Government committed to controlling smuggling of goods through transits: DPM Shrestha

Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha today said the government was committed to controlling smuggling and the illegal import of goods through the transits with neighbouring countries.

The government was making maximum efforts in stemming smuggling of goods through the transits, a main problem of the country's economy resulting in a loss of a large amount of revenues and affecting traders and industrialists, he said in a meeting on the control of the smuggling of poultry and poultry products today in the Ministry of Home Affairs.

"Smuggling of goods has had its big implications on the country's economy and on the business activities. The government is committed to controlling revenue leakage," he said. The Home Minister said he has already directed the security agencies to commit to the control of the smuggling of goods at the border.

The government has prioritised the internal capital formation, the target capital expenditure and the trade deficit reduction for economic reforms, he said.

On the occasion, Chairperson of the Nepal Poultry Federation Guna Chandra Bista said the poultry business has reached a situation of collapse compared to the time before COVID-19. "The business has an investment of around Rs 150 billion and employed around 500,000 people. But the smuggling of poultry and poultry products from neighbouring India has had its serious implication.

There are no well-managed livestock quarantines at the transits. Poultry industries and businesses are going through a transition due to their inability to compete with the Indian market," he said. Smuggling of poultry and poultry products has had its bad implication in the poultry sector of Nepal which is becoming self-reliant, he viewed.

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