Sri Lanka Customs is planning to impose new restrictions on the amount of gold jewellery a passenger can carry when leaving the country. This comes in the wake of 56 Sri Lankans being arrested at Cochin Airport in the Kerala State of India on Sunday on charges of smuggling over 11 kg of gold ornaments.
“Departing travellers who are permanent residents of Sri Lanka can carry in person, in bonafide personal baggage, articles of jewellery up to the following limit,” Customs Spokesman Leslie Gamini said yesterday.
“The limit would be 15 sovereigns for an adult female passenger and five sovereigns for a female minor.
Five sovereigns will be allowed for an adult male passenger. This too would be allowed on a bring back basis for Sri Lankans,” he added.
Gamini said in special cases the amount of gold which can be taken out of the country by a bonafide passenger will be considered on a case by case basis.
In addition, platinum and silver will be decided on a case by case basis. All jewellery has to be made by an accredited industry and a personal appraisal officer will be available at the airport 24 hours a day.
Strict restrictions are to be introduced for rough jewellery in the future. Foreigners visiting the country with a large amount of gold jewellery will have to make a declaration on the amount they are carrying, he added. The Customs Spokesman admitted that some outdated regulations had allowed the 56 arrested on Sunday in India to escape with the large amount of gold ornaments and added that soon new regulation will be brought to plug these loopholes.
Sri Lanka Customs has launched its own investigation and sought help from Indian authorities to determine how 56 Sri Lankans arrested at the Cochin Airport on Sunday smuggled gold into India from Sri Lanka, Gamini said.
“We are carrying out investigations into the incident. This in no way will interfere with the the Indian investigation. What we are looking for is to seek all measures necessary to curb smuggling attempts,” Gamini said.
Meanwhile, Indian media reported that the Cochin International Airport Commissioner of Customs K.N.Raghavan as saying that this was the first time that a racket involving Sri Lankans in gold smuggling had come to light.
He has said that a report on the arrest will be sent to the Sri Lankan mission in India.
Sri Lanka Customs officials have kept a strict vigil on gold smugglers to India and in the last three months they have arrested over 50 persons, both Sri Lankan and Indians, who attempted to smuggle the precious metal to India.
In one of the largest detections of its kind on Sunday, the Indian authorities arrested 56 Sri Lankans at Cochin Airport in the Kerala State a on charges of smuggling over 11 kg of gold ornaments.
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Gold Law Change max 15 sovereigns
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