Shipments delayed due to double-lock system
BIRATNAGAR, AUG 10 -
Industrialists and traders have been suffering from delayed delivery of raw materials and other imported goods after India enforced the double-lock system on Nepal-bound cargo at Kolkata port from Aug 1.
Entrepreneurs have complained that shipments take an extra three days to arrive from Kolkata port after the double-lock system. Moreover, they said that they were being forced to break the locks in Jogbani as the keys to the locks are dispatched late.
They have to pay IRs 1,000 to break the locks. “Many people break the locks on the containers by paying money instead of waiting for the keys,” said Jagadish Prasad Rathi, chairman of the tax advisory committee of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce.
The Nepal-India Transit Treaty has stipulated a single-lock system which means that Nepal-bound third country imports enter via Kolkata with a one-time lock put by the shipping agent or a carrier authorised by the shipping company.
As per the transit treaty signed between Nepal and India, Indian customs officers posted at the sea port shall merely check the one-time lock on Nepal-bound containers.
India had been pushing for a double-lock system since last year claiming that containers headed for Nepal were being tampered with and that the one-time lock had been found broken many times to dump the goods in India.
India has also been raising the issue of security because of tampering with Nepal-bound cargo, according to officials of the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MoCS).
However, Nepal entrepreneurs claimed that it was just a ploy to cause misery to them. They also demanded withdrawal of the Indian decision. Rathi said that all the traders should not be penalised for the misdeeds of a few.
“With the longer procedures that traders have to go through at Kolkata port because of the double-lock system, shipments of goods to Nepal are being delayed,” said trader Pradeep Murarka.
Traders have been importing petroleum products, iron and steel, machinery parts, electronic accessories, fertilizers, paper, raw materials for manufacturing plastic products, readymade garments, soybean oil and betel nuts from third countries through Biratnagar customs.
The Indian government imposed the double-lock system despite repeated written requests by the Nepal government against it. The Nepali side has insisted that as most goods imported through Kolkata port are transported to Nepal via container train, there is no need for a double lock.
MoCS officials said that more than 70 percent of the imports are delivered to Nepal by container train which makes tampering with the containers impossible.
Source: Kantipur
Industrialists and traders have been suffering from delayed delivery of raw materials and other imported goods after India enforced the double-lock system on Nepal-bound cargo at Kolkata port from Aug 1.
Entrepreneurs have complained that shipments take an extra three days to arrive from Kolkata port after the double-lock system. Moreover, they said that they were being forced to break the locks in Jogbani as the keys to the locks are dispatched late.
They have to pay IRs 1,000 to break the locks. “Many people break the locks on the containers by paying money instead of waiting for the keys,” said Jagadish Prasad Rathi, chairman of the tax advisory committee of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce.
The Nepal-India Transit Treaty has stipulated a single-lock system which means that Nepal-bound third country imports enter via Kolkata with a one-time lock put by the shipping agent or a carrier authorised by the shipping company.
As per the transit treaty signed between Nepal and India, Indian customs officers posted at the sea port shall merely check the one-time lock on Nepal-bound containers.
India had been pushing for a double-lock system since last year claiming that containers headed for Nepal were being tampered with and that the one-time lock had been found broken many times to dump the goods in India.
India has also been raising the issue of security because of tampering with Nepal-bound cargo, according to officials of the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MoCS).
However, Nepal entrepreneurs claimed that it was just a ploy to cause misery to them. They also demanded withdrawal of the Indian decision. Rathi said that all the traders should not be penalised for the misdeeds of a few.
“With the longer procedures that traders have to go through at Kolkata port because of the double-lock system, shipments of goods to Nepal are being delayed,” said trader Pradeep Murarka.
Traders have been importing petroleum products, iron and steel, machinery parts, electronic accessories, fertilizers, paper, raw materials for manufacturing plastic products, readymade garments, soybean oil and betel nuts from third countries through Biratnagar customs.
The Indian government imposed the double-lock system despite repeated written requests by the Nepal government against it. The Nepali side has insisted that as most goods imported through Kolkata port are transported to Nepal via container train, there is no need for a double lock.
MoCS officials said that more than 70 percent of the imports are delivered to Nepal by container train which makes tampering with the containers impossible.
Source: Kantipur
