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Kathmandu Sunday August 05, 2001 Shrawan 21, 2058.
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Officials refuse to buy each other's version
Talks to continue today
By Bhaskar Sharma
KATHMANDU, Aug 4 – Trade talks
between the Nepalese and Indian government officials failed to conclude even on the fourth
day with the two sides declining to buy each other’s version on the contentious trade
issue of ‘export surge’.
The visiting Indian delegation on Saturday
proposed to impose quantitative restrictions on the export of five of the Nepalese
exportable products, including Zinc Oxide, Acrylic Yarn, Steel Pipes, Vanaspati Ghee and
Copper Twines, which it claims to have fallen under the surge net.
Article V(2) of the Nepal-India Trade Treaty
1996 states, "In the event of ..... a surge in the imports generally or in the import
of any particular article, the two governments shall enter into consultation with a view
to taking appropriate measures."
Providing an alternative to the proposed
imposition of the quantitative restrictions, the Indian side even offered to settle down
if the Nepalese government agreed to tie its exports with a 30 per cent value addition
slab on raw materials, which are converted into finished products targeting the Indian
markets.
However, Nepalese officials declined to comply
to both the Indian alternatives and instead suggested to hold an altogether new round of
talks to settle the issue of export surge, the government source said.
The Nepalese side dismissed the Indian claims
that Nepalese exports were harming Indian markets since its export volume is meager
compared to the huge market for the products in India. Furthermore, curtailing
Nepal’s exports would further widen the already imbalanced Nepal-India trade.
Nepal’s trade deficit with India stands at over Rs 18 billion.
Despite the differences over the issue of export
surge, most of the other topics included in the comprehensive trade agenda, which was set
on the second day of the trade talks, have been discussed and mutual understanding
reached, the source said.
India agreed to conclude the Railways Agreement,
which the Nepalese side had put as one of its top agendas, within the next two months.
This development comes as sweet music to traders since it would ensure direct rail links
between the Birgunj Inland Container Depot (ICD) and Calcutta and Haldia ports. Once the
rail links are established, the transit costs for Nepal in carrying out foreign trade is
expected to go down by as high as 30 per cent.
Also, the issue of giving due recognition to
Nepal Standard (NS) mark in the Indian market has gone one step ahead. The two sides
Saturday agreed to form a technical team for carrying out the necessary work, the source
said. "An agreement to recognize the NS mark in India would be concluded very
soon." The non-recognition of the NS mark in India had created hurdles for Nepalese
exporters since the 1996 Treaty requires quality certification of Nepalese goods for
entering India.
The Nepal-India talks also agreed to reach an
agreement in relation to security of Indian investment within the next three months, the
source said. India had tabled its security concerns in the wake of increasing attacks
against business establishments in the past few months.
Also, the two sides have agreed to wait for the
Supreme Court’s verdict before deciding on the issue of automobile imports from
India. A case is pending at the Supreme Court that has challenged the government’s
decision to prevent vehicle imports from India without the certificate of Conformity of
Production (CoP).
While Nepal imports vehicles from some countries
solely on the basis of self certification by manufacturers, imports from India requires
the CoP certificate. The Indian delegation had asked to scrap the CoP requirement.
India and Nepal are currently discussing on the
pertinent Nepal-India trade issues. The secretarial level talks between the two government
was initially slated to conclude on Friday, but failed to settle even by late Saturday
night. "The talks will end only on Sunday," said an official.
The meet is an annual event that seeks to
identify and resolve the issues that stand in the way of effective implementation of the
1996 Trade Treaty. Though the Treaty has a clause for automatic renewal after its expiry
every five years, the two sides meet annually to take up the issues of mutual concerns.
While the Nepalese side in the meet was led by
Bhanu Prasad Acharya, Secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, the
visiting delegation was headed by the Indian Commerce Secretary Prabir Sengupta.
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