Verify a Sri Lankan exporter before you pay: which registration proves what?

To verify a Sri Lankan exporter, check the registrations the law requires for the product you are buying, not a badge on a website. Every exporter must be registered with the Inland Revenue Department and Sri Lanka Customs. A tea exporter must also be registered with the Sri Lanka Tea Board. A coconut exporter should renew a Coconut Development Authority registration each year. A food factory needs a Ministry of Health registration before it can get an export health certificate. Below: which registration fits which product, and what each one leaves unproven.

Start with the two registrations every exporter needs

The export procedure guide published by the Export Development Board (EDB) in 2020 says a person exporting articles of commercial value from Sri Lanka must register with the Inland Revenue Department, for a Tax Identification Number (TIN) or VAT number, and with Sri Lanka Customs. To register, the business shows its original Business Registration Certificate or Certificate of Incorporation.

These two registrations tell you the seller exists as a business and can lodge an export declaration. In Sri Lanka that declaration is called the CUSDEC (the customs goods declaration). Either a Customs House Agent or the exporter can be the declarant.

What they do not tell you is anything about the product. A tax number says nothing about grade, hygiene or origin. Ask for copies of the Business Registration Certificate or Certificate of Incorporation and the TIN, and check that the company name on them matches the name on the pro-forma invoice and, later, on the bill of lading. A different name on any of these papers is a question to raise before payment, not after.

The EDB exporters directory: a starting point, not a check

Many buyers look first for a supplier in the EDB's Directory of Sri Lankan Exporters. It is a useful place to find suppliers, but it is not a licence list. The EDB's compulsory Scheme for Registration of Exporters was revoked by Extraordinary Gazette Notification No. 2118/60 dated April 11, 2019. Since then the EDB keeps only a voluntary registration and the directory, as its page on registering with the Export Development Board explains.

Product registrations: which body keeps which list

Tea: the Sri Lanka Tea Board

Tea is the clearest case. To register as a tea exporter with the Sri Lanka Tea Board, a company needs a valid business registration, a registered warehouse for storing, blending and packing tea, a qualified tea taster with a tea tasting facility, and a minimum invested or paid-up capital set by the Board. The Board's Tea Export Division lists these requirements.

Packed tea with the Lion logo needs one more paper: the logo may only be used on tea packed in Sri Lanka, and the Tea Board's certificate for it is valid for one year. Ask to see it and read the date.

Coconut products: the Coconut Development Authority

The EDB's export procedure guide says exporters of coconut products should be registered with the Coconut Development Authority annually. Because the registration is renewed each year, ask for the current one, not a copy from an earlier year. For desiccated coconut there is a second check: the EDB says each export shipment must be accompanied by a certificate from the Authority.

Registration does not tell you the FFA (free fatty acid) level of the oil you will receive; the specification sheet and the test report for your lot do. Our guide to virgin coconut oil vs white coconut oil covers those figures.

Processed food: the Ministry of Health's FCAU

The Food Control Administration Unit (FCAU) of the Ministry of Health issues health certificates for exported food, and only to establishments registered with it. A factory inspection is a pre-requisite, and the FCAU may refuse certificates for food from factories that do not follow the food hygiene regulations. The rules are on the FCAU's export certification page.

The FCAU covers tea, coconut products, rice and rice-based products, cereals, spices and condiments and processed foods. Fresh fruit and vegetables are certified by the Plant Quarantine Unit of the Department of Agriculture instead. So if you buy dried fruit, flours or powders from the food and beverages range, ask whether the factory that makes them is registered with the FCAU. If it is not, it cannot get the health certificate your customs broker may need.

Herbal and ayurvedic products: the Department of Ayurveda

Herbal products sit under a different body. The EDB says herbal finished products must be approved by the Drug Formulatory Committee appointed under the Department of Ayurveda before they are sold locally or exported. The Department publishes Form B for registering Ayurveda products and Form C for their import and export registration, so ask which applies and when it was last renewed. Our guide to buying herbal products from Sri Lanka explains what can and cannot go on the label in your market.

Organic and cinnamon marks

Organic exports need a certificate from an accredited certification body and registration with the National Organic Control Unit at the EDB. The "Pure Ceylon Cinnamon" logo is used only under an EDB licence renewed after one year. If an offer shows either, ask for the licence, not a picture of the pack.

Origin papers: the Department of Commerce registration

If you expect a lower import duty under a trade preference, the origin paperwork needs its own check. To apply for preferential certificates of origin, an exporter must first register once with the Department of Commerce and receive a registration number in the form D/COM/R/XXXXXX. Ordinary certificates of origin come from chambers of commerce instead.

For goods going to the EU, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey the system is different. The Department of Commerce certificate no longer applies there: under the Registered Exporter (REX) system the exporter makes a Statement on Origin on the invoice or another commercial document, with a number in the format LKREX followed by the exporter's number. An EU buyer should ask for the supplier's REX number at quotation stage.

How to check a Sri Lankan supplier before you pay

1. Write down the product, its HS code and your destination. These decide which registrations apply.
2. Ask for copies of the Business Registration Certificate or Certificate of Incorporation and the TIN or VAT number, and match the company name to the one on the pro-forma invoice.
3. Ask for the product registration that fits: Tea Board for tea, the current Coconut Development Authority registration for coconut products, FCAU establishment registration for processed food, the Department of Ayurveda registration for herbal products.
4. If the offer carries a mark (Lion logo, Pure Ceylon Cinnamon logo, PGI, organic), ask for the certificate or licence and check its date.
5. If you claim a trade preference, ask for the Department of Commerce registration number or, for the EU, the REX number.
6. Ask which certificates will travel with your consignment and who issues each one. Our export documents checklist lists what comes as standard and what must be requested.

What no registration can prove

Registrations show that a business is allowed to do something. They do not show that your lot meets your specification. For that you need documents tied to the consignment: a specification sheet, a certificate of analysis for the lot, and the certificates your market needs. The EDB's export procedure guide says quality certificates, health certificates, phytosanitary certificates, fumigation certificates and test reports are submitted when the buyer requests them. If you do not ask, you may not receive them.

Your own market adds its own checks. The FDA, for example, says it does not approve, certify or license individual food importers, products or shipments, but the facilities that make or hold the food must be registered with it. Confirm destination rules with your customs broker or the authority's own page, as our guide on importing from Sri Lanka for the first time explains.

Common mistakes buyers make when checking a supplier

• Treating the EDB directory as a licence. Registration with the EDB has been voluntary since 2019. Being listed is not proof of anything the law requires, and being absent is not proof of a problem.
• Accepting an old certificate. The Coconut Development Authority registration is annual and the Lion logo certificate lasts one year. Ask for the current one and read the date.
• Reading a mark as a test result. A logo licence or a sector-wide statement about certificates does not describe your lot. The analysis report for your consignment does.
• Paying before the documents are named. List every certificate on the pro-forma invoice before you pay, not after the goods are packed.

Frequently asked questions

Is registration with the EDB compulsory for Sri Lankan exporters?

No. The EDB's compulsory Scheme for Registration of Exporters was revoked by a gazette notification dated April 11, 2019. The EDB now keeps a voluntary registration and a Directory of Sri Lankan Exporters that buyers can use to find suppliers.

Which registration must every exporter in Sri Lanka hold?

The EDB's export procedure guide says anyone exporting goods of commercial value must register with the Inland Revenue Department, for a TIN or VAT number, and with Sri Lanka Customs. Product rules add further registrations, such as the Tea Board for tea.

How do I know a tea supplier is a registered tea exporter?

Ask for the supplier's Sri Lanka Tea Board exporter registration and check that the same company is named as exporter on the shipping documents. Registered tea exporters submit their customs declarations to the Board's Tea Exports section for authorisation to export.

Does an FCAU registration mean my food has been tested?

No. The registration lets the establishment apply for export health certificates. Testing happens per consignment: the FCAU usually tests a sample from the consignment at a recognised laboratory before it issues the health certificate, so ask for the certificate for your shipment.

What should an EU buyer ask for to claim GSP+ origin?

Ask for the supplier's REX number. For the EU the Department of Commerce certificate of origin no longer applies: the exporter makes a Statement on Origin on the invoice or another commercial document, using a number that starts with LKREX.

When you know the product, its HS code and the registrations your market expects, send them through the Truly Ceylon how to order page and ask for the matching registrations and documents to be named in the quotation.

Key takeaways

• Every exporter needs Inland Revenue and Sri Lanka Customs registration; these prove the business, not the product.
• EDB registration is voluntary since 2019, so the directory helps you find suppliers but does not verify them.
• Match the product registration to the product: Tea Board, Coconut Development Authority, FCAU or Department of Ayurveda.
• For trade preferences, ask for the Department of Commerce registration number, or the REX number for the EU.
• Only lot-level documents, named on the pro-forma invoice, show that your consignment meets your specification.