Traders also brought imports to a grinding halt for 22 days recently in protest against the unilateral rise of handling wages being paid to workers of a Chinese transport company as tips. Workers affiliated to a Chinese transport company had raised their ‘wage’ for handling the cargos for Nepal bound containers.[break]
Traders, who are mainly active as clearing agents, were the main actors of both the disruptions.
These are only the latest examples of a similar nature on how traders themselves resort to disrupting the trade of goods to press their demands. Frequent disruptions in bi-lateral trade with China have become a common occurrence in Tatopani in recent months.
Trade through the Tatopani customs was disrupted for 38 days during the last one year, inflicting losses of around Rs 500 million in country’s revenue.
Most of the protests by traders were against the system of valuation of goods and other issues, which are not practical.
An eight-day agitation by traders in January demanding permission to carry Chinese Yuan in the bordering areas was withdrawn after it drew widespread criticism.
Who is the root cause of the problem?
Import through Tatopani is based on clearing business in which agents are active in clearing the goods from customs in the absence of the real importers.
“Unnecessary involvement of clearing agents in import of goods is the key problem frequently arising in the northern customs,” said an analyst who has been closely watching the recent developments at the customs point.
We don’t see the real traders in and around the customs point. The real traders fly directly to Guangzhou or Shanghai and other commercial cities to place their orders and return directly to Kathmandu.
The clearing agents then complete the customs process and bring the goods to the destinations for commission.
Clearing agents active at the customs points generally stage protests in one form or other when something they see as unfavorable to them happens.
“Customs agents try to disrupt imports for different excuses when customs jack up the customs valuation because it results in a drop in their commissions. So they either have to protest or manipulate customs declaration,” customs officials said.
Trade analysts said increasing cases of irregularities at the Tatopani customs have been reported due to clearing agents. “The clearing business does not do any good to anyone. So, I want to urge traders to get themselves involved in clearing their own goods,” Nirmal Hari Adhikari, a former chief of the Tatopani customs, said.
Rajendra Shrestha, president of Sindhupalchowk Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) also agrees that a proper system to manage imports is still lacking at the Tatopani customs. “The clearing business is the major cause behind the mess and irregularities in Tatopani. However, we are hopeful that things will get better in the coming days as the number of clearing agents is declining,” Shrestha said.
The mushrooming organizations of traders affiliated to different political parties are also making the situation worse.
In the name of protest, traders organized strikes and then ignore the process of negotiation through dialogue to resolve the problem.
“Unlawfully organized strikes and other forms of protest by traders and clearing agents have not only hampered revenue collection but negatively impacted bi-lateral trade relations between the two countries,” said Mimamsa Adhikari, chief of Tatopani customs.
Around Rs 15 billion worth of goods is been annually imported through the Tatopani customs point. The government has set the target of collecting revenue amounting Rs 4.16 billion in the current fiscal year.
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