Gold dealers unhappy about strict enforcement of 50-gram gold ceiling

By A Staff Reporter Kathmandu, July 13: The gold and silver traders have urged the Department of Customs to facilitate on the issue that the customs office at the Tribhuvan International Airport is unnecessarily strict when people come to Nepal wearing Nepali original jewellery.

A delegation of the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association led by its president Manik Ratna Shakya met Director General of the Department of Customs Kamal Prasad Bhattarai and requested to facilitate customs procedures at TIA on Tuesday.

During the meeting with Director General Bhattarai, FENEGOSIDA president Shakya expressed dissatisfaction over the levy of customs duty on those who bring more than 50 grams of gold jewellery to Nepal from abroad wearing original Nepali jewellery.

He said that there should be no obstruction while passing through the airport customs.

According to the existing system, every person coming to Nepal from abroad can bring up to 50 grams of gold jewellery on customs duty exemption. But there is no such limit in the case of jewellery. Businessmen have protested against the move after it was found that people can wear jewellery when they go out of Nepal, but when they come to Nepal from abroad, they wear more than 50 grams worth of jewellery.

The businessmen have protested against the customs duty if it is found that they can wear jewellery when they go out of Nepal but if they wear more than 50 grams of jewelery when they come to Nepal from abroad. Director General Bhattarai said that he would take initiative to address the problems of the businessmen after studying them.

However, he said that it had to be tightened after it was found that some people were trying to bring gold in the name of jewellery.