Speaking at an interaction organized in Kathmandu on Wednesday to discuss non-tariff barriers in intra-regional trade, participants said that non-tariff barriers like import quotas, subsidies, custom delays, and technical and administrative barriers, among others, have been hindering regional trade."Non-tariff barriers contradict with the principle of transparency and simplification of trade procedures," former commerce secretary Purshottam Ojha said, adding, "As non-tariff barriers are poorly designed, it has been affecting our competitiveness and increasing cost of goods and services in regional trade."
Ojha, however, said non-tariff barriers cannot be addressed overnight. They have to be dealt with on case-to-case basis, he said, adding that Nepal has to first identify the major barrier and address it accordingly.
In his working paper, Ojha also said that non-tariff barriers existing have to be addressed through different measures like establishing Non-Tariff Measure (NTM) Desk in each South Asian country, developing a separate mechanism of collecting NTM imposed by importing countries, creating dialogue forums, piloting selected products and work on regional value chain, and enhancing cooperation and technical support among member countries.
Similarly, trade expert Prachanda Man Shrestha said that the framework of South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) is not politically committed. "For an improved regional trade among South Asian countries, the framework of SAFTA has to be changed," Shrestha said, adding that some non-tariff barriers have to be prioritized instead of trying to cope with all the barriers together.
Rajan Sharma, president of Nepal Freight Forwarders Association (NEFFA) highlighted on transit issues, among other non-tariff barriers. Informing that different transit agreements that Nepal have signed with South Asian countries were creating problem, Sharma said: "Nepal should develop strong negotiation capacity on transit related issues."
Similarly, Sishir Dhungana, director general of Department of Customs (DoC), said that lack of accredited laboratory at customs offices has been affecting customs clearance process. He further added that DoC has begun the process to set up such laboratory at all customs offices.
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