Call to create mechanism to trace the price of imported goods

Kathmandu, Jan. 23:

Director General of the Department of Customs (DoC) Toyam Raya on Wednesday said that a mechanism was needed to trace the price of the imported goods declared by the importers at the custom points and their price in the local market.

"Under-invoicing has become a menace since long which has been troubling the business community as well as the government which needs to be addressed permanently. Both the government and customers are losing due to under-invoicing," he said while speaking at an interaction on 'Customs facilitation: Current status and challenges' organised by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) on the occasion of 67^th Customs Day.

He asked the FNCCI to jointly conduct a research of the transaction price of the imported goods in Nepali market.

Raya pointed towards the need of a code of conduct and greater transparency in the part of the traders.

"When an importer imports skin, we found tons of pepper and a container of vegetables also carries meat without declaration at the customs office. How can trust be developed between the customs administration and the private sector?" he asked the business community who complained that trust was lacking between the businessmen and the DoC.

The private sector suggested that the tax rates and customs duties should be directed towards protecting the domestic industries and businesses.

They also said that the customs offices should be service-oriented and play a central role in trade facilitation.

Recognition to the transaction price, cancellation of the reference book, acceptance of the importers invoice if the difference between the bill and customs evaluation is up to 10 per cent, and implementation of the provision that the DoC should buy the goods if it had doubts of under-invoicing - were the major demands of the business community.

They also pointed towards the need to accept the GST bill in terms of goods imported from India and using Indian HS codes as the reference since the largest share of Nepal's international trade is with the southern neighbour.

"Nepal should learn from Indian states like Gujrat which has implemented a fast track business registration and profit expatriation system," said Vice-President of the FNCCI.

Another VP of the business body Umesh Lal Shrestha said that the customs offices should have laboratory, quarantine facility and banks in its premises.

President of Nepal Feed Industries Association Rabin Puri urged the DoC to increase the duty of finished good as the domestic feed industries had been suffering due to low duty on feed and high on raw materials. "The customs duty for cattle feed is only 5 per cent against 10 per cent for raw material for the same product," he said.

The programme was attended by senior officials from the Doc, FNCCI office bearers, chairmen of various commodity associations in the FNCCI, importer and other private sector representatives.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 24 January 2019.