KATHMANDU: The National Plant Quarantine office here certifies the exportable products but the exporters are still bound to bear extra charges at the transit point due to the lack of international logo in wooden products. “Our products are being exported abroad and they are also certified by the National Plant Quarantine office but we have to pay extra charges at transit points as we do not have our own logo registered at the international level. Income margin is low,” said Anjana Shilpakar, manager of Wood Carving Industry.

“Due to additional charges at transit points, the price of our products goes up and that affects competitiveness in the international market,” Shilpakar said. Nepali woodcraft is mainly exported to European countries and the United States. The US is very strict about fumigation of wooden products it imports. Though National Plant Quarantine office grants certificate of fumigation test there is no logo registered at the international level for its approval.

She urged the government to take steps to register a logo at the international level so that at the transit point exporters will not have to bear extra charge. “It’s been more than a year that we are urging government to register the logo at the international level.” According to her, due to the lack of international standard logo for the wooden products of Nepal the export of woodcarvings is down by 70 per cent. To escape from the additional charges some wooden carvings are illegally exported.

According to the yearly comparison data of Federation of Handicraft Association of Nepal (FHAN), total woodcraft exported during the year 2007-08 was worth Rs 58.20 million which saw

a slight increment of three per cent during the fiscal year 2008-09. Woodcraft during the fiscal year 2008-09 showed a contribution of two per cent in the total handicraft goods exported. However, FHAN stated that the increment observed in export of handcraft goods is only statistical and due to fluctuations in the value of the dollar.

According to Shilpakar, there are two processes of fumigation — heating process and chemical process. The chemical used for fumigation is methyl bromide.

Fumigation is a method of pest control that completely fills an area with gaseous pesticides —

or fumigants — to suffocate or poison pests within. It is utilized in structural fumigation, soil, grain, and produce, and also used during processing of goods to be imported or exported to prevent transfer of exotic organisms. Fumigation of raw wood products and solid wood packing material is to eliminate pests. Methyl bromide is the most widely used fumigant for the treatment of logs and solid wood packing material.