Fauna and Flora Protection Act, (...) the Wildlife Act, (...)

With a view to ensuring the availability of raw materials, promoting further processing of local materials, financing export promotion activities, protecting national security, and protecting the environment, Sri Lanka applies both export duties and a cess on certain goods. Export duties are applied under the Customs Ordinance, while an export cess is applied under the Export Development Board (EDB) Act No. 40 of 1979. Customs export duties are currently levied on cashew nuts (fresh and in shells), raw vein quartz and semi-finished products of iron or non-alloy steel. Cesses are levied on a number of products including, inter alia: tea, rubber, coconuts, pepper, vanilla, cinnamon, rice, maize, granite, graphite, quartz, wood and metal scrap. The rates of cess vary according to the product.

The export of certain goods is prohibited on grounds of public health, and the protection of endangered species and the environment. Some export restrictions are maintained in accordance with UN sanctions or international conventions (e.g. CITES). According to the authorities, currently there are no export bans under the Imports and Exports (Control) Act.

(...) Exports of flora and fauna listed in Appendix I of the CITES are banned and exports of Cinchona bark, in any form, are prohibited under Schedule "B" of the Customs Ordinance.

Sri Lanka's Ministry of Agriculture is developing a number of key strategies for the sector for the next ten years; the strategies are expected to be issued in 2017. The main focuses of the current strategies are increased production, food safety, environmental friendliness, and socio economic aspects (Table 4.1). In addition, the Ministry had a number of development programmes for 2015 such as: Youth Agri Entrepreneurship Programme; Commercial Farm Programme; Supplementary Food Crop Production Programme; Establishment of Soil Conservation, Organic Fertilizer Production and Use Promotion programme; Agri Crop Production Forecasting Programme; Rice Exporting Programme; and the Skills Development Programme. There is also a National Food Production Programme, 2016-18, and Production of Food without Poison Programme of the Presidential Secretariat.