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Nepal-US trade
- Seek preferential treatment from US: Experts
KATHMANDU, MAR 27 -
While Nepal and the US are negotiating a bilateral trade and investment framework agreement (TIFA), experts say the US proposed draft was short on some critical issues that are prerequisite to Nepal's trade interests.
Their major concern was that the draft excluded the tariff issue which is the main concern for Nepal. Nepal has been demanding duty and quota free access for Nepali products, especially garments, Nepal's biggest exports to the largest economy of the world. The US is also one of Nepal's biggest trading partners.
Vice-president Garment Association of Nepal (GAN) Udaya Raj Pandey said that there should be provisions related to market access. Garment exports to the US nose dived by 60.45 percent in February alone. "That's why, we want preferential treatment from the US for Nepal's special situation," Pandey said, at an interaction on TIFA organised by the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MoCS) and South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment (SAWTEE). Nepal enjoys preferential treatment only from India as per the trade treaty between the two neighbours.
The interaction was organised just before a high-level Nepali delegation's departure to the US to negotiate on TIFA in the first week of April. Experts argued that without concession in duty compared to other competitors in the US market, landlocked Nepal is unlikely to benefit much. Nepal does not have easy transit access from India as provisioned in the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Experts also urged the government to ensure provision for technical assistance to enhance Nepal's competitiveness. The US proposed TIFA covers broader issues such as labour standard, environment and intellectual property rights in addition to trade and investment.
Trade expert associated with SAWTEE Ratnakar Adhikari said the high labour and environmental standard could prove to be barriers for Nepal's exports. "These issues should be in line with the Doha Development Agenda which talks about more flexibility to developing nations."
According to the draft of the TIFA, the two sides will form a Nepal-US Council of Trade and Investment which will identify relevant issues on labour, environment and intellectual property in addition to expanding trade and investment.
Adhikari pointed towards the need to protect public health issues and rights for farmers' during negotiations which Nepal skillfully managed during its accession to WTO. "For this, we should not make WTO plus commitments," he said.
Secretary of the MoCS Purusottam Ojha said they were committed to ensure duty free access to Nepali products in US at least to the level the WTO has ensured for the least developed countries (LDCs). The WTO has agreed to provide duty free access to LDCs in 97 percent of goods.
"We will try for more preferential treatment for Nepal from the US while negotiating for TIFA," Ojha assured. TIFA remains a precursor of the bilateral free trade agreement.
Posted on: 2010-03-28 07:57
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