Mandatory stickers on imports will increase illegal trade: Importers

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Aug. 21: The Importers Association of Nepal has drawn the attention of the Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ saying that illegal trade may increase if labelling stickers is made mandatory for the finished imported goods.

Submitting a memorandum to Prime Minister Prachanda regarding the complexity of labelling stickers and possible solutions Sunday, the Association said that although the goal of this system was good, the implementation was complicated and the results might be undesired.

According to Sub-Section 940, Section 18 of Schedule 1 of the Economic Act, 2080 introduced by the government, a label with full details of the importer and market distributor has been made mandatory on the packaging of imported goods.

According to Pawan Agrawal, an advisor of the Association, they have drawn the attention of Prime Minister Prachanda that if the burden of certification was increased on the businessmen who are systematically importing in a country with 40 per cent grey market, the illegal import might increase.

"Around 250 million stickers are consumed daily, it seems that the state has to spend Rs. 10 billion annually for this purpose," he said.

"On the one hand, we informed the Prime Minister that there is a risk our big investment will be on stickers and on the other hand, grey marketers will abuse it and make legal importers like us more vulnerable."

It has been mentioned in the letter submitted by the Association that the legal system introduced to control and regulate the illegally imported goods has added a huge challenge to the importers and distributors.

The Association has suggested that if the importer is registered with the Department of Customs and all the details of the authorised importers are kept, the sticker will not be necessary, but stickers can be arranged for the unregistered traders.

The Association has suggested forming a new committee on industry and trade under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister to bring in new investments and take initiatives to solve the problems of businessmen.