KATHMANDU: A three-day inter-governmental committee (IGC) meeting between Nepal and India concluded on Thursday without any substantial outcomes under a cloud of strained bilateral relations. Nepal presented a long list of problems it was facing in its trade with India and the southern neighbour promised to look into them, according to Nepali officials. During the meeting led by the commerce secretaries of the two countries, Nepal specifically focused on getting non-tariff barriers removed, but it failed to convince the Indian side, officials said.
Nepal had put trade barriers at the top of the agenda as exporters had been encountering difficulties in recent months due to the introduction of more stringent requirements. India has made it mandatory for exporters of Nepali tea to get quality certification from an Indian laboratory for each shipment. Earlier, exporters were allowed to ship their products multiple times to multiple parties after receiving a quality check certificate which was valid for six months.
Likewise, exports of processed leather have completely stopped for the last three months after the Raxaul Customs Office in India banned the product citing quarantine issues. India has rejected Nepal’s request to remove these barriers stating that it would not compromise on quality. However, it has pledged support to improve Nepal’s infrastructure to enable it to meet the required quality standards, according to Nepali officials.
“India has asked Nepal to implement commonly acceptable standards for exports of Nepali agricultural and non-agricultural products,” said Commerce Secretary Naindra Prasad Upadhyay. “India has sought common standards for almost all major Nepali farm products like tea, cardamom and ginger.” Meanwhile, India has complained about the lack of progress towards implementing the Bilateral Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement (Bippa) which was signed about five years ago. Bippa is under consideration at Nepal’s Supreme Court. “There has been a very positive discussion regarding it,” Upadhyay said.
India has refused to waive the service charge on exports to Nepal. The southern neighbour also said no to Nepal’s request to remove quantitative restrictions on its exports of vegetable ghee, acrylic yarn, zinc oxide and copper as they have been included in the trade treaty between the two countries. Regarding renewing the Trade Treaty which is due to expire in September, both sides agreed to go for an automatic renewal as stated in the pact. According to the treaty, the party wishing to make an amendment has to give three months’ prior notice. A trade expert said that discussing many topics at such meetings instead of focusing on one important issue usually results in failure.
