KATHMANDU:  Private sector has called for ensuring a prompt customs administration.

Taking part in discussions on ‘bill designed to amend and integrate customs-related laws’ at the Finance Committee, House of Representatives today, the private sector representatives called for removing procedural hassles during the customs clearance procedures and discretionary powers of employees.

They stressed the need to build sufficient infrastructure for quarantine and quality test of goods and to reduce the deposit amount.

President of Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) Rajesh Kumar Agrawal commented that the Bill failed to incorporate IT and power trade issues. “It is silent about software exports and has not made it clear whether power trade comes into customs.”

The CNI has proposed to establish a separate judicial body for an administrative review if any dispute is surfaced during the customs inspections.

Vice President of Nepal Chamber of Commerce, Deepak Shrestha, said the target for revenue collections for customs and tax offices has affected business community.

Demanding the scrap of a reference price book being used during the customs surveillance, he advised authorities concerned to systematise the classifications of goods according to the harmonized code.

The Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries demanded the reduction of the deposit amount for any suspicion during the customs inspections from the existing 50 percent to 25 percent. It has suggested the revising the existing provision of charging 100 percent fines for under or overbilling, reducing it to 50 percent.

The Bill has been proposed to amend the Customs Act in accordance with the Kyoto Protocol which Nepal is a party to and to make customs clearance procedures further advanced and technology-friendly.