Malé, Maldives — The neighboring country, Sri Lanka, has increased the import duty taken on fish that are imported into the country by Maldives.
Sri Lanka has increased the import duty on smoked fish and “Maldives Fish” brought into the country. Starting from October 27, the import duty for these fish products have been increased to MVR 25.25 or 302 Sri Lankan Rupees.
Despite this, it will not be a loss for the Maldives, Fisheries Minister of Maldives, Zaha Waheed had previously stated during a summon to the Parliament. She further stated that Maldives aims for expensive, large markets and that the fish products exported from Maldives does not recieve a high price in the Sri Lankan market.
Regarding the increase in the fish import duty, the Fisheries Minister of Sri Lanka stated that they increased the the import duty of Maldivian fish products to bring more protection to the fisheries industries in their country.
The island nation has been exporting fish products to the Sri Lankan markets despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
