Dedicated units at customs to facilitate vaccine import

Kathmandu, Jan. 20

The Department of Customs on Wednesday said that the dedicated units at the main customs points, especially at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), would be established to facilitate the rapid clearance of medicines and materials needed for the vaccination against the COVID-19.

A Rapid Action Team would also stay alert at the department to assist should any issue arises in the import process of such critical goods.

“If the documents related to the import of items needed for the COVID-19 vaccines are provided to the DoC before the import of the goods, arrangements would be made for the pre-arrival processing,” the department said in its statement.

It has published a new process for the rapid clearance of the materials of vaccination against COVID-19. The announcement coincides with India’s decision to provide 1 million doses of vaccines to Nepal.

In case of the documents that do not mention the amount of the vaccines and price, coordination with the Ministry of Health and Population would be established to facilitate. A certificate for the import of vaccines from the Department of Drug Administration (DDA) would help in rapid clearance.

The DoC also said that the vaccines could only be imported from the dedicated customs points and coordination will be made with all the stakeholders in the districts where such points are located.

“Import of cold chain equipment, containers and boxes with the condition to return to the country of export would also be facilitated,” said the department.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 21 January 2021.