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A discussion on the modernisation initiatives required within the Sri Lanka Customs and measures to encourage exporters in support of implementing the National Export Development Plan (NEDP) 2026–2030 was held on Wednesday (17) morning at the Presidential Secretariat under the patronage of Secretary to the President, Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake.
The meeting, organised by the Revenue Administration Reform and Modernization Bureau established under the Presidential Secretariat, focused extensively on the modernisation measures required within Sri Lanka Customs to facilitate the expansion of exports.
During the discussion, the Secretary to the President instructed Sri Lanka Customs to enhance the capacity, facilities and modernisation of the Export Facilitation Centre, where export containers are inspected, in order to create a more efficient and exporter-friendly environment.
Attention was also drawn to developing a programme aimed at encouraging exporters across the country to enter the export sector. The Secretary to the President further emphasised the need to review the Temporary Import for Export Processing (TIEP) scheme currently operated by the Customs Industrial Facilitation Division and to introduce a programme to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that have not yet engaged in export activities.
The meeting also explored the possibility of decentralising customs operations to support the expansion of the export sector, with particular attention given to establishing a Customs Export Centre in Jaffna.
Discussions were also held on removing barriers affecting exports conducted through e-commerce platforms. It was decided to hold further discussions with the Department of Posts on measures that could be taken jointly to streamline these processes.
Participants also discussed introducing digital systems to expedite document processing, thereby reducing both, time and costs, as well as implementing a risk-based assessment mechanism that would provide greater facilitation for low-risk exporters.
It was further decided that Sri Lanka Customs, the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) and other relevant institutions would meet monthly under the leadership of the Revenue Administration, Reforms and Modernisation Bureau of the Presidential Secretariat to review progress, identify challenges faced by exporters and discuss appropriate solutions.
The National Export Development Plan has been formulated in line with the national vision, “A Thriving Nation – A Beautiful Life”, with the objective of enhancing Sri Lanka’s export competitiveness and achieving an ambitious yet realistic export revenue target of USD 36 billion by 2030.
Director General of Customs Wimal Liyanagama, Chairman of the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) Mangala Wijesinghe, Additional Directors General of Sri Lanka Customs T. Loganathan and L.K.S.D.K. Arewatta, Director of the Sri Lanka Export Development Board Dr. Sanjeewa Rathnasekara, Director of the Revenue Administration, Reforms and Modernisation Bureau of the Presidential Secretariat W.L.C. Thilakasiri and senior officials from Sri Lanka Customs and the Sri Lanka Export Development Board were also present.
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The price of a liter of Octane 95 petrol has been increased by Rs. 20, effective from midnight today (04).
Accordingly, the price of a liter of Octane 95 petrol will increase from Rs. 495 to Rs. 515.
Continue Reading Latest News Landside Early Warnings issued to the districts of Badulla, Kandy, Kegalle, Matale, Matara, Nuwara Eliya and Ratnapura Published
The National Building Research Institute (NBRI) has issued landslide early warnings to the Districts of Badulla, Kandy, Kegalle, Matale, Matara, Nuwara Eliya and Ratnapura from 16:00 hrs on 04.11.2026 To 16:00 hrs on 05.11.2026
LEVEL II (AMBER) landslide early warnings have been issued to the Divisional Secrataries Divisions and surrounding areas of Kotapola in the Matara district, Nildandahinna in the Nuwara Eliya district and Kalawana and Godakawela in the Ratnapura district.
LEVEL I (YELLOW) landslide early warnings have been issued to the Divisional Secrataries Divisions and surrounding areas of Welimada, Haputhale, Ella, Passara, Kandaketiya, Haldummulla and Meegahakiwula in the Badulla district, Yatinuwara, Minipe, Hatharaliyadda, Thumpane, Udunuwara, Doluwa, Medadumbara and Udadumbara in the Kandy district, Rambukkana, Ruwanwella, Aranayake, Yatiyanthota, Bulathkohupitiya, Kegalle and Mawanella in the Kegalle district, Pallepola in the Matale district, Ambagamuwa, Norwood, Walapane, Hanguranketha and Kothmale West in the Nuwara Eliya district and Kahawatta and Pelmadulla in the Ratnapura district.
Seven passenger planes across Europe, two of which departed from the UK, have been inspected following a series of suspected bomb threats.
Two Ryanair flights, one originating from Dublin and the other from Lisbon, were searched after landing in Rome following anonymous tips but no explosives were found, sources at the city’s Fiumicino airport told the BBC .
The Dublin flight was escorted by the Italian Air Force until landing. Authorities have also searched planes in Poland, Spain and Bulgaria.
While officially there is no link between them, authorities from various countries will be co-operating to assess whether this was a co-ordinated attack, designed to disrupt airspace.
The UK government described the incidents as “malicious hoax threats”.
In a statement it said it had “one of the most robust aviation security systems in the world, with well-tested processes for dealing with any potential threats, as well as malicious hoax threats, like those we’ve seen today”.
Aviation security expert Paul Mason said bomb threats on passenger planes “don’t happen that frequently”, which made the latest incidents “unusual”.
“It sounds like they’ve been made in a credible manner across a broad range of airlines,” Mason told BBC Radio 5 Live. “That would suggest to me that it’s been a very deliberate act by a typical actor rather than a load of coincidental, malicious calls.”
He said “there are a lot of processes” that the onboard crew and people on the ground must go through “to validate the credibility of the threat”.
A flight may be asked to divert if the credibility of a threat “is of a certain level”, Mason added, and in some cases the onboard crew may not even be advised on what the ground operators were dealing with.
In Rome, sources at Fiumicino airport told the BBC police bomb disposal experts carried out standard security protocols to ensure the safety of all passengers and crew.
Inspections of the passengers, luggage, and the aircraft yielded negative results, and the alert has since been cleared.
One plane which landed in Murcia, southern Spain – a Ryanair flight coming from Manchester – was also found not to have any explosives on board, Spanish authorities said.
One passenger later said she was unaware of the bomb threat until after the plane landed.
“We weren’t told anything during the flight,” Sarah told BBC Radio 5 Live. “The plane stopped quite suddenly and then we were kept on the runway for around 30 minutes.”
“Then the fire engines turned up, the bomb squad turned up and we were asked to evacuate,” she continues.
Sarah said the plane had not been on the ground a minute before it was “surrounded by fire engines and police and a bomb squad”. All the passengers were then escorted by police, leaving all their belongings.
“We were only later told that it was an actual threat, a bomb threat to the plane itself,” she added.
Two flights heading to Warsaw were also affected, including one from London Heathrow.
The Heathrow flight was originally meant to land at the Polish capital’s main airport, Chopin, but was diverted instead to the smaller Modlin airport, briefly forcing its closure.
A Scandinavian Airlines flight from Copenhagen to Warsaw-Chopin landed as planned.
Later on Tuesday, Bulgarian Transport Minister Georgi Peev said there were bomb threats against two planes travelling to the country’s capital Sofia.
He told the state-owned Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) the flights were from the northern Italian city of Bergamo and Ireland’s capital Dublin.
The flights into Sofia were not diverted and no explosives were found when the planes were checked, Peev said.
Bulgaria’s border police said in a statement sent to the BBC that at around 10:35 (08:35 GMT) it had received an email about “the presence of an improvised explosive device on a flight returning from Bergamo”.
“Standard procedures for such incidents were immediately activated, and an operational headquarters comprising representatives of various institutions was convened,” the statement said.
The border police added that the same email also reported a “similar threat against aircraft arriving from Dublin”.
In a separate development, a bomb alert triggered the evacuation of 1,537 passengers and crew from an Israel-bound cruise ship in Greece, media reports from both countries say.
Initial checks of the Panama-flagged Crown Iris vessel currently docked at a port on the Aegean island of Syros found no explosives, they said citing the Greek Coast Guard, and the ship was due to resume its journey.
Tuesday’s aircraft incidents come a day after a Wizz Air flight from London Luton made an emergency landing in Budapest, escorted by a Hungarian fighter jet, after a bomb threat.
Wizz Air said later that security checks had been made and nothing was found.
BBC Verify has consulted aviation safety experts about what happens on board a plane when a bomb threat is issued.
Marco Chan, a former pilot for Cathay Pacific Airways and Hong Kong Airlines who is now a senior lecturer in aviation operations at Kingston University, said a bomb threat is considered “genuine until it is resolved, even though most turn out to be hoaxes”.
Chan said crews will “quietly search” toilets, galleys and storage areas and will not touch a suspicious item unless it has to be taken to an area on the aircraft designated as the least risky bomb location.
The aircraft’s captain will have multiple factors to assess, according to former airline pilot Terry Tozer, an aviation safety commentator.
He said these include what facilities are available at the airport they are being diverted to and how the plane can continue onwards should it turn out to be a false threat.
Chan added that once on the ground, the plane is generally “taken to an isolated stand, passengers are disembarked, and police and bomb disposal teams search it”.
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