Decades on, directives to use domestic goods in govt. offices remains spurned

Kathmandu, Dec. 17

Following repeated demands from the private sector that the public institutions buy the goods and services made in Nepal, the government implemented the Directives for the Use of Domestic Products in Public Institutions in 2014.

But it failed miserably with very few public institutions actually following the directives. Government agencies continued to procure foreign goods and services even for their day-to-day use, ignoring the domestically produced items.

According to the Directives of 2014, public entities must purchase local goods, as far as they are available, in accordance with the directives. Only in cases where such goods are not available can they purchase foreign-made goods. Such goods should have obtained 'Nepal Standard' from the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology (NBSM).

Manufacturers of such goods should be registered with the government, materials should be produced locally using traditional skills and technology, and their certificate of origin should be endorsed by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) or the Federation of Nepalese Cottage and Small Industries (FNCSI)'s district branches.

According to the Public Procurement Act 2007, constitutional bodies, courts, ministries and their departments and offices, commissions, public commercial institutions, including banks owned or controlled fully or in majority by the government, academies, councils, universities and academic institutions, provincial and local governments, development boards, and other government-specified bodies are 'public entities'.

As the directives remained largely unimplemented for about a decade, the government came up with a new version in 2024.

But the new policy was also received coldly by the public institutions.

"It's frustrating to see our efforts going in vain for such a long time. It's been about two decades since we began to demand the directives -- since 2007," said Umesh Prasad Singh, President of the FNCSI.

 

Missed opportunity

According to Singh and many other businesspeople, had the directives been implemented, it would have provided relief to the entrepreneurs in a great deal during the COVID-19 pandemic and thereafter. Since the directives had a provision that the public institutions should buy domestically produced goods even if they were 15 per cent more expensive, it would have helped Nepali producers flourish.

Chairman of the FNCCI's Industry Committee, Rajesh Kumar Agrawal, stated that there was no visible progress in implementing the directives. "The private sector is facing hard times for the last couple of years. I wonder why such good initiatives have not been the priority of the government," he said. 

The issue of implementing the directives was raised with Finance Minister Rameshore Khanal, Infrastructure Minister Kul Man Ghising, and Labour Minister Rajendra Singh Bhandari by the Chamber of Industries Morang on Tuesday. While the ministers assured them to address their demands, the process of implementing the directives is still in limbo.

According to the Directives of 2024, the government has to develop an online platform, 'Swedeshi Utpadan', to keep the detailed record of the certified products produced by Nepali producers.

 

Software development in limbo

The Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection (DoCSCP) has the responsibility of developing the portal. But it is in dilemma about whether to expand the existing platform being operated by the Department or create a new one.

"The Ministry has suggested going for the first option, but our assessment has shown that it will be insufficient to accommodate all the requirements. We are yet to decide it since developing a new software costs a huge amount of budget," said Bharat Prasad Acharya, Director of the DoCSCP.

The DoCSCP also maintained that there has been no preparation for the required standards of the said portal as well.

But Singh said that the public institutions continue to procure foreign-made goods in pursuit of commission. "This is high time to implement the directives because many of the public institutions are in the process of reconstruction after the destruction during the Gen-Z movement in September this year," he said.

 

Portal is the basic requirement

Jitendra Basnet, Spokesperson of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies (MoICS), said that the entire implementation of the directives has been hampered by the unavailability of the portal.

"We have concluded orientation at the provincial level. The issue has been raised multiple times at the minister or secretary-level meetings," he said while stressing the need for cross-checking and monitoring of the implementation of the directives.

The MoICS has also written to the Public Procurement Monitoring Office (PPMO) to facilitate in promotion of the use of domestic goods and services.

Meanwhile, many private sector producers have reached the Ministry to include their products in the appendix of the directives, which contains the general list of made in Nepal goods.

According to Basnet, the MoICS is in a mood to amend the directives to accommodate the demands of the private sector.  

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 18 December 2025.