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Kathmandu Sunday October 14, 2001 Ashwin 28, 2058.
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Import surge knots customs procedure
Post Report
KHASA, Tibet, Oct 13 – Along with the remarkable surge in the import of
various goods into Nepal from Tibet since last one month, traders engaged in the
cross-border trade have started facing numerous problems, which they had never experienced
during their years long cross-border trade.
The root cause of the present problem is the failure of the local
administration and customs office to manage the increased pressure of imports and the
delay in the clearing customs.. "Despite a remarkable soar in the cross border trade
between Nepal and Tibet, the working style of the government offices is still as same as
it used to a decade ago," says Durga Bahadur Shrestha, president of Trans Himalayan
Trade Association of Nepal.
According to the concerned traders, the customs clearance procedures,
particularly since last few weeks have been so slow that it normally takes fully 1 to 2
days for a loaded truck to enter Nepal.
The short distance between Khasa and Kathmandu and the availability of
varieties of goods in the Khasa market are the main reasons for the increased attraction
of traders in the Tibet trade. "Besides, opening of the road linkage after almost
two-months long blockade due to the landslide and nearing Dashain, the greatest Nepalese
festival are other main causes of increase in the imports," says Shrestha.
Not only the complicated and slow customs procedures are the uppermost
problems of the traders, but also the lack of enough container trucks to transport goods
to the capital is another problem that according to the traders, is hindering for the
expansion of the trade. "The 200 container trucks now engaged in transporting goods
to Kathmandu is not enough to meet the growing demand," says Dinesh Shrestha. He also
complained that the transporters have now increased their fare. He also pointed out that
the lack of parking spaces in the Tatopani customs area is one of the main obstacles in
clearing the customs quickly.
"The construction of a proper parking place near Tatopani customs is a
must to cope with the increasing trade between the two countries and to address one of the
prominent problems of the traders," he says.
Statistics of the tax collection at the Tatopani customs also reveals the
increased imports in recent months. Since last few weeks, the average per day collection
of the customs duty has soared to Rs 10 million," says Nirmal Hari Adhikari, an
officer of the Tatopani customs.
The Khasa products, which has made an entire dominance over the most consumer
goods demanded by the lower and middle classes, have now started penetrating on such goods
that Nepal used to import from the developed countries. Along with the consumer goods
ranging from clothes to electronic goods, the imports of microbuses and motorbikes have
now started coming into Nepal through Khasa. "Not only microbuses and motorbikes, but
there has been remarkable surge in the imports of ready-made garments and velvet
clothes," says Shrestha.
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