Kathmandu, September 17:

The National Booksellers and Publishers Association of Nepal (NBPAN) has requested the United Nations, Unesco and the International Publishers Association, Switzerland, to work for revoking the tax on books. Madhav Lal Maharjan, NBPAN general secretary, said that the association has sent letters by fax, requesting the international agencies to help release the consignment that remains stranded on the border for the last two months. “The consignment will be picked up only when the imposed custom duty of 6.5 per cent on books is withdrawn,” said Maharjan. The budget provisions announced on July 16, 2005, imposed an unprecedented customs duty of 6.5 percent on books imported into Nepal. After the imposition of the tax on books, books worth around Rs 2 crore are lying unclaimed in the custom office at Raxaul and Sunauli for the last two months.

“We hope that the government will do something soon to solve the problem as readers will be directly affected by the rule,” said Maharjan. “The government needs to solve the problem at the earliest as the consignment of books is stuck on the border and there is every probability that the books may get damaged.” The NBPAN has had a series of discussions with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Education and Sports regarding the issue since the last two months. According to NBPAN, 80 per cent of reference books for the national curriculum — from grade 1 to university level — are imported from India and other countries. And, due to the hiked tax on imported books and the subsequent inability of importers to claim the books from the customs department the shortage of reference books has hit the market. Maharjan said foreign publishing and sellers association have expressed solidarity and assured of pressurising the government to withdraw the custom duty on books.

“The Indian Federation of Booksellers and Publishers too had requested the International Publishers’ Association, Switzerland, to urge the Nepali government to reconsider the tax imposition,” said Maharjan.