BIRGUNJ: Importers have stepped up customs clearance of vehicles from Birgunj customs, the country's main trade point.

The importers have started customs clearance of vehicles that were stuck at Birgunj Integrated Check Post and Dry Port for a long time. Along with this, the government officials said that newly imported vehicles are also getting customs clearance.

According to Kamal Gyawali, head of Nepal Intermodal Transport Development Committee, Birgunj, the number of new vehicles passing the customs clearance has been higher than those entering the customs.

At present, 983 new imported vehicles are awaiting customs clearance at the Integrated Check Point and 86 at Dry Port Customs. Gyawali said that most of them are jeeps, cars and vans. Chassis of trucks and buses are also being imported through the customs point.

The data shows that the import of vehicles has decreased since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. As the demand for vehicles in the market decreased, the imported vehicles were kept on the customs premises by the importers. Demand was also affected due to the government's import control policy and recession due to the coronavirus pandemic. Importers have said that now the demand for vehicles has increased and the customs clearance of old and new vehicles is increasing.

As of last April, the number of vehicles piled up at the ICP due to the delay in customs clearance stood at 2,300. Gyawali said this number has gradually decreased due to the rise in customs clearance.

 "After the importers started releasing the vehicles, the piling up of such vehicles at the customs has started to decrease. At one point, there was a difficulty in managing the parking lot of vehicles at the customs office, but now that problem has been solved,” he said.