Sri Lanka’s first National Food Safety Policy could become a landmark public-health reform—or another ambitious framework weakened by the country’s familiar implementation gap.
The Government has correctly identified a critical weakness in the existing food-control system: while laws and regulations exist, responsibility for food safety is spread across multiple institutions and levels of government. The new policy attempts to overcome that fragmentation by creating a national roadmap covering the entire food chain.
That is a significant advantage.
Food safety today cannot be treated simply as a matter of inspecting restaurants or confiscating contaminated products. Modern supply chains involve farmers, processors, importers, transporters, wholesalers, retailers and consumers. A failure at any stage can create risks much further down the chain.
The policy’s emphasis on surveillance, laboratory capacity, scientific risk assessment and institutional coordination therefore represents a more sophisticated approach. Its focus on education and communication could also help shift consumers and food businesses from reacting to contamination towards preventing it.
There are potentially major economic dividends. Stronger food-safety controls could improve Sri Lanka’s credibility in international markets, help agricultural exporters meet demanding standards and reduce losses caused by contamination or rejected shipments. The agrifood sector could become more competitive if producers are able to demonstrate consistent quality and traceability.
Hitherto the Government must confront an uncomfortable question: can Sri Lanka enforce the standards it intends to establish?
A national policy cannot by itself improve food safety. Laboratories require equipment and trained personnel. Inspectors require resources. Provincial and local authorities need capacity. Businesses need guidance. Surveillance systems must generate reliable data. Most importantly, violations must produce predictable enforcement rather than inconsistent action.
The updated Food Act is therefore potentially more important than the policy announcement itself. The legislation is expected to provide the legal foundation for stronger controls, following technical consultation supported by the FAO.
But stronger regulation carries risks if introduced without considering the realities of small-scale producers and food businesses. Compliance costs can be significant, particularly where testing, certification, packaging, storage or traceability requirements are tightened. Large companies may absorb those costs more easily than small producers.
If enforcement becomes excessively punitive without providing assistance, some operators could retreat into informality. That would undermine the very objective of the policy.
There is also a danger of institutional duplication. Creating more monitoring requirements without clearly defining which agency has final responsibility could produce paperwork rather than safer food. The Government must ensure that coordination means genuine accountability, not simply more committees and reporting mechanisms.
The involvement of the FAO and EU through the BESPA programme provides valuable technical credibility. But external expertise cannot substitute for domestic institutional capacity.
The policy should therefore be judged against measurable outcomes: fewer foodborne illnesses, stronger laboratory testing, faster detection of contamination, lower food losses, improved compliance and greater access to export markets.
Sri Lanka has finally produced the national blueprint it previously lacked. The investigative question now is whether the State has the money, manpower and political discipline to turn that blueprint into enforcement.
If it does, the policy could protect consumers and strengthen exports. If it does not, Sri Lanka may simply have created another impressive document sitting safely on a shelf while unsafe food continues moving through the supply chain.
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