Nepal, India amend transit treaty

Nepal and India have amended a bilateral transit treaty to facilitate the export of goods from a third country through India.
Earlier, only goods of Nepalese origin were allowed to be exported through India to third countries.
The amendment to the "export procedure" in the Memorandum to the Protocol to the Treaty of Transit of 1999 will facilitate the transit of goods of third country origin exported from Nepal, said a statement issued today by the Indian Embassy here.
A Letter of Exchange formalising the decision has been finalised by the two sides, it said.
"This amendment in the provisions of the Treaty of Transit brings into effect a significant decision which was reached between the two sides during the Nepal-India Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) meeting on Trade, Transit and Cooperation to Control Unauthorised Trade held in Kathmandu on December 21-22, 2013," it added.

"This restriction has now been removed and now goods of non-Nepalese origin would be allowed transit through India for export to third countries."

The amendment will facilitate the re-export of goods imported to Nepal for fairs and exhibitions. It will also facilitate re-export of third country origin capital goods from Nepal for repair and return as well as re-export of rejected goods from Nepal.
The change will facilitate Nepalese businesses as it will lead to re-export of goods imported from third countries after value addition, for which a legal provision was made in Finance Act of 2009.
It will also allow the movement of diplomatic cargo exported from Nepal and transiting through India.

The two sides discussed other important trade facilitation measures during the IGC meeting, including allowing the movement of imported vehicles on their own power from Kolkata to Nepal and facilitating the import of bulk cargo to Nepal by operationalising the multimodal transport link from Kolkata port through Jogbani-Biratnagar and Sunauli-Bhairahawa land routes, the statement said.
Proposals for making these amendments to the Treaty of Transit have been finalised by the Indian government. These proposals are now under consideration by the Nepal government.
Once concluded, these measures will further facilitate Nepal's transit trade through India, the statement said.