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NATA calls for amendment of soft liquor licensing for tourist establishments

28 Jun 2022

  • Claims criteria for liquor licence eligibility not fulfilled but bypassed by allowing sale near schools, religious sites 
  • Says licence should be to issue liquor only to resident foreign tourists 
  • Notes 2021 Budget price cut of best selling cigarette has led to massive sales, proposes tax formula to PM  
  BY Buwanajee Coralage    The National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA) has requested an amendment to the Cabinet paper presented by Minister of Tourism and Lands Harin Fernando on issuing soft liquor licences to roughly 4,000 Sri Lanka Tourist Board-approved hotels, allowing them to sell wine and beer – both under the soft liquor category – which according to NATA, is being done without fulfilling the relevant criteria required in order to obtain a soft liquor licence. Speaking to The Morning yesterday (27), NATA Chairman Dr. Samadhi Rajapaksa said: “The circular issued in this regard would allow a number of tourist lodges without a liquor licence to sell liquor without having to meet the relevant criteria set by the Excise Department. We expect this to have severe impacts on the local communities as this would allow these institutions to bypass the clause to not establish liquor selling institutions within the close proximity of schools and places of religious worship,” said Dr. Rajapaksa.  The NATA has therefore suggested that this licence be amended to only allow liquor sales to foreign passport-holding, resident tourists. Meanwhile, Dr. Rajapaksa conveyed his satisfaction at the recent request made by the Sri Lanka Medical Association to increase taxation on tobacco and liquor following the guidelines of the World Bank and the World Health Organisation (WHO). He pointed out that the 2021 Budget resulted in the decrease of the price of the best selling cigarette (74-84millimetres –-which amounts to 80% of the total sales of cigarettes) by 50% and that this has had a drastic effect on the use of cigarettes by the community, increasing sales by 15% as at 31 March 2022. The NATA has therefore proposed a taxation formula to the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilisation, and National Policies Ranil Wickremesinghe to regulate the taxation mechanism concerning tobacco and liquor in the country systematically. He further stated how raising taxation is identified as the single most effective method for tobacco control as identified by the WHO.  


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