Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, May 29:

Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) is to submit a recommendation paper on customs related issues to be addressed in the forthcoming budget for the fiscal year 2004-05. At a recently held discussion programme, Binod Kumar Chaudhary, president of CNI said that the apex body of Nepalese industry would present a recommendation paper on customs related issues and problems currently being faced by private sector as well as the customs administration. The programme discussed mainly on problems being faced by the private sector and the customs administration on customs related issues and long-term strategies of customs administration.

On the occasion, Jagadish Prasad Agrawal presented a 19-points problem on customs related issues being faced by the private sector. They include import under bonded warehouse facility, insurance and fare determination, lab testing and customs duty of machinery import for establishment of industry. “The export rate should be fixed at 0.5 per cent, customs duty on import of industrial raw materials to be five per cent, whereas for other customs duty ceiling should be 20 per cent,” he suggested.

Responding on the occasion, Krishna Hari Baskota, director general at the department of customs said that procedural problems would be addressed gradually, whereas policy related matters would be forwarded to the ministry. He also informed about a three-year long custom reform programme introduced by the department of customs in accordance with making the customs administration efficient, effective and prompt in its objectives. Ram Chandraman Singh, joint secretary at the ministry of finance, Aatma Ram Pandey, coordinator of revenue committee, Dilli Prasad Ghimire, deputy director general at the department of customs, Bharat Bahadur Thapa, director general at the department of industry and Dev Raj Pathak, chief of customs office Tribhuwan International Airport were also present on the occasion.