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CNI seeks pound of flesh from FNCCI
KATHMANDU, MAY 18 -
The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has urged the government to strictly implement the provision on sharing of the funds collected by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) while issuing certificates of origin for Nepali exports.
On Nov. 4, 2009, the government had entrusted the FNCCI to issue the certificates. The FNCCI charges 12 paisa on every Rs. 100 worth of goods out of which the CNI gets 1.3 paisa as its share.
“It has already been four months since the government’s decision, but the FNCCI has shown no interest in sharing the money despite a series of requests,” said CNI president Binod Chaudhary at an interaction at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies on Tuesday. “The CNI has been deprived of its fundamental right even though its members account for most of the country’s exports.”
The CNI has been claiming the right for the last eight years. Giving a solution to the years-old dispute, the Commerce Ministry had made a decision urging the FNCCI to distribute the collected funds as per the provision to all the stakeholders every month from Jan. 15, 2010.
The FNCCI collects Rs. 50 to Rs. 60 million annually by issuing certificates of origin. The money is considered to be one of the major sources for management and export promotion activities.
“The government must make this process transparent as such money
is supposed to be spent for trade and export promotion,” said Atma Ram Murarka, an industrialist. He said that it was their right as exporters to check where the money was being spent.
From the 12 paisa, the FNCCI has to give 5.5 paisa to the District Chambers of Commerce and Industry issuing the certificates, 2.5 paisa to the FNCCI itself, 1.5 paisa to related commodities associations, 0.2 paisa to related bilateral associations, 0.5 paisa for institutional development, 0.5 paisa to the Trade and Export Promotion Centre and 1.3 paisa to the CNI.
“We need equal treatment from the government by ending the monopoly of
the FNCCI,” said Chaudhary. “We should also be allowed to issue the certificates. Despite our huge contribution to exports, we get only 1.3 paisa, whereas the FNCCI pockets 2.5 paisa.”
Earlier, the FNCCI, the CNI and the Nepal Chamber of Commerce all were allowed to issue certificates of origin for Nepali products. Five months ago,
the government had decided that only the FNCCI would issue the certificates
for the sake of uniformity.
Commerce Minister Rajendra Mahato said that the government could allow both the FNCCI and the CNI to issue the certificate. However, certificates for exports to India can be issued by only one “government selected authority” as per the Nepal-India Trade Treaty.
“The best thing is that the FNCCI and the CNI work together to solve this problem,” said Mahato. “The FNCCI too has been asking that the provision of 1.3 paisa be reviewed saying that it was contributing more than the CNI to exports.”
He also asked the CNI to submit last year’s data on exports by its members so that the government could come up with a suitable provision regarding the issuance of the certificates.
Posted on: 2010-05-19 08:11
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