EXCISE [Cap.64 CHAPTER 64 - CommonLII

1 EXCISE [ 64 EXCISEAN ordinance TO CONSOLIDATE AND AMEND THE LAW RELATING TO THE IMPORT,EXPORT, TRANSPORT, MANUFACTURE, SALE, AND POSSESSION OF INTOXICATINGLIQUOR AND OF INTOXICATING 8 of 1912,25 of 1914,17 of 1929,4 of i931,3 of 1933,4 of 1936,25 of 1938,27 of 1943 ActsNos. 41 of 1954,22 of 1955,9 ofI956,36 of 1957,49 of 1961,17 of 1962,8 of 1965,LawsNos. 27 of 1974,14 of 1977.{1st January, 1913.}administration of the ExciseDepartment and of the collection of: the EXCISE revenue;" EXCISE officer" means a GovernmentAgent, Assistant GovernmentAgent, or any officer or otherperson appointed or invested withpowers under section 8 ;" EXCISE revenue " means revenue derivedor derivable from any duty, fee, tax,fine (other than a fine imposed by acourt of law), or confiscationimposed or ordered under theprovisions of this ordinance or ofany other law for the time being inforce relating to liquor;" export " means to take out of Sri Lankato sea or to foreign territory.]

2 " foreign liquor " includes all liquor otherthan country liquor:Provided that, in any case inwhich doubt may arise, the Ministermay by notification declare,whether for the purposes of thisOrdinance or any rules madethereunder, any particular liquorshall be deemed to be "countryliquor " or " foreign liquor "; CHAPTER IPRELIMINARYS hort title. 1. This ordinance may be cited, as theExcise 2. In this ordinance , unless there besomething repugnant in the subject ' orcontext " beer " includes ale, stout, porter, and allother fermented liquors made frommalt;11 country liquor" means any liquormanufactured in Sri Lanka onwhich duty of EXCISE has not beenlevied or is not leviable at the fullrate of duty chargeable on likeliquor imported into Sri Lankafrom foreign countries;"denatured" means effectually andpermanently rendered unfit forhuman consumption;"excisable article" means and includesany liquor as defined by thisOrdinance.

3 " EXCISE Commissioner" means theofficer who has the control of ] EXCISE Power ofMinister toexemptexcisablearticles fromthe provisionsof thisOrdinance." import " means to bring into Sri Lankafrom sea or from any place beyondthe limits of Sri Lanka;" liquor " includes spirits of wine, spirit,wine, toddy, beer, and all liquidconsisting of or containing alcohol;also any substance which theMinister may by notificationdeclare to be liquor for the;purposes of this ordinance ;" manufacture" includes every process,whether natural or artificial, bywhich any excisable article isproduced or prepared, and also re-distillation, and every process forthe rectification, flavouring,blending, or colouring of liquor;" place " includes a house, building, shop,tent, boat, or other vessel.

4 " sale " or " selling " includes any transferotherwise than by way of gift;"spirit" means any liquor containingalcohol obtained by distillation,whether it is denatured or not ',-to " bottle " means to transfer liquor froma cask or other receptacle to abottle or other receptacle for thepurpose of sale, whether anyprocess of manufacture beemployed or not, and includes re-bottling ;to " tap" includes every part of anyprocess by which the spathe orflower of any toddy-producing treeis prepared for the drawing oftoddy;" toddy" means fermented orunfermented juice drawn from anycoconut, palmyra, kitul, or otherkind of palm tree;" transport" means to move from oneplace to another within Sri Lanka.

5 ' 4. The Minister may by notification Limits of , with respect either to the whole ofSri Lanka or to any local area, and asregards purchasers generally or anyspecified class of purchasers, and generallyor for any specified occasion, what quantityof any excisable article shall, for thepurposes of this ordinance , be the limit ofsale by retail and sale by The Minister may by notificationeither wholly or partially exempt anyexcisable article from all or any of theprovisions of this ordinance , eitherthroughout Sri Lanka or in any specifiedarea, or for any specified period oroccasion, or as regards any specified class ofpersons.

6 And may attach such conditions ashe thinks fit to such Nothing contained in this Ordinanceshall apply to any canteen, shop, or tavernopened or kept under military or navalregulations and subject to the supervision ofmilitary or naval IIESTABLISHMENT AND CONTROL6. Except as otherwise provided by thisOrdinance, the collection of the exciserevenue shall be under the charge of theGovernment ofmilitary andnaval collectionof the exciserevenue to liewith ExciseCommissionerand otherofficers ofExciseDepartment.[ 2, 36 of 1957.]7. There shall be appointed (a) an EXCISE Commissioner who shall,subject to the general direction andcontrol of the Minister, have thecontrol of the administration of theExcise Department and of thecollection of EXCISE revenue, andexercise all or any of the powers,and perform all or any of theduties, of a Government Agentunder this ordinance , eitherconcurrently with him or in hisplace, and(b)

7 Such officers of the ExciseDepartment as may be necessary togive effect to the provisions of The Minister may by notification Powers ofapplicable to the whole of Sri Lanka or to district or local area in which thisOrdinance is in force III/170 EXCISE [ appointpersons otherthan theGovernmentAgent toexercise all orany of appointofficers to takeaction undersections 33, 35,and 48(o), andother appointanyGovernmentofficer or otherperson to actas delegateany of hispowers to anyexcise maypermitdelegation ofExciseCommissioneror GovernmentAgentsappealable toMinister.(a) appoint any person other than theGovernment Agent to exercise allor any of the powers and toperform all or any of the duties of aGovernment Agent in respect of theexcise revenue, either concurrentlywith or in exclusion of theGovernment Agent, subject to suchcontrol as the Minister may direct;(b) appoint officers or persons toperform the acts and dutiesmentioned in sections 33, 35, and48 (a);(c) set out the designations, powers andduties of officers of the ExciseDepartment under the ordinance .]

8 (d) order that all or any of the powersand duties assigned to any officerunder paragraphs (b) and (c) of thissection shall be exercised andperformed by any Governmentofficer or any person;(e) delegate to any EXCISE officer inwhole or in part all or any of hispowers under the following sectionsof this ordinance : sections 8 (c),12,14, 19,20,24,25;(f ) withdraw from any officer or personany or all of the powers conferredor imposed upon him by or underthis ordinance ;(g) permit the delegation by the ExciseCommissioner or by GovernmentAgents of any powers conferred bythis ordinance , or exercised inrespect of EXCISE revenue under anyenactment for the time being (1) All orders passed by the ExciseCommissioner or by a Government Agentunder this ordinance shall be appealable tothe Minister in the manner provided by therules made under section 32 (2) (c).

9 (2) On any such appeal the Ministermay make such orders as the circumstancesmay IIIIMPORT, EXPORT, AND TRANSPORT10. No excisable article which is liableto the payment of duty under thisOrdinance or under the Customs ordinance ,or any other law for the time being in forcerelating to the duties of customs on goodsimported into Sri Lanka, shall be imported,unless the duty prescribed by such law hasbeen paid, or a bond executed for thepayment of such No excisable article which has beenmanufactured in Sri Lanka shall beexported unless the duty, if any, leviableunder this ordinance or under the CustomsOrdinance, has been paid, or a bondexecuted for the payment of such The Minister may by notificationprohibit the import or export of anyexcisable article.

10 And may permit the importor export of any excisable article subject tosuch conditions and to the payment of suchduty as he may think fit, and may prohibitthe transport of any excisable article fromany local area into any other local No excisable article exceeding suchquantity as the Minister may prescribe bynotification, either generally for the wholeof Sri Lanka or for any local area, shall beimported, exported, or transported, exceptunder a pass issued under the provisions ofthe next following section:Provided that in the case of duty paidforeign liquor other than denatured spirit,such passes shall not be necessary, unlessthe Minister shall by notification otherwisedirect with respect to any local (1) Passes for the import, export,or transport of excisable articles may begranted by the Government Agent.