Act of Parliament · As enacted
Environment Conservation Levy Act 2008
Official English translation. Where it differs from the Sinhala or Tamil text, the Act itself says which text prevails.
Official translationFrom Department of Government Printing, unchanged
s 1Short title
This Act may be cited as the Environment
Conservation Levy Act, No. 26 of 2008.
From and after the date of the coming into operation of this Act, there shall be imposed a levy to be called the
"Environment Conservation Levy". The Environment
Conservation Levy shall be imposed on—
a specified item owned by a consumer;
specified items imported into or manufactured in
Sri Lanka; or
specified services provided within Sri Lanka, at such rate as shall be as specified by the Minister in charge of the subject of Finance in consultation with the
Minister in charge of the subject of Environment, by Order published in Gazette, calculated on an ad valorem or specific basis.
The Order made under subsection (1) may also specify the items on which and the categories in respect of which such Levy may be imposed.
The Environment Conservation Levy, imposed under section 2, shall, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Act—
in the case of an item owned by a consumer, be collected through an institution specified by an
Order published in the Gazette by the Minister in charge of the subject of Finance in consultation with the Minister in charge of subject of Environment;
in the case of an importer, be collected on every specified item imported by such importer, by the
Director-General of Customs, in accordance with the provisions of the Customs Ordinance
(Chapter 235);
in the case of a domestic manufacturer, be collected on every specified item manufactured by such manufacturer, by the Director-General of Excise appointed for the purposes of the Excise (Special
Provisions) Act, No. 13 of 1989, in accordance with the provisions of that Act; and
in the case of a specified service, be collected on every specified service provided by a service provider, by the Director-General of Excise appointed for the purposes of Excise (Special
Provisions) Act, No. 13 of 1989, in accordance with the provisions of that Act.
The Environment Conservation Levy collected in terms of paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) of subsection (1), shall be collected, administered and recovered by the Director-General of Customs or Director-General of Excise appointed for the purposes of the Excise (Special Provisions) Act, No. 13 of 1989, in accordance with the provisions of the Customs
Ordinance (Chapter 235) or Excise (Special Provisions) Act,
No. 13 of 1989, as the case may be.
s 4Environment Conservation Levy to be remitted to the Consolidated Fund
The Institution specified in an Order made under paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section 3, the Director-General of Customs and the Director-General of Excise appointed for the purposes of Excise (Special Provisions)
Act, No. 13 of 1989, shall remit all sums so collected as
Environment Conservation Levy in terms of this Act, to the
"Environment Conservation Levy Account" of the
Consolidated Fund.
s 5Order to be placed before Parliament &c,
Every Order made in terms of section 2 by the Minister shall—
be in operation immediately upon the Minister affixing his signature thereto;
be published in the Gazette as soon as convenient;
be approved by Resolution of Parliament as soon as convenient thereafter ; and
if not approved by Parliament, be deemed to be rescinded with effect from the date of such
Resolution, without prejudice to anything previously done thereunder.
In the event of a failure on the part of any person liable to pay the Environment Conservation Levy imposed and collected in terms of section 2 and section 3, there shall be a penalty imposed on every such defaulter in such amount as is specified in the Schedule hereto.
Every person who fails to pay the Levy shall be deemed to be a defaulter in terms of the National
Environmental Act, No. 47 of 1980 and the provisions of such Act shall mutatis mutandis apply to the recovery of the amount in default.
The Central Environment Authority established under the National Environmental Act, No. 47 of 1980, shall take such steps are deemed appropriate in the circumstances to substantiate the facts relating to such default and the Central
Environment Authority shall thereupon recover the penalty and the amount in default and where necessary, shall instruct the Institution specified in an Order made under paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section 3 or the Director-General of
Customs or the Director-General of Excise appointed for the purposes of Excise (Special Provisions) Act, No. 13 of 1989, as the case may be, to proceed to recover such penalty and the amount in default. The Central Environmental Authority may for this purpose from time to time, issue such instructions and guidelines as may be necessary.
s 7Sinhala text to prevail in case of inconsistency
In the case of an inconsistency between the Sinhala and Tamil texts of this Act, the Sinhala text shall prevail.