Customs Duty waiver on imports from Nepal
India will waive customs duty on more than 4,500 items entering India from the four least developed countries -- Nepal, Bangaldesh, Maldives and Bhutan -- in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) from January, Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh said yesterday.
Speaking at a conclave of the Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries, Ramesh said, "Under the terms of SAFTA, the government has decided to waive customs duty on 4,536 items imported from Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives and Bhutan. Agro items and textiles among others will be exempt from customs duty from January.
He added that Afghanistan would also be included on the waiver list soon and that it would get the facility after it becomes a SAFTA member in February. Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, during the 14th SAARC summit, had announced his government's decision to waive customs duties on certain items from the four SAARC countries.
He had also said the list of sensitive items would be scaled down to boost bilateral and multilateral trade in the SAARC region.
Under the Nepal-India trade treaty, except for a few sensitive ones, customs duty has already been waived on certain items. Nepal exports vanaspati ghee, toothpaste, jute, jute products, polyester, acrylic, animal hides, leather products, medicinal herbs, cardamom, rice, oil, noodles, ginger and other items to India.
But is Jairam Ramesh the final authority? We still have an FM to grant exemption from Customs duties!