Nepal may give duty-free entry to 62 Bangladeshi products

KATHMANDU, SEP 17 -

Nepal is likely to give duty-free access to about 62 Bangladeshi products as a reciprocal action after Bangladesh agreed to grant zero-tariff entry to 108 Nepal i items in February.

The Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MoCS) has submitted a list of the 62 items to the Ministry of Finance (MoF) for its approval.

The products recommended by the ministry to be enlisted under preferential treatment to Bangladesh include lentils, vegetables, cereals, wheat flour, fruits, juice, dairy products and handmade paper, among others.

Similarly pharmaceuticals, electronic goods, garments, fishes and some food items are also among the products recommended for duty-free entry into Nepal .

MoCS Joint Secretary Jib Raj Koirala said his ministry forwarded the list to the MoF around three weeks ago, and that it was currently reviewing the items to make sure that their import

without duty would not hurt local producers.

Around three months ago, the MoCS had formed a committee under the coordination of the director general of the Department of Customs to select the items. “After holding talks with the stakeholders, we forwarded the names of the items suggested by the committee,” added Koirala.  

Rameshwor Pokhrel, joint secretary at the MoCS, said the ministry had paid greater attention to studying whether providing zero-tariff facility to certain goods would hurt the country’s revenue collection.

“Most of the items among the 62 make a small contribution to revenue collection and they are also less likely to impact local industry negatively,” Pokhrel said.

He added that after the MoF approves the submitted items, the list will be sent to the Cabinet for its endorsement.

“After the Cabinet endorses the list, we will send it to the Bangladeshi government, and a formal decision in this regard will be made during the joint secretary level meeting of the Nepal -Bangladesh Technical Committee which is scheduled for this year,” he said.

MoCS officials said that once the list of products was finalized, the ministry would ask the Bangladesh government to fix a date for the joint secretary level meeting.

During the joint secretary level technical meeting held on Feb 17 this year in Dhaka, the Bangladeshi side had offered preferential treatment to 108 Nepal i items.

The Nepal i side, however, had asked that the facility be given to 153 exportable items. The products chosen by Bangladesh to be given the facility are lentils, vegetables, vegetable seeds, ginger, animal feed and fruits, among others.

Bangladesh is Nepal ’s second largest trading partner in South Asia. Nepal ’s main exports to Bangladesh are lentils, vegetables and animal feed, and its major imports from that country are electronics, juice, medicines, cotton, solar batteries, readymade garments, cosmetics, raw jute and plastic furniture.

Source: The Kathmandu Post