They intensified talks with government officials keeping in mind the upcoming Nepal-US Council on Trade and Investment (NUSCTI) meeting under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) that is scheduled to be held in Kathmandu in March.[break]
“As our pashmina products have been losing competitive edge in the US market due to high customs tariff, we have requested the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MoCS) to increase diplomatic efforts with the US to seek GPS facility for Nepali pashmina products,” said Pushpa Man Shrestha, president of Nepal Pashmina Industries Association (NPIA).
The US has been levying customs duty, putting Nepali pashmina products under the Readymade Garment (RMG) category which attracts around 17 percent customs duty.
Shrestha said the US market has been levying 7 percent customs on pashmina products that are entering the US market in the name of Cashmere. However, products that are exported in the name of Nepali Pashmina attract customs duty in range of 14 to 21 percent.
Pushmina entrepreneurs are lobbying for GPS facility in US as they are in the process of promoting the newly launched Chyangra Pashmina- an exclusive trademark of Nepali pashmina products.
They recently met Susan Hester -- an international consultant with USAID-funded Nepal Economic, Agriculture and Trade (NEAT) - and requested her to take initiative for granting GSP facility for Nepali pashmina products as enjoyed by Nepali handicraft products. “We also apprised Hester of the problems that Nepali pashmina producers are facing due to high customs duty imposed by the US government,” Shrestha added.
Hester was in Nepal for few days this week on a preparatory visit ahead of next TIFA meeting.
Nepal exported pashmina products worth around Rs 300 million to US in the last fiscal year, down from exports worth around Rs 1 billion recorded in the fiscal year 1999/2000.
Naindra Prasad Upadhyay, joint-secretary at the MoCS, told Republica that GSP facility to Nepali pashmina will be one of the agenda in the upcoming TIFA meeting.
Garment Association Nepal (GAN) had lodged a petition with the US Senate in 2010, requesting it to add 11 more exportable Nepali items, including Nepali Pashmina and RMG products, in the list of products enjoying GSP facility.
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