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Joint Opposition says FTA with Singapore illegal

Sri Lanka's Joint Opposition said it would be filing legal action against the country's Free Trade Agreement with Singapore, arguing that it was illegal. 

“Government has claimed that a gazette notification containing a list of items for which tax and duty will be removed was issued, but such a document cannot be found. Therefore the FTA is illegal,” the Joint Opposition MP, Bandula Gunawardene was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying. 

"The items that are to be free of taxes under the FTA include animal sperm, elephants, tusks, fish species which are banned from being used as trade items, urethras and artifacts," he said. "In short the bio diversity of our country has been handed over to Singapore."

The government signed the FTA with Singapore in January amid protests by Colombo professionals. 

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