The expert committee appointed by the Sri Lankan president to re-examine the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed with Singapore in January, has announced it will be seeking public opinion.
Maithripala Sirisena appointed the committee after the Joint Opposition reiterated its threat of legal action against it.
Objecting against the FTA, the JO MP Bandula Gunawardene said, "the 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 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 professional.
