Sri Lanka's foreign minister, Mangala Samaraweera says the GSP+ trade concessions, currently withdrawn from Sri Lanka, are likely to be reinstated.

Speaking to the Sunday Times after his visit to Brussels, Mr Samaraweera said the EU had provided advice to the government on measures to be taken, before Sri Lanka's request to reinstate the concessions can be considered.

The EU suspended the GSP+ tariff in 2010, due to the government's failure to adhere with the fundamental human rights conventions, as expected of all recipients of the concession.

The new Sri Lankan prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, has pledged to investigate "LTTE activities" over the past few years.

Mr Wickremesinghe said the old government led by Mahinda Rajapaksa, had links to the LTTE.

“This is part of our probe on corruption. The former Government always accused us of having links with the LTTE but it was they who had links with the Tigers,” he said to media.

The prime minister claimed that there was an attempt by the "LTTE" to prevent Tamils from voting at the presidential elections.

Experts from the European Union will visit Sri Lanka to assess measures taken by the government in its attempt to overturn an EU ban on imports of fishery products from the island.

“The aim of the delegation will be to review the implementation of EU recommendations. The former Government failed to do it, but we are doing it promptly,” Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Ajith Perera said according to the Sunday Times.

The minister said he was "hopeful" that the ban will be lifted within months as the government was taking "immediate and effective" steps to implement recommendations made by the EU.