Sri Lanka Customs made digital signatures mandatory for all customs declarations from 1 October, and the minister who launched the system used the occasion to promise a simpler tax code from next year.
The Digital Signature and Paperless Customs Declaration Processing System was introduced jointly by Sri Lanka Customs and the Revenue Administration Reform and Modernisation Bureau of the Presidential Secretariat. It was launched at the Sri Lanka Customs Auditorium under the patronage of Deputy Minister of Economic Development Nishantha Jayaweera and Secretary to the President Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake.
1,144 importers have registered — a group accounting for more than 60% of total imports, the Daily Mirror reported.
What actually changes
Paperless declarations at Customs’ Long Room are now mandatory. Declarations, invoices, packing lists, bills of lading and permits are submitted electronically through ASYCUDA, where officers review them and raise queries. Manual submissions are no longer accepted.
Because digital signatures make any post-signing alteration detectable, officials present the system as a safeguard against document manipulation as much as a speed measure.
The tax pledge
Jayaweera said the government plans to simplify the tax system next year by removing certain taxes levied in addition to customs duty, apply comparable simplification at other agencies, and accelerate integration of IT systems across them. He framed the launch as a step toward a National Single Window, through which traders would file regulatory documents at one digital entry point instead of dealing with multiple agencies.
He also said capital expenditure is expected to rise to Rs. 2 trillion next year, from a range of Rs. 1.3–1.4 trillion.
On revenue, Jayaweera said Customs was close to its Rs. 2.21 trillion target for 2026 — consistent with the agency’s ninth consecutive monthly target beat in September, when it had banked 95.4% of the annual goal with a quarter still to run.
The launch had been trailed since July and reconfirmed in September, after President Anura Kumara Dissanayake called in July for faster digital integration at the agency.
A note on the title
Daily FT and the Daily Mirror both render Jayaweera’s post as Deputy Minister of Economic Development; Hiru’s Sinhala filing gives it as Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs. The two outlets tracing to the President’s Office statement agree, and that rendering is used here.
