July 4: Nepali industrialists have demanded India to waive anti-dumping duty (ADD) imposed on jute exported from Nepal. India has not imposed ADD on jute imported from Bangladesh.

Nepali industrialists have been paying an annual fee of Rs 300 million to the Indian government for anti-dumping. However, Bangladeshi industrialists do not pay a penny. Nepali industry has been exporting ready-made jute worth Rs 7.5 billion to India annually.

Nepal's industries have been exporting the finished jute products by importing more than 50 percent raw jute from India. Jute produced in Nepal barely occupies 2 percent of the Indian jute market. Nepal produces jute by importing technology, raw materials, and machinery from India.

As the jute mills operated in Morang and Sunsari of Nepal are close to the border, factory employees are Indian. Despite the Indian government's policy of mandatory use of jute bags for food packaging, Indian products are not enough and therefore use plastic bags for packing food.

Raj Kumar Golchha, president of the Nepal Jute Industries Association, demanded the removal of the ADD imposed by India on jute produced in Nepal.

Due to ADD, Nepali products have not been able to compete with Indian products, he shared. 

Therefore, he demanded that the government should initiate negotiation with India to remove the five-year ADD provision. There are 30,000 workers in Nepal's jute industry.

The Government of India has been reviewing the duty every five years. It has been five years since India imposed ADD on Nepali jute products.

Five years ago, the Nepal Jute Industries Association had repeatedly demanded the removal of ADD before the Government of India. At that time, a team of tax experts from the Government of India visited the jute industries in Morang and Sunsari and decided to impose ADD on different products.

Secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Dinesh Bhattarai, said that the ministry would try to solve the issue diplomatically after studying Indian law. He said, "We will study the provisions in the law of India and plan accordingly."

Ramesh Rathi, treasurer of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Province No. 1 and operator of Swastik Jute, said that like Nepal, Bangladesh is also sending jute products to the Indian market. However, unlike Nepal, India has not imposed ADD on Bangladesh’ products. India has decided not to impose ADD on 16 jute industries of Bangladesh.

The products of other jute mills of Bangladesh are also coming to the Indian market under the name of these 16 jute mills. Rathi said that the Indian government is silent on this issue. He said the government of India is losing revenue to 16 jute industries in Bangladesh due to non-imposition of ADD on their products.

Currently, there are 11 jute mills in Nepal, while six of them are currently closed. The remaining five jute industries that are operational are Arihant, Raghupati, Swastik, Baba, and Nepal Jute. Rathi added that if the government of Nepal resolves the ADD problem through talks with the Indian government, the industry affected by the closure due to coronavirus will get relief. Industries will increase their production capacity and that will create more jobs, he added.