Bangladesh is likely to get duty-free access of 62 types of products to Nepal under a reciprocal initiative by the latter.
The initiative was taken after Bangladesh agreed to grant zero-tariff entry of 108 types of the Nepalese products, reports a Nepalese online news portal ekantipur.com on Tuesday.
The Nepalese Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MoCs) has already submitted a list of the 62 items to the Ministry of Finance (MoF) for approval.
The products recommended by the ministry to be enlisted under preferential treatment to Bangladesh include lentils, vegetables, cereals, wheat flour, fruits, juice, dairy products and handmade paper, among others.
Similarly, pharmaceuticals, electronic goods, garments, fishes and some foods items are also among the products recommended for the duty-free entry into Nepal.
MoCs Joint Secretary Jib Raj Koirala said they forwarded the list to the MoF around three weeks ago, and that it was currently reviewing the items to make sure that their import without duty would not hurt local producers.
“After holding talks with the stakeholders, we forwarded the names of the items suggested by the committee,” added Koirala.
Around three months ago, the MoCs had formed a committee under the coordination of the director general of the Department of Customs to select the items.
Rameshwor Pokhrel, joint secretary at the MoCs, said the ministry had paid greater attention to studying whether providing zero-tariff facility to certain goods would hurt the country’s revenue collection.
“Most of the items among the 62 make a small contribution to revenue collection and they are also less likely to impact local industry negatively,” Pokhrel said.
He added that after the MoF approves the submitted items, the list will be sent to the cabinet for its endorsement.
“After the cabinet endorses the list, we will send it to the Bangladeshi government, and a formal decision in this regard will be made during the joint secretary level meeting of the Nepal-Bangladesh Technical Committee which is scheduled for this year,” he also said.
MoCs officials said that once the list of products was finalised, the ministry would ask the Bangladesh government to fix a date for the joint secretary level meeting.
During the joint secretary level technical meeting held on February 17 this year in Dhaka, the Bangladeshi side had offered preferential treatment to 108 Nepalese items.
The Nepal side, however, had asked that the facility be given to 153 exportable items. The products chosen by Bangladesh to be given the facility are lentils, vegetables, vegetable seeds, ginger, animal feed and fruits, among others.
Bangladesh is Nepal’s second largest trading partner in South Asia.
