Parliament’s Committee on Public Finance (COPF) has approved new regulations for Colombo Port City that ease restrictions on Sri Lankan citizens buying goods from duty-free shopping complexes inside the economic zone, according to an official Parliament statement.
The regulations were issued under the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Act No. 11 of 2021 via Gazette No. 2475/28, dated 13 February 2026. Officials told COPF members that foreign tourist arrivals to Port City remain low at about 1.5% of total visitors, prompting the policy shift to expand domestic access and improve the commercial viability of duty-free outlets.
The Port City Economic Commission is monitoring potential misuse of duty-free goods entering the local market through unauthorised channels, the committee was told.
COPF also approved amendments to four linked gazette notifications (Nos. 2471/52, 53, 54 and 55 of 16 January 2026) governing the Termination of Employment of Workmen Act (TEWA). Under a 2025 policy decision, the act had been declared inapplicable to certain strategically important businesses. After a petition before the Court of Appeal, the government has narrowed that carve-out — only Sections 2, 11 and 12 of TEWA will now be exempted for those businesses, while all other provisions continue to apply.
Officials said steps are being taken to extend similar partial exemptions to a category of Secondary Businesses of Strategic Importance, broadening the framework beyond the initial list while keeping core worker-termination safeguards in place.
The committee’s approval clears both sets of regulations for implementation without requiring further parliamentary debate.
