August 1: The private sector has complained that due their business is in crisis due to the restrictive policy introduced by the government.

They have alleged that the government authorities have been giving them unnecessary hassles in the name of facilitating foreign trade and also due to needless investigations.

Entrepreneurs claim that the government is creating obstacles in the business through policy intervention while the officials at the implementation level have made the things more problematic by indulging in corruption.

Representatives of the Madhes Province chapter of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) said during an interaction with the customs officials of Birgunj on Sunday that the industrialists and traders are now unable to do business.

The officials of Birgunj customs who attended the interaction clarified that their main objective is trade facilitation. They said that they are looking forward to solving the problems faced during the implementation of policies related to import and export.

Ashok Kumar Temani, president of the Madhesh chapter of the FNCCI, emphasized that foreign trade procedures should be transparent. Online and automated systems should be encouraged to promote transparency, he said. “Integrating the software of the integrated check posts of Nepal and India can also help in this," said Temani.

Temani complained that despite the implementation of VCTS by the Revenue Investigation Department to control revenue leakage by making foreign trade transparent and dignified, the work of stopping vehicles in the name of investigation has not been stopped.

Ganesh Prasad Lath, outgoing president of FNCCI Madhesh Province, said that trade and industry have become overburdened by one after another policy introduced by the government.

He claimed that the government's strict policies and regulations have promoted unauthorized trade. Participating entrepreneurs complained that the private sector has been hurt by the government's labeling system, customs assessment and revenue investigation raids implemented on imported goods since the beginning of the current fiscal year.

Chief Customs Administrator of Birgunj Customs, Dilaram Panthi said that an arrangement to keep a label on the imported goods with the details of the manufacturer and distributor was introduced for controlling unauthorized imports.

“The aim of any policy and rule brought by the government is to facilitate business. If there is a problem in its implementation, a solution should be found," he said.

He also said that there is a need for coordination and cooperation between the private sector and customs officials for procedural reform.

Birgunj Dry Port Customs Chief Ram Mainali said that customs assessment should be made scientific. He added that the problems encountered in the implementation of labels on imported goods will be addressed after the implementation of the procedure.