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Indian goods smuggled to China
BHAIRAHAWA, JAN 15 - In a major revelation, a large number of the Indian brands of rice and other consumer goods that enters the country through legal and illegal means have been found smuggled again to bordering Chinese markets along with the Tibetan city of Lhasa.
Such activities are going on right under the nose of officials at Tatopani customs, despite the fact that the country’s trade treaty and treaty on control of unauthorized trade with India bars Nepal from re-exporting finished Chinese goods to India and Indian goods to China.On being queried through e-mail, Lila Mani Paudel, Nepal’s consular general at Lhasa too conceded that such activities, which go against the trade treaty, are going on at rampant through the northern side of the border too.According to information of Lhasa commerce mission, brands of Indian rice including Lalkila, Nature’s Gift Regular (long grain aromatic rice), Aarati and Long Grain Premium White Rice, among others are widely seen in the Chinese market.Interestingly, the Nepali traders in Lhasa denies of having knowledge as to how the Indian rice enters Lhasa via Nepal, while the Indian traders openly admit that they smuggle these through Tatopani.
"On one hand, such smuggling is eroding away the market of genuine Nepali exports, as cheaper smuggled goods are displacing an expensive Nepali goods, on the other, this has increased fear of developing Nepal as a transit for unauthorized trade between India and Tibet," said Paudel.
According to mission’s information, the Nepali branded rice is priced at Rs 115 per kilogram. However, similar quality Indian rice prices at Rs 80 per kg. "This demonstrates, how the smuggled goods are threatening the Nepali rice exports," stated Paudel.This further explains why a large number of rice enters the country, both through official and unofficial gateways, as private imports even during the season when local supply is good and the government imports millions of tons equivalent of rice to bridge the national deficit.
In the last five months of 2003/04, a total of 17,303 tons of Indian rice were imported through Bhairahawa customs alone. In the same period last fiscal year, the rice import through the customs had stood at 17,505 tons.
However, the cross-border smuggling is not limited to rice alone. Raw leather, various brands of powdered spices of Baba Masala Company, shampoo, soaps, toothpaste and fairness cream of Hindustan Lever, Nestle and other reputed brands of Indian companies too are smuggled through Tatopani for sales in Lhasa.
Raising concern over rising smuggling in the northern neighbour, Paudel informed that he has forwarded the issue to concerned government offices like Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies (MoICS) and Department of Customs.
It may be noted that citing of transshipment of Chinese garlic via Nepali territory, India had imposed ban on export of Nepali garlic to India, among others through Sunauli customs.
China too can raise similar problems if the issued is not dealt with haste. This could cost heavy to Nepal considering the fact that it suffers trade deficit worth Rs 9 billion with the northern neighbour including Rs 3 billion with Tibet alone.Posted on: 2004-01-16 03:16
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