Border trade at Nathula remains a non-starter
Traders in Sikkim are disappointed that
trading
activities through the Sino-Indian
border at Nathula are yet to kick off owing to non-resolution of the technical problems associated with border trade between the two countries.
Nearly a fortnight after the Himalayan pass in East Sikkim was reopened after over four decades of closure for border trade, actual trade is yet to take place between the two countries through the route.
The reason is that the Customs department has denied permission to the traders of the State to do business through the pass as they do not possess the mandatory Import-Export Code (IEC) number.
What compounds the problem for Sikkimese traders is the fact that with the Central Direct Tax laws yet to come into force in the State, they do not have pan cards which would make them eligible for the issuance of the ten-digit IEC, their licence for
trading with China, said Sikkim Chamber of Commerce President S K Sarda.
These technicalities should have been sorted out before the reopening of the route, he added.
These technical hurdles have dampened the spirit of the traders of the State, he said but hoped the State Government would soon come up with a solution in consultation with the Centre.
Two traders from Sikkim had to return from the Sherathang trade mart on Wednesday with their consignments after Customs officials posted there insisted that they should produce the mandatory IEC number.
The traders told PTI that they, as also the Chinese traders, were really dispappointed because of this unexpected technical hitch.
“It is strange that at none of the workshops and camps held in the State to brief traders about the import-export modalities did the IEC issue crop up,” the Chamber of Commerce president Sarda said.
Attributing all this to communication gap between the State Commerce and Industries department and the Union Ministry of Commerce, Sarda said this situation could have been avoided.
He, however, added that the State Government has taken up the matter with the Centre in right earnest and a solution may soon be in sight.
However, as of now, no trading activities are going on through the pass which was reopened, after 44 years of closure, with great fanfare on July 6.
Meanwhile, traders of Sikkim may be exempt from producing the mandatory Import-Export Code (IEC number) while trading with China through Nathula, Sarda said quoting an official of the Union Ministry of Commerce here today.
“The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has been asked to explore methods to grant exemption to Sikkimese traders from producing the IEC at Nathula”, Sarda told PTI quoting the Additional Secretary in the Union Ministry of Commerce Christy Fernandez.
Fernandez expressed confidence that the DGFT will come up with a formula exempting traders of the State from producing the IEC at Nathula in a day or two, the Chamber president said.