Duty Waver: Nepal’s textile industry to benefit

India’s move to waive off additional customs duty on 162

Nepali items that also include textile and garment products may prove beneficial for the Nepal garment sector. The government took this decision to provide some assistance to Nepalese exporters. In 2006, India had imposed an additional customs duty of 4 per cent on 331 Nepalese items. Subsequently, in 2008, the duty was waived off on 169 items, however, the duty continued to be levied on the remaining 162 items, which would now be stopped once the waiver is implemented from March 2012.

The move will definitely bring cheer to Nepal’s garment exporters since they have already been exporting to the India since the last couple of years. Some also undertake textile production for Indian exporters as well. The final products are then exported to the third country after doing value additions. So, both the garment sector and contract manufacturers in Nepal will benefit once the custom duty on the remaining items is waived off.