The meeting of the Nepal-India Commerce Secretary-level Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) has begun in Kathmandu today.
The Nepal-India Commerce Secretary-level meeting, which has not been held for the past four years, has begun in Kathmandu. The meeting will conclude on Saturday.
A cabinet meeting held on Tuesday approved agenda items for the meeting and formed a talks-team under the coordination of Govinda Bahadur Karki, the secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies.
Similarly, a talks-team led by Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal is participating in the meeting representing India.
Nepal will raise issues ranging from those related to exporting goods to India to reviewing commerce treaty, said Baburam Adhikari, the spokesperson at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies.
The meeting will dwell on the issues related to the trade and transit between Nepal and India, with a special focus on finding solution, said Adhikari.
The meeting aims to reach an agreement on mutual recognition of quality certification certificates issued by the respective countries' quality certification bodies.
Specifically, this includes seeking recognition for certificates issued by the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology (NBSM) as an equivalent to the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certificate, which is currently required by Nepali exporters when selling goods to India.
Similarly, the private sector has also urged the government to urge the Indian side to give recognition to the certificates of the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control issued for agricultural goods.
Reduction in transportation costs, continuation of Biratnagar-Sunauli-Nautanawa Railway Service and access to additional ports for Nepal are the other agendas of the meeting, according to Adhikari.
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