KATHMANDU: Import and export in Nepal will take place through online system from next year as the government is working to introduce information technology (IT) based Customs procedure.
Government officials said that the IT system was being adopted under the reformation of Nepal’s Customs administration, which aims to ensure trade facilitation.
Nepal’s Customs administration has been characterised of being bureaucratic, procedural and full of hassles due to the longer processing time, higher cost and more paper works required at the Customs points.
According to the Doing Business Index (DBI), exporting a standard container of goods from Nepal requires 11 documents, takes 42 days and costs 2295 US dollars, while importing the same container of goods requires 11 documents, takes 39 days and costs 2400 US dollars.
The DBI, unveiled last month, ranked Nepal at 177th place on the efficiency of trading across borders among 189 global economies.