Imports held up at customs due to DRP confusion
KATHMANDU, MAR 04 -
The Department of Customs (DoC) has said that the imports held up at Indian customs due to the absence of a procedural mechanism after the Duty Refund Procedure (DRP) was scrapped are likely to enter Nepal from Monday.
Nepal-bound goods had been stalled at Indian customs as the authorities there didn’t know how to release them.
DoC director general Rana Bahadur Shrestha said that the department had asked its Indian counterpart the Central Board of Customs and Excise to resolve the issue. “Following our request, it is holding a meeting on Saturday,” added Shrestha. “Making a concrete decision on Saturday, the Indian customs will be able to release goods by Monday only as there is public holiday on Sunday.”
Nepal-bound containers have been stuck at Raxaul and Sunauli as the customs authorities had not been informed by the Indian central government about the scrapping of the DRP from March 1. “Though there isn’t any problem regarding the import of a majority of goods including daily commodities and essential items, a few items like automobiles, motorbikes and cement clinker, among others, have been stopped at the border,” said Shrestha.
According to the department, only 10 percent of the total imported goods from India used to be brought under the DRP. “These items have been stopped, and there is nothing critical about the situation,” said Kul Raj Gyanwali, director at the department.
An official from Indian customs said that though the central government had forwarded a circular regarding the scrapping of the DRP, the circular says nothing about the new procedure to be adopted after March 1. Due to the confusion, the queue of containers at Indian customs had become longer till Saturday. Harihar Poudel, spokesperson at the Birgunj Customs Office, said that Raxaul Customs had stopped sending Nepali invoices under the DRP from March 1.
The Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry has said that the stoppage of goods for three days had forced them to pay demurrage and extra transport costs besides affecting the supply of basic commodities.
FNCCI vice-president Pashupathi Murarka said that the problem could have been avoided if the government had acted proactively. “Two weeks ago before the DRP was scrapped, we had informed the government regarding the problem that would emerge after the DRP was gone, but it did not show any urgency,” said Murarka.
Industrialists and importers also charged the government of taking the issue lightly. “Not only have goods imported after the scrapping of the DRP been stalled but even shipments that arrived when the DRP was in effect and had cleared all the procedures been stopped at Indian customs,” said an importer.
Contrary to the DoC’s claim that only 10 percent of Nepal’s imports fall under the DRP, industrialists said that more than 60 percent of the goods from India are governed by the DRP. “There isn’t certainty on what procedure will be followed in the future while importing goods from India.”
Other industrialists said that Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) permits payment for imports of only 250 items in dollars. “The government should either expand the list or we won’t be able to import goods from India.”
Source: Kantipur
