Sri Lanka strengthens laws against child and forced labour

Sri Lanka is implementing new legislative and regulatory measures to combat child and forced labour. A proposed amendment to the Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children Act of 1956 seeks to increase fines for child labour offences tenfold, raising the penalty from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 100,000 to create a more effective deterrent.

In a separate effort to protect trade access, the government has introduced regulations to prevent forced-labour products from entering the country. This move follows a US trade review conducted by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. By appointing a technical committee and submitting regulatory measures, Sri Lanka successfully moved from a 12.5% category to a 10% treatment category in the US review, which may help protect its access to the US market. Officials noted that while these measures are a positive step, the government is working on a longer-term mechanism to maintain competitiveness as other nations adopt similar safeguards.