KATHMANDU, August 15

Authorities of the commerce ministries of Nepal and India are preparing to fix the date of commerce secretary-level talks to discuss and solve issues that have been hindering bilateral trade and transit.

The commerce secretary-level talks, also known as Intergovernmental Committee (IGC) meeting, has not been held after December 2013. However, the Nepal-India Treaty of Trade has provisioned organising the meeting at least once in six months alternatively in Kathmandu and New Delhi.

Nepal had hosted the 2013 IGC meeting. As per commerce ministry officials, the IGC meeting was delayed due to the SAARC summit held in Nepal last November and the devastating earthquake of April 25.

“Now we are looking for a convenient date for the IGC meeting, which will be held in New Delhi,” said Jib Raj Koirala, joint secretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MoCS). “We are doing the homework to meet in September this year.”

As per MoCS, it will raise the issue of the Indian government’s excise duty on the export of Nepali goods, quarantine-related issues on export of agricultural goods, finalisation of trans-shipment modality with India, and early construction of Integrated Check Posts in Nepal, among others.

Nepal will also raise the issue of the hassles faced while exporting medicinal herbs to India due to the high levy enforced by the states and the mandatory registration of the brand at the Tea Board of India prior to exporting tea.

Similarly, issue of pending Letter of Exchanges (LoEs) of crucial agreements with India will also be raised during the IGC meeting. LoE on amendment to treaty of transit for the movement of traffic to/from Visakhapatnam port to Nepal (by road or by rail) would allow Nepal to transport goods from Visakhapatnam Port using road and rail services.

LoE on operationalisation of rail transit through Singhabad to Rohanpur would pave the way to use the

Rohanpur-Singhabad rail transit route as well as the Phulbari-Banglabandha (52 km road) over the Indian territory.

The LoE on Process Simplification and Additional Routes, which is for bulk cargo movement from the two additional routes of Kolkata-Nautanwa (Bhairahawa) and Kolkata-Jogbani (Biratnagar) are in line to be finalised and the commerce secretary-level talks is expected to provide necessary impetus for concluding these issues.