Sri Lanka’s Apparel Sector Celebrates Duty-Free Access to UK Market

In what could beryllium viewed arsenic a acquisition to usher successful the caller year, the wider tariff-free entree announced past twelvemonth by the United Kingdom nether its Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) came into effect earlier than expected connected Jan. 1.

“It’s been a precise affirmative vantage for exporters successful Sri Lanka,” a shaper successful Colombo told Sourcing Journal with evident exhilaration, pleased that Sri Lanka volition present astatine slightest beryllium connected par with countries specified arsenic Bangladesh and Cambodia, which already bask broad export benefits.

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Being hailed arsenic a crippled changer for the manufacture successful presumption of exports to the U.K.—which accounts for astir 15 percent of Sri Lanka’s full apparel exports—the strategy allows manufacturers to root 100 percent of inputs globally portion retaining duty-free entree to the market. This means garment manufacturers tin present root cloth internationally, implicit accumulation locally, and inactive suffice for the scheme.

The caller rules region the request for 2 important manufacturing processes to beryllium carried retired successful Sri Lanka. This allows the worth concatenation to go much flexible and export-oriented, with manufacture analysts estimating further income of betwixt $150 cardinal and $180 cardinal for the existent year.

The DCTS is the U.K.’s post-Brexit preferential commercialized statement for processing countries. It replaces the erstwhile EU Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) and offers tariff reductions oregon eliminations on with much flexible rules of root for eligible exporters.

While the strategy itself came into effect connected June 19, 2023, covering 65 processing countries crossed 3 penchant tiers—comprehensive, enhanced and standard—the liberalized rules of root with much flexible sourcing for apparel took effect connected the archetypal time of 2026.

With these changes, Sri Lanka present enjoys benefits akin to Bangladesh and Cambodia, which already person broad preferences. India signed a escaped commercialized statement with the U.K. successful 2025, portion Vietnam already has a escaped commercialized statement with the U.K.

Yohan Lawrence, Secretary General of the Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF), explained that the reforms to the DCTS removed erstwhile restrictions that had constricted Sri Lanka’s competitiveness.

“Sri Lankan manufacturers tin present vie arsenic by accessing planetary proviso chains. The garment assemblage accounts for implicit 60 percent of Sri Lanka’s exports to the U.K. and supports 1 cardinal livelihoods crossed the country. This is simply a important boost to our export imaginable successful an important market, and we are excited to enactment with buyers and manufacturers to make meaningful maturation from this opportunity,” helium said.