Talks Scheduled with the Indian Government Officials on Goods and Services Tax (GST)

Jul 10, 2017

Ravi Shankar Sainju, Joint-secretary of the Commerce Ministry will lead a high-level Nepali delegation on Tuesday to hold discussions in New Delhi with government officials from India on the possible implications of the recently introduced Goods and Services Tax (GST) to the trade between the two countries. Bureaucrats from the Foreign Affairs and Finance Ministries would also be part of the team comprising 15 to 20 officials in all.

According to Mr. Sainju, while Nepal is yet to perceive the actual impact of the GST, Nepali traders and freight forwarders have been facing issues in the export and import of goods to and from other countries via India.

As per the provisions of the bilateral Trade and Transit Treaty between India and Nepal the GST should not affect Nepal’s trade. However, there have been complaints that the logistic service charge on goods imported from third countries has been increased from 15 percent to 18 percent at the Kolkata port.