July 21: The private sector has complained that they are unable to do business due to the policies and directives brought by the government one after the other. The presidents of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Morang Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Siddhartha Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Nepalgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry issued a joint statement on Thursday and warned that if the situation continues, there will be no option than to go on a strike.

Anil Agarwal of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Naveen Rijal of Morang Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Thakur Kumar Shrestha of Siddhartha Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Abdul Waheed Mansuri of Nepalgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry stated that the government agencies have caused challenges in transportation.

They said that economic activities have been declining due to unexpected policy intervention.

The provision requiring details of of importer and distributor on the labels of imported goods has become mandatory now but the notification issued by the Department of Customs has created more confusion, reads the joint statement.

This arrangement has been implemented since July 17, the first day of the new fiscal year. Agrawal, President of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that the Director General of the Department of Customs was asked to solve the problem before it was implemented.

The private has sector termed this provision as vague and unreasonable and said that it has badly affected imports and domestic trade. 

“The information issued by the department is not clear, and the relevant authorities are also not clear about the labelling. Therefore, this labelling should be postponed until clear provisions and policy arrangements and guidelines regarding labelling are issued," the joint statement further added.

They also claim that for the past few months, the customs administrators have been harassing the importers in the name of revenue collection.

The organizations have said that importers are also in trouble due to the practice of seizing the cargo vehicles that have passed the customs clearance and sending them to the Revenue Investigation Office in the name of investigation.

They demanded an end to the practice of sending the goods to the Revenue Investigation Office with the intention of causing trouble to the cargo vehicles that have passed the customs inspection after completing the necessary procedures.