Birgunj customs office seizes smuggled goods

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BIRGUNJ, March 15 - The Customs Office in Birgunj seized on Wednesday smuggled goods from a truck owned by Chairman of Transport Entrepreneurs’ Association (TEA), who was about to hand over a memorandum to the local administration against the rampant checking of their cargoes by the police personnel.

TEA Chairman Rajendra Gupta’s truck was taken under control by the Bara District Police Office in Pathlaiya last week and was handed over to the Birgunj Customs Office for necessary action.

Chief of Birgunj’s main Customs Office, Ishwor Pokharel, said that a total of 375 bicycle tyres and Indian vegetable ghee were found being smuggled into Nepal when Gupta’s truck (Na 1 Kha 1613), was inspected in front of the authorities representing the Customs, Value Added Tax and police personnel.

Another truck owned by a local Rajanis Gupta was also taken under control by police along with the smuggled goods in Parsa district last week.

TEA personnel, who went to hand over a memorandum to the Chief District Officer against the rampant police checking on 13 March, returned from the district administration office without doing so after Senior Superintendent of Police, Baudev Oli, assured them of sorting out the problem by the third weeks of March.

Customs Chief Pokharel said TEA Chairman Gupta begged for forgiveness after the smuggled goods were recovered from his cargo truck.

Coffee policy drafted

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KATHMANDU, March 15 - Hardly a few months after the government announced the much awaitad Tea Policy, Nepal Tea and Coffee Development Board (NTCDB) has prepared a draft of the Coffee Policy, which it intends to present to the government very soon.

Mukti Raj Sharma, executive director of NTDCB, gave the information while speaking at a one day seminar on The Stategies for Coffee Development in Nepal here today.

"NTCDB has drafted a National Coffee Policy. The Policy will be presented to the government for approval very soon ," said Sharma.

He also said since Nepal’s organic coffee has a good global market, Nepalese farmers should focus on exports. He further said, the thrust should be to develop international market for Nepalese coffee.

On the same occasion, Mukti Narayan Shrestha, Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, said there is a need to reduce costs of production and conduct research for high quality coffee.

Similarly, Chatra Bahadur Gurung, vice president of NTCDB, said that the government should give similar priority to coffee as it has done to tea. He said that coffee faces the same problem of low price as tea has been facing.

The seminar was also attended by Members of Parliament Phatik Thapa and Vijay Subba, among others.