Courtesy Adaderana

The government has decided to enforce the law against the air passengers who smuggle in gold into Sri Lanka, State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya says.

Accordingly, air passengers will be banned from wearing gold jewellery valued more than 22 carats without the approval of the Controller General of Imports & Exports, the lawmaker said further.

Meanwhile, Customs officials have been instructed to use special techniques to ascertain the condition and quantities of gold items.

The gazette notification pertaining to this decision will be issued in the coming week, the state minister added.

He noted that migrant workers returning to the country or normal air passengers would not be affected by this move.

Misusing the relaxed restrictions on the quality or amount of gold jewellery that an air passenger is allowed to wear, the smugglers illegally bring in at least 50kg of gold per day, State Minister Siyambalapitiya explained.

Information revealed that some smugglers travel overseas daily and bring 24-carat gold ornaments with them.

According to the lawmaker, it is estimated that Sri Lanka incurs a loss of USD 30 million of foreign exchange per month.

The decision was taken after studying a report handed over by the Customs Director General to Finance State Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya recently.