INDO-NEPAL INTER-GOVERNMENTALTALKS CONCLUDE TUESDAY IN NEW DELHI

INDO-NEPAL INTER-GOVERNMENTAL TALKS CONCLUDE NEW DELHI TUESDAY.
Kathmandu, 6 Dec,: Two-day Indo-Nepal inter-governmental talks held normally once every six months conclude in New Delhi Tuesday with the signing of notes on minutes of the dialogue.
At the talks, Nepal has sought a three-month supply of POL products on credit from Indian Oil Corporation amid difficulties in settling its import bill, a spokesman of a concerned ministry said Tuesday.
Ram Kumar Kamata writes in The Himalayan Times from New Delhi: India has responded positively to all trade and transit issues that Nepali side has raised during the Inter-Governmental Committee meeting here today. Two parties will sign a minute on Tuesday when the meeting concludes.

India has agreed to abolish Duty Refund Procedure (DRP) for which the Indian government is likely to soon issue notification to concerned agencies, said Nepal’s Commerce Secretary Purushottam Ojha, He is leading 15 members Nepali delegation while his Indian counterpart Rahul Khullar is leading 16 members team.

“Talks are positive. Indian side has responded very positively to all our agendas,” Ojha said.

Indian Team member Indira Murthy who is Director at the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry also said notification would regarding the abolition of DRP would soon be sent to concerned agencies.

If DRP is abolished, Nepali traders will not have to go through a cumbersome practice of paying excise duty in India and getting a refund in Nepal through customs duty adjustments. Under the current system, government of Nepal gets the refund for excise duty from the government of India which is time consuming.

The amount that Nepali traders will pay in the form of customs duty will be less compared to current excise duty they pay to the Indian government, according to Ojha.Once the DRP is abolished the government of Nepal would charge full customs duty on imported goods”, Ojha said.

Nepali side also sought early operationalisation of Rohanpur (Bangladesh)-Singhbad (India) transit route, simplification of transit clearance procedures at Kolkata port, early operationalisation of Bishakhapatnam port, review of Railway Service Agreement, construction of 42 km Raxaul (India) Amlekhgunj (Nepal) petroleum pipeline and abolition of additional taxes on 162 Nepali agro products.

“We have requested the Indian side to expedite all the issues in a time bound manner,” Ojha added.The Indian side raised the issue of Agricultural Reform Fee that Nepal levies on Indian farm products, according to Nepali team members.

Currently Nepal levies five per cent ARF on Indian goods. India side has been opposing ARF saying it undermines the competitive advantage of its goods in Nepal against third country goods.The Indian side also requested to raise the margin of preference for Indian goods against third country goods in Nepal.

Indian goods get seven per cent margin of preference in Nepal which Indian side, in recent months, has been demanding to increase up to 20 per cent. In the last IGC meeting India has also sought entry of new Aurvedic products into Nepali market.

Similarly Nepali side has sought removal of additional lock on third country goods. In the last trade talk, Indian side had said that such system was necessary to deter unscrupulous traders who take advantage of trade facility to dump third country goods into India.
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