Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness Management Division

Identification of the contributing factors in determining coconut prices and developing the model for future prices (2018-2021)

Local edible oil consumption and its dynamics (2018-2021)

Vulnerability of coconut home garden to climate uncertainty and effect on productivity (2019-2021)

Coconut sap based products and its value chain (2018-2021)

Industry settings and market settings of coir fiber sector (2019-2021)

Use of ICT to minimize the coconut-based value chain (2019 -2021)

Value chain analysis of coconut milk, milk powder and cream (2020-2021)

Assay the impact of release of predator mites to control Aceria mite (2018-2021)

Evaluation of the success of coconut replanting programs of Sri Lanka to identify and minimize the inefficiencies (2018 – 2021)

Costing of coconut farming in coconut growing areas (continue every year)

Forecasting of regional and national coconut production

Estimation of national coconut production

Development of mobile app for uploading coconut-based products

Collect and collate coconut-based statistics (Continue every year)

The tariff levels on importation of edible oils were adjusted to balance all industries. Therefore, CRI recommended to revise the special commodity levy of crude palm oil from Rs.110.00 per kg to the level of Rs.130.00 per kg and special commodity tax of palm kernel and refined palm oil from Rs. 130.00 to the level of Rs. 150.00.

To promote fresh nut exports, CRI recommended the CDA to reduce the registration fee for small scale fresh nut exporters (export less than 30,000 nuts per month) to Rs. 50,000.00 and remove the handling fee of Rs.5.00 paid to CDA by all exporters.

Financial analysis shows that coconut oil production using the imported copra under normal tax is not a viable business. Furthermore, the quality of imported copra and the oil yield from the imported copra were not known. It is also necessary to consider the net foreign exchange gain either from DC or saving from edible oil imports and also from re-exporting the coconut oil before copra is imported. Even though importation of copra can fill the gap of coconut required for industry use, considering the negative impact on the local nut price and the coconut oil price, high risk of introduction of new pest and diseases and foreign exchange cost, CRI recommended suspend the importation of copra as importation of copra is not a viable option to develop the coconut industry

Importation of Fresh Coconuts

Importation of coconut fills the gap required for coconut industry use but due to potential introduction of new pests and diseases it is not an option unless it is in compliance with the quarantine regulations. Therefore, CRI Recommend to band the importation

Fresh nut exports

Considering the request of the coconut processor, Ministry of Plantation Industries decided to ban the export of fresh nuts from 18th June 2017 onwards. This decision was continued up to end August, 2018 and lifted the ban of fresh nuts exports from 01st September, 2018. Further to promote fresh nut export, Service charge collected by coconut Development Authority was reduced to Rs.8.00 from Rs.15.00

Special Commodity Levy for imported kernel

Special commodity levy was adopted for the imported kernel as Rs .1.00 per kg with effect from 13th December, 2017

Tariff structure for edible oil importation and fresh nut prices

To balance all the industries and to promote coconut oil production, tariff levels for imported edible oil should be adjusted. Therefore, by considering the CIF prices of imported edible oils, CRI recommended to revise the special commodity levy of crude palm oil form Rs.130.00 per kg to the level of Rs.175.00 per kg and special commodity levy of palm kernel, refined palm oil and packed palm oil from Rs.150.00 to the level of Rs.200.00

To promote fresh nut exports

Remove the fresh nut export ban immediately as sufficient quantity of excess nuts is available in the market

Reduce the registration fee in CDA for small scale fresh nut exporters (export less than 30000 nuts per month) to Rs.50000.00

Removing the handling fee of Rs.15.00 paid to CDA by all exporters

Initiate compensation scheme for DC producers to continue their production process

Waving Economic Service Charges

World market share of the most of the coconut and coconut based products is less than 20 per cent. Hence, it is beneficial to Sri Lanka to remove ESC for such products. There are certain coconut based products that contribute highly for international trades which can gain from impose of a domestic tax. However, this happens if the lost benefits in the country are lower than the tax paid by the foreign consumers. If not, these producers are also losers due to impose of a domestic tax as they lose their buyers. Therefore, it is advantageous to remove the ESC from coconut based products for a period of 3 years from 2018

Importation of Coconut Kernel, De husked Nuts and Copra

As sufficient quantity of nuts is available for processing and consumption and also excess nuts are available, ban the importation of frozen kernel and study the reasons for sudden demand reduction for desiccated coconut in the international market.

Tariff on Imported Edible Oil

To balance all the industries and to promote coconut oil production tariff levels for imported edible oil were adjusted. By considering the CIF prices of imported edible oils, CRI recommended to revise the special commodity levy of crude palm oil from Rs. 130.00 per kg to the level of Rs. 175.00 per kg and special commodity levy of palm kernel, refined palm oil and packed palm oil from Rs. 150.00 to the level of Rs. 200.00.

Implemented policies

By considering the above recommendations, government revised the special commodity levy of crude palm oil from Rs. 130.00 per kg to the level of Rs. 175.00 per kg, special commodity levy of palm kernel, refined palm oil from Rs. 150.00 to the level of Rs. 195.00 and refined packed palm oil Rs. 155.00 to the level of Rs. 200.00

Quota For Edible Oil Importation

Register all the edible oil importers and assign quota by considering the edible oil requirement in the country and industry requirement

Fresh Nut Exports

To promote fresh nut exports, remove all the non-tariff restrictions on fresh nut exports. Reduce the registration fee in CDA for small scale fresh nut exporters (export less than 30,000 nuts per month) to Rs. 50,000.00 and recommended to remove the total handling fee paid to CDA by all exporters

Importation of Copra for Coconut Oil Production

Even though importation of copra can fill the gap of coconut required for industry use, considering the negative impact on the local nut price and the coconut oil price, high risk of introduction of new pest and diseases, and foreign exchange cost, CRI recommends that importation of copra is not a suitable and viable option to develop the coconut industry