The exports of herbs from the mid- and far-western regions have come to a halt after the Indian State Government of Uttar Pradesh (UP) made it mandatory for even the Nepali exporters to get a license from its Department of Forest for carrying out the trade.[break]
Worse still, the sudden imposition of the new rule by India in May has caused around Rs 250 million worth of medicinal herbs to remain stranded at the Nepalgunj customs point. “A large chunk of those consignments have started to get damaged. If that happens, we will suffer a huge loss,” said Madhukar Thapa, president of Jadibuti Association of Nepal (JAN).
A delegation of exporters that met with the PM under the initiative of the association urged Dr Bhattarai to take immediate steps to sort out the problems seen in the herbs exports.
The exporters stated that the very imposition of such obstruction for Nepali exports was against the spirit of Nepal-India Treaty. The treaty provisions duty free market access for all Nepali exports except the three restricted items. It also commits of hassle-free trading regime and trade facilitation for Nepali exporters.
Most importantly, Section 1 of Article II on Protocol to the Treaty of Trade between Nepal and India clearly reads, “All goods of Indian or Nepalese origin shall be allowed to move unhampered to Nepal or India respectively without being subjected to any quantitative restrictions, licensing or permit system.”
“Sadly, however, the Indian state government paid no heed to the bilateral trade arrangement and stopped accepting our exports,” said Thapa.
Some of the exporters raised question over India´s intent behind such a move. “Why should Nepali exporters that are allowed to carry out herbs trade by the government here get license from India? This makes no sense,” said one of the traders.
Even if the traders were required to comply, Thapa said it takes more than a month to complete all the formalities for getting such a license from the Forest Department of the Uttar Pradesh government.
“For the license, traders need clearance from the four offices of the Uttar Pradesh government and this takes more than a month. Hence, is not it injustice,” said Thapa.
Herbs exporters have been knocking the doors of all top officials at the regional level as well as the commerce ministry in Kathmandu. They had met the PM on Friday after concerned officials turned deaf ears to their concerns.
“If the government doesn´t take immediate action to resolve this problem, we will suffer a huge loss. Hence, we urge the government to settle the matter with India or we will launch peaceful protests,” JAN said, issuing a press release on Friday.
According to JAN, over 6,700 tons of medicinal herbs are exported from Nepalgunj customs office every year. India is the main destination for Nepali herbs.
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