Imported passenger car tyres and pneumatic tyres for three-wheeled vehicles will have to meet Sri Lanka Standards (SLS) specifications from 1 January 2027 under new regulations published this week.
The regulations were promulgated by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in his capacity as Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, under the Imports and Exports (Control) Act, No. 1 of 1969, and published in Extraordinary Gazette No. 2508/27 dated 1 October 2026, Daily FT reported.
Cited as the Imports and Exports (Control) Regulations No. 08 of 2026, they amend the Standardization and Quality Control Regulations published in Extraordinary Gazette No. 2384/35 of 17 May 2024.
What changes
The amendment adds two categories of tyres to Schedule B of the existing regulations — the schedule listing goods that must conform to specified national standards before they can be imported:
- Passenger car tyres, under HS Code 4011.10.90, must comply with SLS 1212, the specification for passenger car tyres
- Pneumatic tyres for three-wheeled motor vehicles, under HS Code 4011.90.10, must comply with SLS 1347
The regulations apply to goods arriving at any port or airport in Sri Lanka on or after 1 January 2027, rather than to orders placed or shipped before that date — giving importers a roughly three-month window to clear non-compliant stock already in transit.
Three-wheelers are among the most widely used vehicles on Sri Lankan roads, and the inclusion of trishaw tyres brings a large segment of the aftermarket replacement trade under mandatory standards certification for the first time.
The gazette was also reported by Newswire.
