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Tuesday May 30th, 2023

Sri Lanka President lifts import ban on glyphosate

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe has lifted a ban on glyphosate, a weed killer giving into a long standing request of the island’s tea industry.

In a gazette notice issued under the hand of President Wickremesinghe as Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies, the import ban on glyphosate has been lifted with effect from August 05.

Glyphosate has been shifted to a list of goods requiring permits.

Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena originally banned glyphosate under the 2015-2015 administration where Wickremesinghe was Prime Minister.

Sri Lanka’s tea industry in particular as been lobbying to allow glyphosate use as it is one of the internationally accepted weed killers and alternatives are not permitted under food regulation in some of the export destinations.

Sri Lanka lifted the ban in November 2021 and it was re-imposed and then agriculture Minister Mahindanda Aluthgamage said he ordered the official responsible for the liberalization to be removed from the post. (Colombo/Aug09/2022)

Comments (2)

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  1. Francis Perera says:

    A very good decision.

  2. Dr Ivan Amarasinghe says:

    Your article states “Sri Lanka’s tea industry in particular as been lobbying to allow glyphosate use as it is one of the internationally accepted weed killers and alternatives are not permitted under food regulation in some of the export destinations.”. It is patently untrue.
    So sad to note that while the rest of the world moves away from obsolete and questionable agrochemicals, Sri Lanka is still mired in archaic beliefs promoted by rather ignorant academic advisors.
    Here are some relevant global truths underscored by scientific opinion, global policy formulators.
    Countries Which Have banned Glyphosate
    Argentina, Australia, Austria Bahrain, Barbados, Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark,, El Salvador, Fiji, France, Germany, Greece, India,, Italy, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Malawi, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Oman, Portugal, Qatar, St. Vincent & the Grenadines Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka (up to 2018 and reintroduced ban in 2021 but resumed application in 2022 due to political pressures), Sweden, Switzerland, , Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom,
    United States (28 of the 50 States have already banned Glyphosate to varying extents.
    Viet Nam (https://sustainablepulse.com/2019/03/25/vietnam-bans-import-of-glyphosate-herbicides-after-us-cancer-trial-verdict/#.XJkUM1NKiT9)
    German cabinet approves legislation to ban glyphosate from 2024
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-farming-lawmaking-idUSKBN2AA1GF
    Regional Collectives which banned Glyphosate

    Middle East
    Oman’s Ministry of Agriculture along with six other Middle Eastern countries, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Bahrain, have banned the use of glyphosate herbicides since 2016, after reviewing IARC’s classification of glyphosate as a ‘probable human carcinogen’.

    European Union
    Glyphosate is currently approved in the EU until 15 December 2022. Therefore, glyphosate can be used as an active substance in Plant Protection Products (PPPs), until that date, subject to each PPP being authorised by national authorities following an evaluation of its safety.
    Monsanto Banned from European Parliament as it unduly influenced studies into the safety of glyphosate
    MEPs withdraw parliamentary access after the firm shunned a hearing into allegations that it unduly influenced studies into the safety of glyphosate used in its RoundUp weedkiller. “Monsanto lobbyists have been banned from entering the European parliament after the multinational refused to attend a parliamentary hearing into allegations of regulatory interference. It is the first time MEPs have used new rules to withdraw parliamentary access for firms that ignore a summons to attend parliamentary inquiries or hearings…”https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/sep/28/monsanto-banned-from-european-parliament
    https://www.baumhedlundlaw.com/blog/2018/august/monsanto-to-pay-289-2-million-in-landmark-roundu/
    https://www.baumhedlundlaw.com/toxic-tort-law/monsanto-roundup-lawsuit/where-is-glyphosate-banned-/
    “The EPA has got it wrong on glyphosate. We have study after study after study showing that it in fact, does cause a specific type of cancer called lymphoma. And we see it happening in thousands and thousands of people across the country. Currently, this Administration and this EPA will not take action against Monsanto. We’ve seen the internal documents, the text messages, the emails between senior EPA officials and Monsanto employees. And the simple fact is they know that this EPA will not take adverse action against them. It is a travesty that this truth about it causing cancer and this awareness that we are trying to raise has to be done in the context of litigation. We only exist, these lawsuits only exist, because the EPA has failed the American public for 45 years and Monsanto is allowed to get away with reckless conduct with, essentially, impunity…this agency essentially does not work for the American public but works for industry. The fact that the White House is telling Monsanto, ‘We have your back.’ I mean this just tells us that we are going to have to keep fighting this fight and that we are not going to get any support or help from the public agencies that, ironically, are supposed to be protecting the public health.” – Brent Wisner, Roundup Cancer Attorney

    “…Monsanto lobbyists have been banned from entering the European parliament after the multinational refused to attend a parliamentary hearing into allegations of regulatory interference.
    It is the first time MEPs have used new rules to withdraw parliamentary access for firms that ignore a summons to attend parliamentary inquiries or hearings.
    Monsanto spends between €300,000-€400,000 (£260,000 – £350,000) annually on lobbying in Brussels, according to its self-declaration form in the EU transparency register…”
    Why are they saying “NO GLYPHOSATE” after all these years of “yes to Glyphosate”!!!
    When I used Round Up on my field experimental sites some 30 years ago, Round UP was the trademark for Glyphosate. Recent Cutting Edge scientific surveys and opinion on safety of Glyphosate have drastically changed !
    Will Sri Lanka follow the advice and practice ?

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Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. Francis Perera says:

    A very good decision.

  2. Dr Ivan Amarasinghe says:

    Your article states “Sri Lanka’s tea industry in particular as been lobbying to allow glyphosate use as it is one of the internationally accepted weed killers and alternatives are not permitted under food regulation in some of the export destinations.”. It is patently untrue.
    So sad to note that while the rest of the world moves away from obsolete and questionable agrochemicals, Sri Lanka is still mired in archaic beliefs promoted by rather ignorant academic advisors.
    Here are some relevant global truths underscored by scientific opinion, global policy formulators.
    Countries Which Have banned Glyphosate
    Argentina, Australia, Austria Bahrain, Barbados, Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark,, El Salvador, Fiji, France, Germany, Greece, India,, Italy, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Malawi, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Oman, Portugal, Qatar, St. Vincent & the Grenadines Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka (up to 2018 and reintroduced ban in 2021 but resumed application in 2022 due to political pressures), Sweden, Switzerland, , Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom,
    United States (28 of the 50 States have already banned Glyphosate to varying extents.
    Viet Nam (https://sustainablepulse.com/2019/03/25/vietnam-bans-import-of-glyphosate-herbicides-after-us-cancer-trial-verdict/#.XJkUM1NKiT9)
    German cabinet approves legislation to ban glyphosate from 2024
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-farming-lawmaking-idUSKBN2AA1GF
    Regional Collectives which banned Glyphosate

    Middle East
    Oman’s Ministry of Agriculture along with six other Middle Eastern countries, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Bahrain, have banned the use of glyphosate herbicides since 2016, after reviewing IARC’s classification of glyphosate as a ‘probable human carcinogen’.

    European Union
    Glyphosate is currently approved in the EU until 15 December 2022. Therefore, glyphosate can be used as an active substance in Plant Protection Products (PPPs), until that date, subject to each PPP being authorised by national authorities following an evaluation of its safety.
    Monsanto Banned from European Parliament as it unduly influenced studies into the safety of glyphosate
    MEPs withdraw parliamentary access after the firm shunned a hearing into allegations that it unduly influenced studies into the safety of glyphosate used in its RoundUp weedkiller. “Monsanto lobbyists have been banned from entering the European parliament after the multinational refused to attend a parliamentary hearing into allegations of regulatory interference. It is the first time MEPs have used new rules to withdraw parliamentary access for firms that ignore a summons to attend parliamentary inquiries or hearings…”https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/sep/28/monsanto-banned-from-european-parliament
    https://www.baumhedlundlaw.com/blog/2018/august/monsanto-to-pay-289-2-million-in-landmark-roundu/
    https://www.baumhedlundlaw.com/toxic-tort-law/monsanto-roundup-lawsuit/where-is-glyphosate-banned-/
    “The EPA has got it wrong on glyphosate. We have study after study after study showing that it in fact, does cause a specific type of cancer called lymphoma. And we see it happening in thousands and thousands of people across the country. Currently, this Administration and this EPA will not take action against Monsanto. We’ve seen the internal documents, the text messages, the emails between senior EPA officials and Monsanto employees. And the simple fact is they know that this EPA will not take adverse action against them. It is a travesty that this truth about it causing cancer and this awareness that we are trying to raise has to be done in the context of litigation. We only exist, these lawsuits only exist, because the EPA has failed the American public for 45 years and Monsanto is allowed to get away with reckless conduct with, essentially, impunity…this agency essentially does not work for the American public but works for industry. The fact that the White House is telling Monsanto, ‘We have your back.’ I mean this just tells us that we are going to have to keep fighting this fight and that we are not going to get any support or help from the public agencies that, ironically, are supposed to be protecting the public health.” – Brent Wisner, Roundup Cancer Attorney

    “…Monsanto lobbyists have been banned from entering the European parliament after the multinational refused to attend a parliamentary hearing into allegations of regulatory interference.
    It is the first time MEPs have used new rules to withdraw parliamentary access for firms that ignore a summons to attend parliamentary inquiries or hearings.
    Monsanto spends between €300,000-€400,000 (£260,000 – £350,000) annually on lobbying in Brussels, according to its self-declaration form in the EU transparency register…”
    Why are they saying “NO GLYPHOSATE” after all these years of “yes to Glyphosate”!!!
    When I used Round Up on my field experimental sites some 30 years ago, Round UP was the trademark for Glyphosate. Recent Cutting Edge scientific surveys and opinion on safety of Glyphosate have drastically changed !
    Will Sri Lanka follow the advice and practice ?

Sri Lanka cabinet approves President’s proposal to resume Japanese LRT after soared ties 

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s Cabinet of Ministers approved a proposal by President Ranil Wickremesinghe to resume the unilaterally cancelled Japan funded Light Rail Transit (LRT), cabinet spokesman said, as the island nation is in the process of mending ties with Tokyo.

However, any such deals are likely to take place after the debt restructuring and Sri Lanka starts to repay its foreign loans to come out of default, analysts say.

Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa unilaterally cancelled the 1.5 billion US dollar LRT and East Container Terminal (ECT) projects in 2021. Japan agreed to fund the LRT project while it was one of the tripartite members of the ECT project along with India and Sri Lanka.

The abrupt cancellation hit the diplomatic ties between the two countries and Sri Lankan government officials have said Japan had given the project to Sri Lanka at a very lower financing cost.

President Wickremesinghe returned from Japan late last week after having met top officials of the Japanese government including its prime minister.

“In recent history, due to the stopping of several agreements and proposals suddenly, President Wickremesinghe went to Japan after creating the background to clear some of the worries we have,” Cabinet Spokesman Bandula Gunawardena told the weekly media briefing.

“Before he went, he got the approval from the cabinet to resume the discussion on the light railway project. He got the approval from the cabinet to get parliament approval for bilateral agreements signed or any other investments project. Any change or cancellation of a project could be done only with the approval of the parliament.”

Japan has backed Sri Lanka under Wickremesinghe’s presidency after the island nation declared sovereign debt default. (Colombo/May 30/2023)

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Sri Lanka to tighten grip on television with broadcast law

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka has formulated a broadcast authority law to regulate electronic media which will be made public soon, Cabinet spokesman Minister Bandula Gunawardana said.

“The draft prepared by a cabinet subcommittee under Justice Minister Wijedasa Rajapaksa has discussed with various parties will be given to all media institutions and broadcast media,” Gunawardana said.

“We do not have to hide or force anyone. A legal framework that can be acceptable to all for all sectors.”

“In a week or two Minister Wijedasa will discuss with state and private stakeholders.”

At the moment Sri Lanka has issued frequencies without conforming to an “international procedures”, he said.

In Sri Lanka television frequencies are issued under a state television act.

Successive administrations in Sri Lanka has since around 1980 mis-used state television duopoly which including for conducting elections according to critics.

Private television as well a raio emerged around the 1990s and has since over shadowed state media.

There have been calls by ruling party politicians from time to time to control private media. There is now calls to control social media.

At a Committee on Public Accounts meeting of the Department of Government Information, ruling coalition legislators called for regulation of television content. (Colombo/May30/2023)

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Sri Lanka rupee at 296.75/297.25 to dollar at open, bond yields steady

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s rupee opened at 297 /297.50 against the US dollar in the spot market on Monday, while bond yields were steady, dealers said.

The rupee closed at 296.75 /297.25 to the US dollar on Monday after opening around 296.50 /297.50 rupees.

A bond maturing on 01.09.2027 was quoted at 26.50/75 percent steady from Friday’s close at 26.50/65 percent.

Sri Lanka’s rupee is appreciating amid negative private credit which has reduced outflows after the central bank hiked rates and stopped printing money. (Colombo/ May 29/2023)

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