Sri Lanka, the ‘Spice Island,’ has always been renowned for its spices and its extracts or concentrates. The spices and concentrates (S&C) sector plays a valuable role not only in boosting export earnings, but also in enhancing the rural economy and social development. The S&C industry in Sri Lanka is composed of a large variety of products, ranging from bulk spice products like true cinnamon to value added essential oils. The sector is dominated by smallholders, and over 70% of cultivated land is smallholdings and home gardens. Sri Lanka exports around 30,000 tons of various kinds of spices annually.
At present, Sri Lanka is the ninth most important exporter of spices (specifically cinnamon, pepper, cloves, cardamom and nutmeg) in the world, with total spice exports touching US$273 million in 2016.Sri Lanka is the largest producer and exporter of ‘true cinnamon’ in the world. In this strategy, the following spice products are focused upon, listed under their appropriate Harmonized System (HS) codes from the World Customs Organization:
| HS Chapter | HS6 Digit Product |
|---|---|
| HS 0904 : Pepper | HS 090411 : Pepper of the genus Piper, neither crushed nor ground HS090412 : Pepper of the genus Piper, crushed or ground |
| HS 0906 : Cinnamon (Ceylon) | HS090611 : Cinnamon Cinnamomum zeylanicum HS090620 : Crushed or ground cinnamon and cinnamon-tree flowers |
| HS 0907 : Cloves, whole fruit, cloves and stems | HS090710 : Cloves, whole fruit, cloves and stems, neither crushed nor ground HS090720 : Cloves, whole fruit, cloves and stems, crushed or ground |
| HS 0908 : Nutmeg, mace and cardamoms | HS090811 : Nutmeg, neither crushed nor ground HS090812 : Nutmeg, crushed or ground HS090821 : Mace, neither crushed nor ground HS090822 : Mace, crushed or ground HS090831 : Cardamoms, neither crushed nor ground |
20% per annum. Nutraceuticals, a relatively new and emerging category of products derived from spices, is also slated to witness growth in Asia-Pacific and European markets.
