May 14, LNW (Colombo): Sri Lanka’s Ayurveda industry is one of quiet resilience — a sector rooted in centuries of tradition yet increasingly embracing modern standards of compliance and regulation. Companies across the island are investing seriously in formalising their operations, developing their products responsibly, and meeting the requirements set out by the regulatory framework. Yet for many of them, that commitment is being met with an invisible wall.
Since January, the Ayurveda Department has been operating without a functioning Product Registration Committee — the body tasked with reviewing and approving product registration applications. The consequences have been immediate and far-reaching. A backlog of well over 100 applications now sits unreviewed, each one representing a business that has done everything asked of it, only to be stalled at the final hurdle.
These are not corner-cutting operators. These are companies that have navigated complex documentation, met stringent standards, and submitted their applications in good faith — trusting that the process would work as intended. That trust is now being severely tested.
The human cost of this standstill is significant. Product launches are delayed. Business plans are shelved. Investments made in anticipation of approvals sit idle. For smaller enterprises in particular, every passing month without resolution adds pressure that few can comfortably absorb.
A regulatory framework is only as strong as the institutions upholding it. When those institutions are unable to perform their most fundamental functions, it is invariably the most diligent players — those who chose to do things properly — who bear the heaviest burden.
The Ayurveda Department’s Product Registration Committee must be reinstated without further delay. Sri Lanka’s Ayurveda sector deserves a regulatory system that matches the commitment of the businesses it serves.