According to a public notice, the division of the commerce ministry known as DGFT has been given permission to allocate and oversee the imports of 10,000 tonnes of copper goods and 2,500 tonnes of zinc oxide from Nepal under a provision for reduced customs duties in a treaty between the two nations.
Under the amended India-Nepal Treaty, the directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT) shall be the designated entity for allocating and overseeing all TRQ (tariff rate quota) products.
A certain amount of an item is permitted for export or import under the TRQ at reduced customs taxes. Beyond that point, the product is subject to regular obligations.
The public notification on Thursday said, “DGFT is authorized for allocation and monitoring of 10,000 MT of TRQ of copper products…and 2500 MT of zinc oxide from Nepal.”
It said that the authorized authority of Nepal will inform DGFT of the quarterly quotas assigned to each producer and exporter.
The land customs posts at Kakarbhitta/Naxalbari, Biratnagar/Jogbani, Birganj/Raxaul, Nepalgunj/Nepalgunj Road, and Mahendranagar/Banbasa would all be able to process imports, it was said.
The TRQ certificate would be valid for 12 months, it was said. “The Indian importer shall file online application for TRQ certificate on the DGFT website,” it stated.
The DGFT handles matters pertaining to the nation’s imports and exports.