According to the publication house, India´s Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has taken control of 1,000 metric tons of newsprint imported from Canada and South Korea at Kolkata port for “investigations”. [break]
“We carried the news on Wednesday,” said Sudhir Sharma, editor, Kantipur daily.
The media house stated it is the first time that India has taken control of newsprint, imported from third countries, for such a long period.
Sharma said the publication house had talked to Prime Minister Madhav Nepal about the problem 15 days ago. “He had assured us that he would give it a high priority and solve it,” Sharma said.
Sharma said the publication house had stock of newsprint that can last for only a week.
India reacts
Taking strong exception to the news published in Kantipur and The Kathmandu Post, Indian embassy has stated that the way the newspapers carried the story is highly regrettable.
“The distorted manner in which the issue has been publicized is hardly helpful in bringing about an early resolution to the customs investigations,” reads a statement issued by the Embassy.
“Customs examination of transit consignment is a routine administrative measures and the imputation of motives in such a matter by two newspapers, who seek to lay claim to responsible journalism, is highly regrettable,” the statement added.
Leaders concerned
Senior leaders of the major political parties visited the Kantipur Publications on Wednesday and expressed regret over the holding of the newsprint at Kolkata.
UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal, NC leader Ram Chandra Poudel and Maoist vice-chairman Dr Baburam Bhattarai, among others, visited the media house and asked the government to settle the issue at the earliest.
In its statement released on Wednesday, Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) also drew attention of the government to protect the country´s rights to transit route and immediately settle the matter through diplomatic means.
Media Society Nepal, TV Broadcasters´ Association of Nepal, and Community Radio Broadcasters´ Association stated that they have been stunned by the news.
What the Transit Treaty says
As per the existing bilateral Transit Treaty that was renewed in 2006, India has to provide complete freedom of traffic in transit to Nepal from Kolkata port to the designated customs points of Nepal.
The treaty seeks India to function as a mere facilitator at the port. Article 6 of the Treaty says: “Except in case of failure to comply with the procedure prescribed, such traffic in transit shall not be subject to avoidable delays or restrictions.”
The treaty categorically says transit delays in case of containerized cargoes can happen only if one-time-lock is found broken or defective, or if discrepancies appear in customs transit declaration documents.
In case the lock is found broken or defective, Clause 5 A of the Memorandum to the Protocol of the Treaty says the Indian customs authorities will make due verification of the goods to check whether they are in accordance with the customs transit declaration, put fresh ´one-time-lock´ and allow the container to move to the destination.
“This process is generally completed within three to four days,” said an official at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies.
In case discrepancies appear in documents, Nepali Consulate General´s Office looks into the matter and issues a letter, correcting the mistakes. “Even such cases are normally settled with 2-3 days,” the source said.
Indian revenue commissioners at times also inspect consignment in case they doubt mismatch between specified and imported goods. “There were number of such investigations in the past," the source said adding that such investigations took up to seven days to complete.
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