The Hindu : India, Nepal to tackle trade issues

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 20, 2002

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India, Nepal to tackle trade issues

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI Aug. 19. India and Nepal have agreed to tackle several irritants in bilateral trade, including a cut in customs duty preferences on Indian goods as well as continuing discrimination against export of cars from this country. Nepal has agreed to examine the question of customs duty preferences and implement a uniform procedure on import of cars from all countries within three months. India agreed to consider Nepal's request for increasing the tariff rate quota on copper.

Another issue taken up was the problems faced by Indian joint-venture companies in Nepal from different agencies of that Government. These issues were discussed at a three-day meeting of the India-Nepal Government Committee on Trade Transit and Cooperation to control Unauthorised Trade which concluded here on Sunday. The Indian side was led by the Commerce Secretary, Dipak Chatterjee, while the Nepal delegation was led by the Industry, Commerce and Supplies Secretary, Bhanu Prasad Acharya.

The two sides agreed that an early meeting of technical experts should be convened to reach an agreement on a bilateral investment protection and promotion agreement; a pact on regulation of Indian vehicular traffic in Nepal; operationalisation of the Birgunj Inland Clearance Depot; setting up a rail link and cooperation between the Bureau of Indian Standards and the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Meteorology.

An official release said India agreed to set up additional food-testing labs at the border at Raxaul and Sunauli and three additional agriculture quarantine stations by November 1 at Jogbani, Sunauli and Banbasa. In response to Nepal's request for reducing the fees for food testing labs and agriculture quarantine, India said it would examine its feasibility.

During the meeting, Nepal welcomed India's notification exempting aviation turbine fuel supplies to the Royal Nepal Airline Corporation in this country from excise duty. It also welcomed the West Bengal Government's decision to modify provisions of luxury tax to benefit Nepalese exports to India as well as the streamlining of Nepalese vanaspati imports by the Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC).

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