Citing its bid to open its market to the LDCs, China had offered zero tariff facility for 4,721 export items in 2010 as well.[break]
However, as majority of items listed under zero-tariff facility were not the products of Nepal´s export interests, the country had failed to take benefit of the facility. Records show, Nepal exported only 368 items from the zero-duty item list to China during the fiscal year 2011/12.
“We hope the new list includes items that we produce and can export,” said Priya Darshan Sharma, trade consultant at Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI).
Officials at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MoCS) could not confirm whether the goods listed are meaningful for Nepal.
“We have received the list that China floated zero-tariff facility. As we are still screening the items, we are yet to ascertain whether the list will a play meaningful role in giving new impetus to the bilateral trade,” a source at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MoCS) told Republica.
Nonetheless, with the new list of additional products, he said the total number of products designated for the duty free access to Chinese market has now jumped to 7,787 from existing 4,721.
Moreover, in a bid to chalk out ways to effectively utilize the zero-tariff facility, the MoCS had called a meeting with private sector representatives on Monday.
During the meeting, most of the participants had urged the government to pledge support to the producers so that they could increase their supply capacity.
“The major obstacle in making use of the facility is that we do not have strong production baskets and capacity to export. Unless this weakness is addressed, zero tariff facility will continue to remain meaningless,” said Sharma.
The entrepreneurs also stressed on the need to boost agro-productions because majority of items in demand in China are agro-based products.
Apart from that, the exporters also urged the government to request the Chinese authority to honor the pledged facility . “Otherwise, we have records of Nepali traders being compelled to pay different tariffs while shipping goods inside China even though the items have been included in the zero duty list,” Sharma stated.
Traders also pinpointed to constraints like power crisis and labor stir, which have been affecting industrial production. They urged for immediate redressing measure on those issues, arguing that in their absence, the country will fail to plug the widening trade gap with the Asia´s largest economy.
Data of Trade and Export Promotion Center (TEPC) show that Nepal suffered a trade deficit of around Rs 52 billion with China in 2011/12. During the year, Nepal had exported goods worth Rs 985.6 million to China and imported Rs 52.92 billion worth of goods from China. Nepal´s trade deficit with China in 2010/11 was Rs 45 billion.
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